Where Rising Seas Threaten Drinking Water, Scientists Look for Affordable Solutions

Rising oceans bring more than high tides and nuisance flooding to coastal zones. They also carry salt water into inland aquifers where dissolved salts can spoil drinking water. A new research effort at the University of Pennsylvania aims to identify vulnerable water systems along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where rising seas pose water quality … Read more

Patagonia Is Rapidly Rising Up in The Largest Glacial Adjustment Ever Recorded

Patagonian ice fields are among some of the fastest-melting glaciers on the planet. As these glaciers disappear, the earth that once lay beneath them is rebounding upwards at rates much faster than expected.   Now, scientists have worked out a gap in tectonic plates that began forming some 18 million years ago underneath now-shrinking ice … Read more

Photosynthesis: Global rate is increasing due to rising CO2 levels

An analysis of plants at 68 sites around the world finds evidence that rates of photosynthesis have risen since the year 2000 Environment 28 February 2022 By Chen Ly Photosynthetic rates have risen in recent years Ryhor Bruyeu/Alamy Stock Photo Since the early 2000s, the growing level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has led … Read more

Rising seas could submerge Rio and Jakarta by 2100 – what can we do?

Smart engineering solutions such as “sand motors” and artificial reefs will defend our coasts for a while. But in many places, conversations are already turning to a managed retreat inland Environment 23 February 2022 By Simon Usborne Shutterstock/Chxli A MINATH SHAUNA grew up on the Addu Atoll, a small group of islands in the Maldives … Read more

African heritage: 190 sites threatened by rising seas this century

As sea levels rise due to climate change, heritage sites all around the African coast will come under increasing risk of flood damage – including Carthage and sites linked to the Ancient Egyptian civilisation Humans 10 February 2022 By Michael Marshall Sabratha, an ancient Roman town in what is now Libya Sklifas Steven/Alamy Stock Photo … Read more

Agonizing Cough of Croup Rising in Kids with COVID

Growing numbers of children who test positive for the COVID-causing virus SARS-CoV-2 at hospitals this winter are showing up with a barking cough, the characteristic symptom of croup. Though this respiratory syndrome is usually mild, it may lead to more serious illness. An estimated one in 30,000 croup cases are fatal, according to a 2013 … Read more

New Maps Show US Flood Damage Rising 26 Percent in Next 30 Years

The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Climate change is raising flood risks in neighborhoods across the U.S. much faster than many people realize. Over the next three decades, the cost of flood damage is on pace to rise 26% due to climate change alone, an … Read more