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Categories: Environmental: Wildfires, Geoscience: Geography
Published How national policies affect forests in border regions



How do national policies impact deforestation? Researchers have looked into this question at the global scale and have found that, contrary to common assumptions, national strategies have a significant -- and visible -- influence on efforts to protect forest heritage.
Published Millions of mysterious pits in the ocean decoded



The world's ocean are a vast habitat for countless creatures that settle, spawn, dig or feed on the seafloor. They also influence the shape of the ocean floor. How exactly this takes place has been scarcely investigated so far. In an interdisciplinary study, geoscientists, biologists and oceanographers, have examined crater-like depressions on the seafloor of the North Sea. They were able to show that these directly relate to the habitats of porpoises and sand eels, and for the first time provide a conclusive explanation for the importance of vertebrates in shaping the seafloor.
Published Scientists uncover link between the ocean's weather and global climate



Scientists outline the first direct evidence linking seemingly random weather systems in the ocean with climate on a global scale. The team's work creates a promising framework for better understanding the climate system.
Published Reduced air pollution during pandemic points to way to preserve Himalayan glaciers



Reducing air pollution to levels similar to those during the coronavirus pandemic could protect the glaciers in the Himalayas and prevent them from disappearing by the end of the century. This is the conclusion reached by an international research team analyzing the situation during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
Published Genetic sequencing uncovers unexpected source of pathogens in floodwaters



Researchers report that local rivers and streams were the source of the Salmonella enterica contamination along coastal North Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018 -- not the previously suspected high number of pig farms in the region.
Published Spike in dermatology visits for skin problems seen during summer of wildfires



New research suggests that air pollution may contribute to the development or worsening of skin conditions. The work points to the need to improve air quality to lower the burden of skin disease, especially for vulnerable communities.
Published Global inventory of sound production brings us one step closer to understanding aquatic ecosystems



Our understanding of which aquatic species produce sounds just took a big step forward. Scientists have created an inventory of species confirmed or expected to produce sound underwater.
Published Some coral species might be more resilient to climate change than previously thought



Some coral species can be resilient to marine heat waves by 'remembering' how they lived through previous ones, research suggests.
Published Wildfires increasing across Eastern U.S.



Researchers examined 36 years of wildfire data in the eastern United States, focusing on fires that burned large areas. The overall trend for the region showed an increase in fire size, frequency, and shifts in seasonality and highlights a need for proactive management and individual preparedness for those living in this populous part of the country.
Published 15 most pressing issues for conservation, including invertebrate decline and changing marine ecosystems



Since 2009, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative has coordinated an annual horizon scan, a well-established method for predicting which threats, changes, and technologies will have the biggest impact on biological conservation in the following year. This year, the 15th horizon scan included 31 scientists, practitioners, and policymakers who developed a list of 96 issues, which they eventually narrowed down to the fifteen most novel and impactful. Their findings include topics related to sustainable energy, declining invertebrate populations, and changing marine ecosystems.
Published Coral atoll islands may outpace sea-level rise with local ecological restoration, scientists say



Ecological restoration may save coral atoll islands from the rising seas of climate change, according to an international team of scientists, conservationists, and an indigenous leader.
Published Understanding atmospheric flash droughts in the Caribbean



The word 'drought' typically conjures images of parched soil, dust-swept prairies, depleted reservoirs, and dry creek beds, all the result of weeks or seasons of persistently dry atmospheric conditions. In the sun-soaked islands in the Caribbean, however, drought conditions can occur much more rapidly, with warning signs appearing too late for mediation strategies to limit agriculture losses or prevent stresses on infrastructure systems that provide clean water to communities.
Published Positive tipping points must be triggered to solve climate crisis



Positive tipping points must be triggered if we are to avoid the severe consequences of damaging Earth system tipping points, researchers say.
Published Morocco earthquake had unusual deep slip, according to new modeling



In their rapid characterization of the magnitude 6.8 Al Haouz earthquake in Morocco, researchers suggest that the earthquake ruptured roughly 25 kilometers deep beneath the surface.
Published Drones capture new clues about how water shapes mountain ranges over time



Drones flying along miles of rivers in the steep, mountainous terrain of central Taiwan and mapping the rock properties have revealed new clues about how water helps shape mountains over geological time.
Published Wildfires also impact aquatic ecosystems



Researchers have shown that the effects of wildfires are not limited to terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems are also undergoing rapid changes. The study found that fire debris transforms lakes and other aquatic ecosystems, with implications for fisheries and water quality.
Published Pacific Northwest snowpack endangered by increasing spring heatwaves



Even in the precipitation-heavy Pacific Northwest, more frequent heatwaves are threatening a key source of water supply. A Washington State University study that intended to look at snow melting under a single, extreme event, the 2021 'heat dome,' instead revealed an alarming, longer-term rising trend of successive heatwaves melting snowpack earlier in the year. From temperature records spanning from 1940 to 2021, springtime heatwaves in the region have doubled in frequency, intensity or both since the mid-1990s. The findings have implications for many areas worldwide that are dependent on snow-capped mountains to provide summer water since heatwaves have been on the rise globally.
Published Highly resolved precipitation maps based on AI



Strong precipitation may cause natural disasters, such as floodings or landslides. Global climate models are required to forecast the frequency of these extreme events, which is expected to change as a result of climate change. Researchers have now developed a first method based on artificial intelligence (AI), by means of which the precision of coarse precipitation fields generated by global climate models can be increased. The researchers succeeded in improving spatial resolution of precipitation fields from 32 to two kilometers and temporal resolution from one hour to ten minutes. This higher resolution is required to better forecast the more frequent occurrence of heavy local precipitation and the resulting natural disasters in future.
Published Twenty-year study confirms California forests are healthier when burned -- or thinned



A 20-year experiment in the Sierra Nevada confirms that different forest management techniques -- prescribed burning, restoration thinning or a combination of both -- are effective at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire in California. These treatments also improve forest health, making trees more resilient to stressors like drought and bark beetles, and they do not negatively impact plant or wildlife biodiversity within individual tree stands, the research found.
Published Free electric vehicle charging at work? It's possible with optimum solar



The global surge in electric vehicle sales has prompted an Australian university to explore how it could offer free or nominal EV charging facilities to staff and students by optimizing its solar PV system and minimizing workplace electricity costs.