Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Paleontology: Climate
Published

It flickers, then it tips -- study identifies early warning signals for the end of the African humid period      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Tipping points in the climate system can be the result of a slow but linear development. However, they can also be accompanied by a 'flickering', with two stable climatic states that alternate before a final transition occurs -- and the climate tips permanently.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Energy: Technology Environmental: General Geoscience: Geography
Published

Efficacy of solar panels boosted      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Solar energy is a crucial asset in the fight against climate change, and researchers have now devised a smart approach to optimize its effectiveness. Their innovative method includes incorporating artificial ground reflectors, a simple yet powerful enhancement.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Earthquakes Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology
Published

Researchers show that slow-moving earthquakes are controlled by rock permeability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group explores how the makeup of rocks, specifically their permeability -- or how easily fluids can flow through them -- affects the frequency and intensity of slow slip events. Slow slips' role in the earthquake cycle may help lead to a better model to predict when earthquakes happen.

Energy: Alternative Fuels Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Low-energy process for high-performance solar cells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Finding reliable, eco-friendly power sources is crucial as our world grapples with increasing energy needs and the urgent call to combat climate change. Solar energy offers one solution, with scientists devising ever more efficient materials for capturing sunlight.

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

From fossils to fuel: Mozambique's Maniamba Basin's energy potential      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the ever-expanding search for energy resources, a new study has emerged from Mozambique's Maniamba Basin. Mozambique's Maniamba Basin could be a big source of natural gas.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography
Published

Millions in costs due to discharge of scrubber water into the Baltic Sea      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Discharge from ships with so-called scrubbers cause great damage to the Baltic Sea. A new study shows that these emissions caused pollution corresponding to socio-economic costs of more than EUR 680 million between 2014 and 2022. At the same time, the researchers note that the shipping companies' investments in the much-discussed technology, where exhaust gases are 'washed' and discharged into the sea, have already been recouped for most of the ships. This means that the industry is now making billions of euros by running its ships on cheap heavy fuel oil instead of cleaner fuel.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Turbid waters keep the coast healthy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To preserve the important intertidal areas and salt marshes off our coasts for the future, we need more turbid water. That is one of the striking conclusions from a new study.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: General
Published

The Clues for Cleaner Water      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By using experimental electrochemical analyses, mass spectrometry, and computational quantum chemistry modeling, the researchers created an 'atomic-scale storyline' to explain how ozone is generated on NATO electrocatalysts. They identified that some of the nickel in NATO is probably leaching out of the electrodes via corrosion, and these nickel atoms, now floating in the solution near the catalyst, can promote chemical reactions that eventually generate ozone.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

AI to make crop production more sustainable      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Drones monitoring fields for weeds and robots targeting and treating crop diseases may sound like science fiction but is actually happening already, at least on some experimental farms. Researchers are working on driving forward the smart digitalization of agriculture and have now published a list of the research questions that will need to be tackled as a priority in the future.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Landslides
Published

Lake tsunamis pose significant threat under warming climate      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The names might not be familiar -- Cowee Creek, Brabazon Range, Upper Pederson Lagoon -- but they mark the sites of recent lake tsunamis, a phenomenon that is increasingly common in Alaska, British Columbia and other regions with mountain glaciers. Triggered by landslides into small bodies of water, most of these tsunamis have occurred in remote locations so far, but geologists say it may just be a matter of time before a tsunami swamps a more populated place.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Sister cities can help communities better navigate the climate crisis      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Anthropologists suggest in a new study that establishing networks of 'sister cities' dedicated to addressing the impact of natural disasters can mitigate the devastation wrought by climate change.

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

Quantifying U.S. health impacts from gas stoves      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study of air pollution in U.S. homes reveals how much gas and propane stoves increase people's exposure to nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant linked to childhood asthma. Even in bedrooms far from kitchens, concentrations frequently exceed health limits while stoves are on and for hours after burners and ovens are turned off.

Biology: Zoology Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: General
Published

Did a magnetic field collapse trigger the emergence of animals?      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers uncovered compelling evidence that Earth's magnetic field was in a highly unusual state when the macroscopic animals of the Ediacaran Period -- 635 to 541 million years ago -- diversified and thrived. Their study raises the question of whether these fluctuations in Earth's ancient magnetic field led to shifts in oxygen levels that may have been crucial to the proliferation of life forms millions of years ago.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Plants utilize drought stress hormone to block snacking spider mites      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent findings that plants employ a drought-survival mechanism to also defend against nutrient-sucking pests could inform future crop breeding programs aimed at achieving better broadscale pest control.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

'Gap' in carbon removal: Countries' plans to remove CO2 not enough      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research suggests that countries' current plans to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will not be enough to comply with the 1.5 C warming limit set out under the Paris Agreement.

Chemistry: General Energy: Nuclear Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Physics: General
Published

New Nevada experiments will improve monitoring of nuclear explosions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

On an October morning in 2023, a chemical explosion detonated in a tunnel under the Nevada desert was the launch of the next set of experiments by the National Nuclear Security Administration, with the goal to improve detection of low-yield nuclear explosions around the world.

Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

For microscopic organisms, ocean currents act as 'expressway' to deeper depths      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Some of the ocean's tiniest organisms get swept into underwater currents that act as a conduit that shuttles them from the sunny surface to deeper, darker depths where they play a huge role in affecting the ocean's chemistry and ecosystem, according to new research.

Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues
Published

Oil palm plantations are driving massive downstream impact to watershed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The global demand for palm oil -- the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick -- is driving worldwide tropical deforestation. While many studies have shown the loss of biodiversity when rainforests are converted to oil palm plantations, researchers have now shown the far-reaching and wide-ranging disturbances to the watersheds in which such plantations occur.