Science Daily: Climate News

Sunlight in, reflected and emitted energy out. That's the fundamental energy balance sheet for our planet -- and for decades, it has been out of balance. The extra energy manifests as higher temperatures, rising sea levels, floods, droughts, more powerful blizzards and hurricanes, and deadlier extreme events. Not only is the imbalance growing, but there's a 99% chance that the growth is due to human activity, calculated a team of researchers.

Climate conditions play a significant role in the reproductive success of mature female Antarctic krill and are a factor in fluctuations of the population that occur every five to seven years.

New research identifies climate change challenges faced by U.S. Department of Defense facilities, and solutions that might serve as a model for other large organizations.

A team of scientists has developed an approach to disposing wastewater that reduces the danger of triggering an earthquake.

Twenty months after declaring a climate emergency and establishing a set of vital signs for the Earth, a coalition headed by two Oregon State University researchers says the updated vital signs "largely reflect the consequences of unrelenting business as usual."

Researchers have for the first time demonstrated a direct link between the decrease in the Dead Sea's water table, evaporation and land subsidence.

The devastating bushfires in Australia had a larger impact on the world's 2020 climate than the pandemic-related lockdowns, as plumes of smoke cooled global temperatures and pushed tropical thunderstorms northward. New research indicates that regional wildfires can have far-reaching climatic effects that are comparable to a major volcanic eruption.

A model of the eastern California forests of the Sierra Nevada looks at the longer-term future of wildfires under future climate change scenarios. Results show an initial roughly decade-long burst of wildfire activity, followed by recurring fires of decreasing area -- a pattern that could apply to other hot, dry forests in the West.

In September of 2017, marine biologists were conducting an experiment in Bocas del Toro, off the Caribbean coast of Panama. After sitting on a quiet, warm open ocean, they snorkeled down to find a peculiar layer of murky, foul-smelling water about 10 feet below the surface, with brittle stars and sea urchins, which are usually in hiding, perching on the tops of coral. This observation prompted a collaborative study analyzing what this foggy water layer is caused by, and the impact it has on life at the bottom of the seafloor.

Researchers created a global dataset of job footprints in 50 countries and used a model to investigate how trying to meet the Paris Agreement global climate target of staying well below 2°C would affect energy sector jobs. They found that action to reach said target would increase net jobs by about 8 million by 2050, primarily due to gains in the solar and wind industries.

Humid tropical forests, vital in global efforts to limit rising temperatures, are under threat as a result of changes in land use and climate. Now, researchers have developed a new way to keep tabs on the vulnerability of these forests on a global scale using satellite data called the tropical forest vulnerability index (TFVI).

Many species within Kenya's Tana River Basin will be unable to survive if global temperatures continue to rise as they are on track to do - according to new research. A new study outlines how remaining within the goals of the Paris Agreement would save many species. The research also identifies places that could be restored to better protect biodiversity and contribute towards global ecosystem restoration targets.

Infection with dengue virus makes mosquitoes more sensitive to warmer temperatures, according to new research. The team also found that infection with the bacterium Wolbachia, which has recently been used to control viral infections in mosquitoes, also increases the thermal sensitivity of the insects. The findings suggest that global warming could limit the spread of dengue fever but could also limit the effectiveness of Wolbachia as a biological control agent.

To meet an ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, California's policymakers are relying in part on forests and shrublands to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, but researchers warn that future climate change may limit the ecosystem's ability to perform this service.

Researchers used the City of Pittsburgh to create a model built upon the design, materials and purpose of commercial buildings to estimate their energy usage and emissions.

Scientists have found in Salzgitter-Salder what researchers have been searching for for more than 20 years: A geological formation that perfectly represents the transition from the Cretaceous Turonian to the Coniacian Age. The former limestone quarry is now considered a global reference point (GSSP) for the turn of the ages 89.4 million years ago.

Researchers chronicle the history of African dust transport, including three independent 'first' discoveries of African dust in the Caribbean Basin in the 1950s and 1960s.

In a new study that combines assessments of the risks of toxic emissions, nontoxic emissions and people's vulnerability to them, researchers found a strong and statistically significant relationship between the spatial distribution of global climate risk and toxic pollution.

A new analysis of global datasets shows low-income countries are significantly more likely to be impacted by both toxic pollution and climate change -- and provides a list of at-risk countries most (and least) able to immediately begin direct efforts toward pollution risk reduction.

Common yeast are able to adapt and thrive in response to a long-term rise in temperature by changing the shape, location and function of some of their proteins. The surprising findings demonstrate the unappreciated plasticity in the molecular and conformational level of proteins and bring the power of molecular biology to the organismal response to climate change.