Environmental: General Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Nighttime light data shows inequities in restoring power after Hurricane Michael      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using nighttime lightdata from NASA, remote sensing, official outage records and census information, a study reveals notable differences in power-restoration rates between urbanized and rural areas and between disadvantaged and more affluent communities after Hurricane Michael in Florida's Panhandle. Block groups with higher proportions of minorities, multi-family housing units, rural locations, and households receiving public assistance experienced slower restoration of power compared to urban and more affluent neighborhoods.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science
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Ecologists put an insect group on century-old map of biodiversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The distribution of species around the globe is not a random process but an outcome resulting from several evolutionary mechanisms as well as past and current environmental limitations. As a result, since the mid-19th century, biologists have identified several main regions, called biogeographic realms, that depict these large ensembles of species around the world. These biogeographic realms represent one of the most fundamental descriptions of biodiversity on Earth and are commonly used in various fields of biology.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Climate change raised the odds of unprecedented wildfires in 2023-24      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Unprecedented wildfires in Canada and parts of Amazonia last year were at least three times more likely due to climate change and contributed to high levels of CO2 emissions from burning globally, according to the a new systematic review. The State of Wildfires report takes stock of extreme wildfires of the 2023-2024 fire season (March 2023-February 2024), explains their causes, and assesses whether events could have been predicted. It also evaluates how the risk of similar events will change in future under different climate change scenarios.

Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Trees Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Study reveals urban trees suffer more from heat waves and drought than their rural counterparts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent study details how trees in New York City and Boston are more negatively impacted by heat waves and drought than trees of the same species in nearby rural forests. The finding highlights the challenges urban trees face in the context of climate change and underscores the importance of tailored urban forestry management as a tool for protecting tree species and reducing urban heat islands.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Expansion of agricultural land threatens climate and biodiversity      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Food, feed, fiber, and bioenergy: The demand for agricultural raw materials is rising. How can additional cultivation areas be reconciled with nature conservation? Researchers have developed a land-use model that provides answers.

Ecology: General Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography
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Protecting surf breaks mitigates climate change, helps coastal communities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Safeguarding places to hang ten and shoot the curl is an opportunity to simultaneously mitigate climate change, fuel tourism and help surrounding ecosystems, research has shown.

Ecology: Extinction Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Severe Weather
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New report on Great Barrier Reef shows coral cover increases before onset of serious bleaching, cyclones      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Coral cover has increased in all three regions on the Great Barrier Reef and is at regional highs in two of the three regions, according to a new report. But the results come with a note of caution.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity
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Elephants on the move: Mapping connections across African landscapes      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Elephant conservation is a major priority in southern Africa, but habitat loss and urbanization mean the far-ranging pachyderms are increasingly restricted to protected areas like game reserves. The risk? Contained populations could become genetically isolated over time, making elephants more vulnerable to disease and environmental change.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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The race to discover biodiversity: 11 new marine species and a new platform for rapid species description      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new paper describes a ground-breaking experiment that united 25 independent taxonomists from 10 countries. The initiative boasts the discovery of 11 new marine species from all over the globe, occurring at depths from 5.2 to 7081 meters. It also represents a significant step forward in accelerating the pace at which new marine species are described and published.

Biology: General Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Mathematics: Modeling
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A new way of thinking about the economy could help protect the Amazon, and help its people thrive      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To protect the Amazon and support the wellbeing of its people, its economy needs to shift from environmentally harmful production to a model built around the diversity of indigenous and rural communities, and standing forests.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
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Sea level changes shaped early life on Earth, fossil study reveals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Shifts in the Earth's continental plates that drove long-term changes in sea level set the stage for the evolution of the earliest animals on Earth, a study suggests.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: General Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Combined effects of plastic pollution and seawater flooding amplify threats to coastal plant species      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study highlights how a combination of environmental stressors -- namely plastic pollution and seawater flooding -- can increase the threats faced by plants in some of the planet's critical ecosystems. It showed that both stressors had some effects on the species tested, but being exposed to both microplastics and flooding together -- a threat likely to increase as a result of climate change and plastic use -- had a more pronounced impact on their resource allocation.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Retreat of tropical glaciers foreshadows changing climate's effect on the global ice      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As they are in many places around the globe, glaciers perched high in the Andes Mountains are shrinking. Now, researchers have uncovered evidence that the high-altitude tropical ice fields are likely smaller than they've been at any time since the last ice age ended 11,700 years ago.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Climate change means that tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia are developing faster, lasting longer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study reveals that tropical cyclones in Southeast Asia are now forming closer to coastlines, intensifying more rapidly, and lingering longer over land.