The world’s coral reefs are under threat. Some scientists say doses of cloud brightening could provide a solution to the problem. Here’s a new twist to the geoengineer’s dilemma: just change the climate locally – over the bit you want to protect – and leave the rest of the planet alone.
Trees may be getting more efficient in the way they manage water. They could be exploiting the higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, growing foliage from a lower uptake of groundwater. If so, then the carbon dioxide fertilisation effect – predicted by theorists and observed in laboratory experiments – could be real.
Urban sprawl may not be as bad for the environment as we thought – as long as every home is fitted with solar panels and electric cars become the norm. Modern planners are building compact cities, believing tightly controlled zones are better for the environment. New research suggests the opposite: urban sprawl might be a better option, with solar power fitted to suburban houses and the adoption of electric cars transforming the energy needs of a city.
There have been dire warnings about melting glaciers in the Himalayas leading to falling flows in some of Asia’s major’s rivers. Now scientists are turning some of their original research on its head. The river systems fed by the glaciers of the Himalayas and the Tibetan plateau are a vital source of water, food and energy for hundreds of millions of people downstream.
Turning deserts into forests sounds like a utopian dream, but a group of scientists believe that “carbon farming” really might be the answer to climate change. Large forests planted with a single species of tough small tree could capture enough carbon from the atmosphere to slow down climate change and green the world’s deserts at the same time, researchers say.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas which in the short term is a much greater threat to global temperatures than carbon dioxide. Now researchers think it can be released by earthquakes.
The Arctic permafrost thaws each year, but – to the surprise of scientists from Denmark – in some areas it is not releasing the carbon dioxide it contains nearly as fast as they had expected.
Research into one of the world’s oldest and driest deserts has unearthed evidence of the evolutionary timeline for species that have avoided extinction by adapting to dramatic climate change
Marine species are leaving waters near the Equator and heading for cooler seas nearer the poles ten times faster than creatures which live on land, scientists have found.
Australia has been warned of the rising threat of dengue fever and heat stroke deaths in the wake of a study that found climate change is aiding the spread of infectious diseases around the world. The report, partly-funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and published in Science, found that climate change is already abetting diseases in wildlife and agriculture, with humans at heightened risk from dengue fever, malaria and cholera.
Finnish researchers say they have found how to produce biofuel cheaply, while a US team says it can make hydrogen from water at less cost than conventional methods.
Many of the lessons learned are most applicable to those living in a similar climate to the Whole Systems Farm in Vermont; however, the farm’s thriving ecosystem has been created on marginal land, and Falk stresses that the concepts can be transferred to other locations where only marginal land is available and creative solutions are needed.
Consider it a taste of the future: the fire, smoke, drought, dust, and heat that have made life unpleasant, if not dangerous, from Louisiana to Los Angeles. New records tell the tale: biggest wildfire ever recorded in Arizona (538,049 acres), biggest fire ever in New Mexico (156,600 acres), all-time worst fire year in Texas history (3,697,000 acres).
Nine weeks ago, oil near a tar sands extraction site in Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada, began to leak and ooze from the ground. It is currently wending its way through a nearby swampy forest, blackening vegetation and killing wildlife.
A new poll has found climate science denialism in Congress is quickly losing favor among young voters, both Republican and Democrat. The poll, conducted by Democratic and Republican firms for the League of Conservation Voters, found 73 percent of respondents associate climate change deniers with words like “ignorant,” “out-of-touch” or “crazy.”
- By Tim Radford
Some recent fires in the forests of Alaska have been the worst for 10,000 years, researchers say – and they could happen elsewhere in this warming world.
- By Kieran Cooke
A warming climate will play havoc with energy supplies and food for millions of people in West Africa, as well as putting industrial growth in doubt.
- By Paul Brown
Atmospheric rivers, airborne corridors of concentrated moisture which carry huge volumes of water, are set to get wider and longer, causing more frequent and catastrophic floods as the atmosphere warms.
- By Kieran Cooke
Two more US states say they will require insurance companies to reveal how prepared they are to cope with risks related to climate change.
Melting permafrost is one of those "wild cards" that might define a runaway climate tipping point. Permafrost is mainly frozen "old" vegetation from a time when the world was much warmer.
- By Tim Radford
The melting of the Arctic icecap has become so fast and so certain that researchers can now confidently predict when the ocean will become ice-free, to within four years.
Red Cloud is the founder of Lakota Solar Enterprises, one of the country’s first Native American-owned renewable energy companies.
- By Tim Radford
Scientists have identified the problem that commercial hatcheries must overcome to keep baby oysters alive in increasingly acid seas ? but wild oysters are still under threat