Russia’s new permafrost monitoring system could improve climate models, protect infrastructure | Science

With the Arctic warming up to four times faster than the global average, temperatures in the frozen soil, or permafrost, under northern Siberia have been rising, turning firm ground unstable and weakening foundations. On 29 May 2020, the thaw may have helped lead to a disaster, when a diesel fuel depot near the town of … Read more

Peatlands in peril: The race to save the bogs that slow climate change

By Alasdair Lane Finnish peat bogs that were drained for forestation are now being restored Jani Riekkinen/EyeEm via Getty Images LIKE much of Europe, Finland was left economically bereft by the second world war. It needed to ramp up productivity fast and the government decided the answer was forestry, the country’s industrial backbone for generations. Vast … Read more

Polar Bears Keep Being Seen Hunting Reindeer, But There’s More to The Story

Recently, scientists in Hornsund, Svalbard – a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic ocean – witnessed a polar bear pursuing a reindeer into the sea before killing it, dragging it ashore, and eating it.   The video that they captured was widely shared on news and social media platforms. Then, two days later, they saw the … Read more

Even Drastic CO2 Cuts Won’t Bring Back The Climate We’ve Lost

We’re so far down the road of climate change, that even making drastic cuts to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels won’t be enough for the world’s weather systems to fall back into their previous patterns, according to a new study.   But the research also suggests we still can have a huge impact on how severe … Read more

Airborne DNA from plants could reveal invasive species, impact of climate change | Science

Inventorying the plants in a tract of woods or fields or searching for invasive species can take days of hot, hard work slogging through thorny brush and tick-infested grass. Now, researchers have shown that simply capturing and analyzing the DNA plants release into the air can work as well as putting boots on the ground—and … Read more

Eating Less Red Meat Is Something Individuals Can Do to Help the Climate Crisis

When I give public lectures about the climate crisis, the most common question people pose is: “Are you an optimist or a pessimist?” My answer is yes. California has achieved dramatic emissions reductions in a thriving economy, which makes me hopeful, yet in general the fossil-fuel industry is determined not to change. The second most … Read more

The Five Biggest Climate Stories of 2021

It feels like we are lurching from one disaster to another: as wildfires blaze across part of the country, a hurricane swamps a different area—and all this happens as a pandemic continues to rage. Costs are steadily mounting, making action to stem the release of greenhouse gases ever more urgent. Hopes on that front remained … Read more

Tsunamis: Magnetic fields could form an early warning system for devastating waves

The movement of seawater in a tsunami generates a magnetic field that travels ahead of changes in sea level, which could help us predict and prepare for it Earth 24 December 2021 By Leah Crane The aftermath of a 2010 tsunami in Chile, which was analysed in the new study International Federation of Red Cross … Read more

In this pivotal year, rich nations failed woefully on climate justice

By Graham Lawton Michelle D’urbano AND so this is Christmas, and what have we done? A year ago, I was writing a preview of 2021, which was shaping up to be pivotal for our fractious relationship with the environment. The UN was getting ready to launch not one, but two decades: one on ecological restoration … Read more