Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Food security in developed countries shows resilience to climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study has found that market forces have provided good food price stability over the past half century, despite extreme weather conditions.

Environmental: Water Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Scientist helps link climate change to Madagascar's megadrought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team reveals a clear link between human-driven climate change and the years-long drought currently gripping southern Madagascar.

Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Research examines tweets during Hurricane MarĂ­a to analyze social media use during disasters      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Understanding how social media is used during a disaster can help with disaster preparedness and recovery for future events.

Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Severe Weather Mathematics: Statistics
Published

How climate change will impact food production and financial institutions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new method to predict the financial impacts climate change will have on agriculture, which can help support food security and financial stability for countries increasingly prone to climate catastrophes.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Extinction Ecology: General Ecology: Research Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

eDNA methods give a real-time look at coral reef health      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The study underscores the crucial role of microbes in maintaining coral reef health, akin to the human gut microbiome. Hurricanes and disease outbreaks affect coral reef water microbial communities, leading to changes that may support further reef decline. Microbial analysis enables prompt assessment of disturbances' impacts on coral reefs, facilitating timely interventions to support reef ecosystems. Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis offers a noninvasive approach to study coral microbial communities and diagnose reef health.

Biology: Cell Biology Ecology: Trees Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geomagnetic Storms Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Tracing the largest solar storm in modern times from tree rings in Lapland      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research group was able to measure a spike in radiocarbon concentration of trees in Lapland that occurred after the Carrington flare. This discovery helps to prepare for dangerous solar storms.

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

Fans are not a magic bullet for beating the heat!      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study throws cold water on the idea that fans can effectively cool you down during extremely hot weather events.

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

Experiencing extreme weather predicts support for policies to mitigate effects of climate change      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Most Americans report having personally experienced the effects of extreme weather, according to new survey data. An analysis finds that a reported exposure to extreme weather is associated with support for a half-dozen pro-environmental government policies that are intended to mitigate the effects of climate change and are contained in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

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

Australia on track for unprecedented, decades-long megadroughts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Australia could soon see megadroughts that last for more than 20 years, according to new modelling. The researchers' bleak findings are before factoring in human impact on the climate since the Industrial Revolution. According to the scientists, the findings paint a worrying picture of future droughts in Australia that are far worse than anything in recent experience.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

When did the chicken cross the road? New evidence from Central Asia      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team of scholars present the earliest clear archaeological and biomolecular evidence for the raising of chickens for egg production, based on material from 12 archaeological sites spanning one and a half millennia. The research indicates that the domestic chicken, now a staple in diets around the world, is not as ancient as previously thought.

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

Simple equations clarify cloud climate conundrum      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New analysis based on simple equations has reduced uncertainty about how clouds will affect future climate change.

Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General
Published

DNA study IDs descendants of George Washington from unmarked remains, findings to aid service member IDs going back to World War II      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New DNA sequencing technologies have identified the historical remains of George Washington's grandnephews, Samuel Walter Washington and George Steptoe Washington Jr., and their mother, Lucy Payne Washington, from unmarked, fragmentary bones left at the Harewood family cemetery in Charles Town, West Virginia, in the mid-1800s.

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

How extratropical ocean-atmosphere interactions can contribute to the variability of jet streams in the Northern Hemisphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Ocean-atmosphere coupling, the exchange in energy between the ocean and atmosphere, influences teleconnection patterns, the climate effects across vast geographical areas. However, its impact outside the tropics is unclear. A group of researchers examined the effect of ocean coupling on atmospheric circulation patterns in the Northern Hemisphere. They found that extratropical ocean-atmosphere coupling enhances teleconnection patterns and causes more meandering westerly jet streams, which are linked to extreme weather events.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Oceanography Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Artificial reef designed by MIT engineers could protect marine life, reduce storm damage      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers designed an 'architected' reef that can mimic the wave-buffering effects of natural reefs while providing pockets for marine life. The sustainable and cost-saving structure could dissipate more than 95 percent of incoming wave energy using a small fraction of the material normally needed.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Severe hurricanes boost influx of juveniles and gene flow in a coral reef sponge      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A study is the first to evaluate substrate recolonization by sponges in the U.S. Virgin Islands after two catastrophic storms using genetic analyses to understand how much clonality verses sexual recruitment occurs on coral reefs post-storms. Results show that populations of clonal marine species with low pelagic dispersion, such as A. cauliformis, may benefit from increased frequency and magnitude of hurricanes to maintain genetic diversity and combat inbreeding, enhancing the resilience of Caribbean sponge communities to extreme storm events.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: Early Humans Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Geoscience: Geography
Published

Persian plateau unveiled as crucial hub for early human migration out of Africa      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study combining genetic, palaeoecological, and archaeological evidence has unveiled the Persian Plateau as a pivotal geographic location serving as a hub for Homo sapiens during the early stages of their migration out of Africa. It highlights the period between 70,000 to 45,000 years ago when human populations did not uniformly spread across Eurasia, leaving a gap in our understanding of their whereabouts during this time frame.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Wildfires Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Unintended consequences of fire suppression      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study reveals how fire suppression ensures that wildfires will burn under extreme conditions at high severity, exacerbating the impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation.

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

A new way to quantify climate change impacts: 'Outdoor days'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

'Outdoor days,' a new measure, describes climate change impacts by noting the number of days per year that outdoor temperatures are comfortable enough for normal outdoor activities.

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

Satellite data assimilation improves forecasts of severe weather      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In 2020, a line of severe thunderstorms unleashed powerful winds that caused billions in damages across the Midwest United States. A new technique that incorporates satellite data could improve forecasts -- including where the most powerful winds will occur -- for similar severe weather events.

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

The heat index -- how hot it really feels -- is rising faster than temperature      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers showed in 2022 that heat index calculations by NOAA based on analyses from the 1970s don't adequately reflect the heat stress humans feel during the extremes of heat and humidity accompanying climate change. Using their revised heat index, the researchers looked at Texas's summer 2023 heat wave and found that the 3 degree F rise in global temperatures has increased the state's heat index as much as 11 degrees F on the hottest days.