Climate change refers to the fluctuation of the climate system caused by the energy entering and leaving Earth. The greenhouse effect, which refers to how greenhouse gases (GHGs) act like a blanket and prevent the loss of Earth’s heat to space, has occurred naturally throughout Earth’s history. However, since the Industrial Revolution, human activities have […]
Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering compound used in sunscreens, has been found in high concentrations in the waters around popular coral reefs in Hawaii and the Caribbean. According to new research, the chemical not only kills coral, it causes DNA damage in adults and deforms the DNA in coral in the larval stage, making it unlikely they […]
Appearing in Nature Communications, a new study of dog fossils suggests that the evolutionary path of whole groups of predators can be a direct consequence of climate change. “It’s reinforcing the idea that predators may be as directly sensitive to climate and habitat as herbivores,” said study co-author Christine Janis, professor of ecology and evolutionary […]
Bringing reusable bags to the grocery store can mean you’re an environmentally friendly shopper. But a new study in the Journal of Marketing shows it also influences the things you buy. Specifically, bringing your own bags makes you more likely to purchase organic food – and junk food. The study is one of the first […]
Detailing their work in Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of scientists suggest there may be far fewer galaxies in the far reaches of the Universe than previously thought. Led by Brian O’Shea, from Michigan State University, the team offer a theory that reduces the estimated number of the most distant galaxies by 10 to 100 […]
An international group of scientists has observed a sudden increase in ice loss on the Southern Antarctic Peninsula, what was previously thought to be a stable region of Antarctica. Led by scientists from the University of Bristol (UK), the group has published their observations in the latest edition of Science. Using measurements of the elevation […]
Although massive vegetation loss is still occurring in Asia and South America, an analysis of 20 years of satellite data has revealed that the regrowth of forests in China, Australia, and Africa mean that the total amount of vegetation globally has increased by almost 4 billion tons of carbon since 2003. The new analysis, by […]
A new analysis of climate change models predicts a 50 percent increase in lightning strikes across the United States during this century as a result of warming temperatures associated with climate change. University of California, Berkeley, climate scientist David Romps and his colleagues looked at predictions of precipitation and cloud buoyancy in 11 different climate […]
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world after water. In the United States, tea purchases have increased for 20 consecutive years and annual sales have surpassed $2.2 billion, with 160 million Americans drinking tea on any given day, according to the Tea Association of the USA. Now, a team of researchers has […]
An intriguing study from Yale University shows that large-scale forest losses over the last 150 years – largely through the conversion of forests to cropland – produced a net global cooling effect of about 0.1 degrees Celsius. During the same period, the global climate warmed by about 0.6 degrees Celsius, mostly due to increases in […]
