Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General
Published

Wave devouring propulsion: A revolutionary green technology for maritime sustainability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new form of wave devouring propulsion (WDP) could power ships and help to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime industry.

Biology: Botany Biology: Marine Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Trees Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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The Fens of eastern England once held vast woodlands      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Fens of eastern England, a low-lying, extremely flat landscape dominated by agricultural fields, was once a vast woodland filled with huge yew trees, according to new research. Scientists have studied hundreds of tree trunks, dug up by Fenland farmers while ploughing their fields. The team found that most of the ancient wood came from yew trees that populated the area between four and five thousand years ago.

Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Chemistry: General Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
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Separating out signals recorded at the seafloor      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Research shows that variations in pyrite sulfur isotopes may not represent the global processes that have made them such popular targets of analysis and interpretation. A new microanalysis approach helps to separate out signals that reveal the relative influence of microbes and that of local climate.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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'Dolomite Problem': 200-year-old geology mystery resolved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For 200 years, scientists have failed to grow a common mineral in the laboratory under the conditions believed to have formed it naturally. Now, researchers have finally pulled it off, thanks to a new theory developed from atomic simulations. Their success resolves a long-standing geology mystery called the 'Dolomite Problem.' Dolomite -- a key mineral in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, Niagara Falls, the White Cliffs of Dover and Utah's Hoodoos -- is very abundant in rocks older than 100 million years, but nearly absent in younger formations. The lessons learned from the Dolomite Problem can help engineers manufacture higher-quality materials for semiconductors, solar panels, batteries and other tech.  

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
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A fifth higher: Tropical cyclones substantially raise the Social Cost of Carbon      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Extreme events like tropical cyclones have immediate impacts, but also long-term implications for societies. A new study now finds: Accounting for the long-term impacts of these storms raises the global Social Cost of Carbon by more than 20 percent, compared to the estimates currently used for policy evaluations. This increase is mainly driven by the projected rise of tropical-cyclone damages to the major economies of India, USA, China, Taiwan, and Japan under global warming.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Particulate pollution from coal associated with double the risk of mortality than PM2.5 from other sources      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Exposure to fine particulate air pollutants from coal-fired power plants (coal PM2.5) is associated with a risk of mortality more than double that of exposure to PM2.5 from other sources, according to a new study. Examining Medicare and emissions data in the U.S. from 1999 to 2020, the researchers also found that 460,000 deaths were attributable to coal PM2.5 during the study period -- most of them occurring between 1999 and 2007, when coal PM2.5 levels were highest.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Predicting the fate of shallow coastal ecosystems for the year 2100      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study of shallow-water ecosystems estimates that, by 2100, climate change and coastal land usage could result in significant shrinkage of coral habitats, tidal marshes, and mangroves, while macroalgal beds remain stable and seagrass meadows potentially expand.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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How do temperature extremes influence the distribution of species?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As the planet gets hotter, animal and plant species around the world will be faced with new, potentially unpredictable living conditions, which could alter ecosystems in unprecedented ways. A new study investigates the importance of temperature in determining where animal species are currently found to better understand how a warming climate might impact where they might live in the future.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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'Not dead yet': Experts identify interventions that could rescue 1.5°C      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit global heating to 1.5°C, global annual emissions will need to drop radically over the coming decades. Climate economists say that this goal could still be within our reach. They identify key 'sensitive intervention points' that could unlock significant progress towards the Paris Agreement with the least risk and highest impact.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Researchers puncture 100-year-old theory of odd little 'water balloons'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Quinoa and many other extremely resilient plants are covered with strange balloon-like 'bladders' that for 127 years were believed to be responsible for protecting them from drought and salt. Research results reveal this not to be the case. These so-called bladder cells serve a completely different though important function. The finding makes it likely that even more resilient quinoa plants will now be able to be bred, which could lead to the much wider cultivation of this sustainable crop worldwide.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Mind the gap: Caution needed when assessing land emissions in the COP28 Global Stocktake      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The land use, land use change, and forestry sector plays a strong role in achieving global climate targets, but a gap exists between how scientists and countries account for its emissions. A new study highlights how mitigation benchmarks change when assessing IPCC scenarios from a national inventory perspective, with net-zero timings arriving up to five years earlier and cumulative emissions to net-zero being 15-18% smaller.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
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Massive Antarctic ozone hole over past four years: What is to blame?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Despite public perception, the Antarctic ozone hole has been remarkably massive and long-lived over the past four years; researchers believe chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) aren't the only things to blame.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: General Ecology: Nature Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Deep-sea mining and warming trigger stress in a midwater jellies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The deep sea is home to one of the largest animal communities on earth which is increasingly exposed to environmental pressures. However, our knowledge of its inhabitants and their response to human-induced stressors is still limited. A new study now provides first insights into the stress response of a pelagic deep-sea jellyfish to ocean warming and sediment plumes caused by deep-sea mining.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Chemistry: Organic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography
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Effect of aerosol particles on clouds and the climate captured better      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global measurements and model calculations show that the complex relationship between the chemistry and climate impact of aerosol particles can be successfully captured by a simple formula.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Outlook on scaling of carbon removal technologies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

  The research makes it clear that ensuring the sustained well-being of our planet requires a more serious commitment toward new carbon dioxide removal technologies, and a faster scale-up of their production.

Biology: Botany Ecology: Nature Ecology: Trees Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
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Forest modeling shows which harvest rotations lead to maximum carbon sequestration      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Forest modeling shows that a site's productivity -- an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate -- is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration.

Chemistry: General Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
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New percussion method to detect pipeline elbow erosion      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An engineering research team is pioneering a new method, based on percussion, to detect pipeline elbow erosion to prevent economic losses, environmental pollution and other safety issues.  

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Volcanoes
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Massive 2022 eruption reduced ozone layer levels      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano changed the chemistry and dynamics of the stratosphere in the year following the eruption, leading to unprecedented losses in the ozone layer of up to 7% over large areas of the Southern Hemisphere.