To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of declining phytoplankton in the North Atlantic may have been greatly exaggerated. A prominent 2019 study used ice cores in Antarctica to suggest that marine productivity in the North Atlantic had declined by 10% during the industrial era, with worrying implications that the trend might continue. But new research led … Read more
Ammonia, a main component of many fertilizers, could play a key role in a carbon-free fuel system as a convenient way to transport and store clean hydrogen. The chemical, made of hydrogen and nitrogen (NH3), can also itself be burned as a zero-carbon fuel. However, new research led by Princeton University illustrates that even though … Read more
A new element of the catastrophic impacts of climate change is emerging — how global warming is impacting the human brain. In a paper published today in Nature Climate Change, an international team of academics explore the ways in which research has shown that a changing environment affects how our brains work, and how climate … Read more
Wildfires and drought have led to $11.2 billion in damages to privately held timberland in California, Oregon and Washington over the past two decades, a new Oregon State University study found. That represents about a 10% reduction in the value of private timberland in the three states. Based on recent climate change attribution studies by … Read more
It has long been clear that human-made greenhouse gases are changing the climate — but there are still important details of climate change that are not well understood. These include the behavior of tiny particles that form all by themselves from molecules in the air and can lead to the formation of clouds. Dominik Stolzenburg … Read more
A Griffith-led study on the influence of pollution on the sex ratio of clutches of green sea turtles has found that it may compound the female-biasing influence of rising global temperatures. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the researchers concluded that exposure to heavy metals cadmium and antimony and certain organic contaminants, accumulated by the … Read more
Ozone (O3) in the troposphere negatively impacts crop growth and development, causing significant decreases in crop yield worldwide. This airborne pollutant does not come directly from smokestacks or vehicles, but instead is formed when other pollutants, mainly nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, react in the presence of sunlight. In an increasingly polluted atmosphere, understanding … Read more