Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Scientists study how to bring you 'climate-smart coffee'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Coffee beans consumed across the globe come from two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora. By 2050, about 80% of Arabica production is predicted to decrease because of climate change. Researchers are investigating to see if they can find alternative coffee cultivars.

Computer Science: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather Mathematics: Modeling
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Raindrops grow with turbulence in clouds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tackling a long-time mystery, scientists have found that the turbulent movements of air in clouds play a key role in the growth of water droplets and the initiation of rain. The research can improve computer model simulations of weather and climate and ultimately lead to better forecasts.

Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Seven steps to achieving the right to clean indoor air post-pandemic      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Seven lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic about ventilation's crucial role in preventing the spread of airborne pathogens has been set out in a new article.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
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How Saharan dust regulates hurricane rainfall      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research underscores the close relationship between dust plumes transported from the Sahara Desert in Africa, and rainfall from tropical cyclones along the U.S. Gulf Coast and Florida.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Southern Ocean absorbing more carbon dioxide than previously thought, study finds      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research has found that the Southern Ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously thought. Using direct measurements of CO2 exchange, or fluxes, between the air and sea, the scientists found the ocean around Antarctica absorbs 25% more CO2 than previous indirect estimates based on shipboard data have suggested.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
Published

Study of urban moss raises concerns about lead levels in older Portland neighborhoods      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Lead levels in moss are as much as 600 times higher in older Portland, Oregon, neighborhoods where lead-sheathed telecommunications cables were once used compared to lead levels in nearby rural areas, a new study of urban moss has found.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology
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New study supports stable mantle chemistry dating back to Earth's early geologic history and over its prodigious evolution      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new analysis of rocks thought to be at least 2.5 billion years old helps clarify the chemical history of Earth's mantle -- the geologic layer beneath the planet's crust. The findings hone scientists' understanding of Earth's earliest geologic processes, and they provide new evidence in a decades-long scientific debate about the geologic history of Earth. Specifically, the results provide evidence that the oxidation state of the vast majority of Earth's mantle has remained stable through geologic time and has not undergone major transitions, contrary to what has been suggested previously by other researchers.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
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Hot traces in rock      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fluids circulating underground change rocks over the course of time. These processes must be taken into account if they are to be used as a climate archive. Researchers have used 380-million-year-old limestones from Hagen-Hohenlimburg to show in detail which climate information is still preserved in the rock.

Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science
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Tropical plant species are as threatened by climate change as widely feared, study confirms      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Biologists who set out to better understand the effects of climate change on plant species in tropical mountain regions found that even small variations in temperature and moisture can have massive impacts, threatening not only plants that live there, but also the ecosystems they support. A study based on labor-intensive fieldwork and analysis in tropical mountain regions shows that a warmer and drier climate will lead to massive losses of plant species.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Severe Weather
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Researchers enhance tool to better predict where and when wildfires will occur      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly enhanced database is expected to help wildfire managers and scientists better predict where and when wildfires may occur by incorporating hundreds of additional factors that impact the ignition and spread of fire.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Converting captured carbon to fuel: Study assesses what's practical and what's not      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new analysis sheds light on major shortfalls of a recently proposed approach to capture CO2 from air and directly convert it to fuel using electricity. The authors also provide a new, more sustainable, alternative.

Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Agriculture: Less productive yet more stable pastures      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Climate change will have a considerable influence on the biodiversity and productivity of meadows and pastures. However, according to the results of the large-scale climate and land use experiment the extent of these changes depends on the land use. Grassland optimized for high yield responds much more sensitively to periods of drought than less intensively used meadows and pastures.

Computer Science: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Severe Weather Mathematics: Modeling
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Scientists use AI to predict a wildfire's next move      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new model that combines generative AI and satellite data to accurately forecast wildfire spread.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Deep-ocean floor produces its own oxygen      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of researchers has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen -- 13,000 feet below the surface. Discovery challenges long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms generate Earth's oxygen. Minerals at the abyssal seafloor appear to act like geobatteries to produce oxygen in a process that does not require sunlight.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
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New dawn for space storm alerts could help shield Earth's tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Space storms could soon be forecasted with greater accuracy than ever before thanks to a big leap forward in our understanding of exactly when a violent solar eruption may hit Earth. Scientists say it is now possible to predict the precise speed a coronal mass ejection (CME) is travelling at and when it will smash into our planet -- even before it has fully erupted from the Sun.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Minerals play newly discovered role in Earth's phosphorus cycle      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Plants and microbes are known to secrete enzymes to transform organic phosphorus into bioavailable inorganic phosphorus. Now, researchers found that iron oxide in soil performs the same transformation. Discovery is important for food security, which requires phosphorus as a crop fertilizer.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry
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Although tiny, peatland microorganisms have a big impact on climate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Polyphenols are generally toxic to microorganisms. In peatlands, scientists thought microorganisms avoided this toxicity by degrading polyphenols using an oxygen-dependent enzyme, and thus that low-oxygen conditions inhibit microbes' carbon cycling. However, a new study found that Arctic peatland microorganisms used alternative enzymes, with and without oxygen, to break down polyphenols. This suggests carbon stored in these ecosystems is more at risk than previously thought.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Sea ice's cooling power is waning faster than its area of extent      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new research.