ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATEA new study is showing that climate change will lead to butterflies extinction in the near future. A study on climate change and its impact on the environment and the ecosystems is showing that six species of butterflies in the U.
You may think a wasp that can zombify its prey with venom in order to eat it alive sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but it's actually the stuff of biodiversity. Called the dementor wasp, this terrifying insect was just discovered last year-along with 138 other new species-in the Greater Mekong Region of Asia, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) reports today.
Throughout human history, people have utilized caves for protection from the elements, as safe havens from predators, and as canvases to display beautiful works of art. Now, a group of scientists from Vanderbilt University are using caves to learn about weather patterns in the past. And what they're discovering may provide insight into our planet's future climate.
A part of Antarctica that scientists once thought to be safe from climate change is now showing signs of instability, and the loss of this ice could lead to the rising sea levels around the world.
Antarctica is a truly massive continent. At over 5 million square miles, the whole of the US could fit securely within its borders. It boasts the highest, driest, coldest, and windiest landscape of all seven continents. And the fact that it is losing ice is nothing new. It's the rate at which parts of the continent are melting that is raising new concerns.
Two Arizona State University engineers warn that the power grid of the American West must be prepared for the impacts of climate change. The region's entire infrastructure for electricity generation and distribution must be "climate-proofed" to diminish the risk of future power shortages.
That restorative sea breeze you enjoy on your vacation is more complex than most of us realize. Now, researchers from the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Climate and the Environment (CAICE) have demonstrated that microbes in seawater influence our climate, shaping the ways that sunlight enters the ocean as clouds form. The study recently presented to the American Chemical Society shows that it is the microbes in the seawater that control the way sea spray enters into the atmosphere, and everything that follows that.
The latest human first has chilling consequences for our species, and all others: for the first time since scientists began tracking global carbon dioxide concentrations in our atmosphere, we have surpassed 400 parts per million worldwide.
It's not as colorful in an action movie as invaders from other galaxies, for example, but it seems that soil erosion might be just as deadly to humans. Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley warn that human food security is at risk from the accelerating rate of soil depletion.
As if submersion of coastal communities by rising sea levels weren’t bad enough, scientists have recently added another frightening repercussion to climate change: the loss of species. Scientists are still quibbling over the number of species that may perish with rising temperatures, some claiming zero while others predicting a whopping 54%. In an effort to refine the predictions, Marc Urban, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, has crunched the numbers, and although his results don’t spell the end for over half the world’s species, the numbers are still frightening.
Climate change is already causing heat waves and other extreme weather events around the world. Now, a new study has confirmed that these types of extreme events will only get worse and as much as 75 percent of the planet's "moderate daily hot extremes" can be tied to climate change.
For several years now it has appeared that the climate in the West has been drastically changing. Naysayers might say that the illusion of “climate change” is all in our heads, but for those who had to ration water this past summer in California, the concept of climate change is certainly no longer a joke. But the conversation may not be entirely full of gloom and doom. In fact, thanks to our beloved Pacific Ocean and that nice coastal breeze that we love so dear, we may just see cooler temperatures after all, but we’re not like to get more rain.
Feeding Algae with Wastewater, Makng Biofuel As society shifts to wanting more sustainable sources fuels and other products, many groups are looking at different organisms to act as biological factories.
The tropical rainforests near the equator aren’t the only woodland areas affected by the effects of climate change. The Central Appalachian forests have been experiencing major effects such as heavy rainfall, drought and heat spells as well. And according to a new vulnerability assessment published today by the USDA Forest Service, the complex landscape reveals resilience to climate change in some areas, but also costly vulnerabilities in others.
Producing Fuel from Agricultural Waste For many reasons, it would be a good idea to rely less on petroleum and its derivative compounds. Not only are they unfriendly to the environments but they are obviously nonrenewable.
The world has a set a goal of limiting global warming to just 2 degrees Celsius of average temperature rise, but according to one climate scientist that may not be enough, and he is not alone.
Life’s warm in California, but that doesn’t mean that it’s always a beach. Today is March 27th and it’s barely the start of spring, yet we’re currently in the 90s and four degrees above the anticipated high for the day. And with an ever-changing landscape, going from rural to urban through land conversion, researchers expect for the heat of our situation to continue to rise. But some researchers are hopeful that with new technology and new techniques in urban design, California may be able to keep its cool days and its beach appeal even in the Central Valley.
Times are tough for the massive ice sheets of Antarctica these days with the latest report that the giant floating ice shelves that form a fringe along the continent's coast are beginning to melt and deteriorate much faster than scientists once believed.
The 2014-15 winter was one of the warmest ever recorded in history according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. However, there is one area of the North Atlantic that hasn't been affected by this warming trend and the phenomenon has been the same since around 1970.