Science Daily: Climate News

Scientists noted that the slope on Barry Arm fjord on Prince William Sound in southeastern Alaska slid some 120 meters from 2010 to 2017, a slow-moving landslide caused by glacial melt that could trigger a devastating tsunami. These are some of the first measurements to quantify how the slope is falling there; the study also models a potential tsunami.

Europe is to become the first climate-neutral continent- this goal of the 'Green Deal' was announced by the EU in late 2019. Carbon emissions shall be reduced, while forestation, agriculture, environmentally friendly transport, and renewable energies shall be pushed. In Nature, scientists show that this 'Green Deal' might be a bad deal for the planet, as the EU will outsource environmental damage by high imports of agricultural products.

Coral reefs are extremely sensitive to temperature, making them particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. But some corals seem able to adapt. Researchers studied a reef in New Caledonia, combining approaches from environmental science and genomics to characterize their adaptive potential and develop targeted conservation strategies.

Computational models suggest that melting water originating in the deep interior of Greenland could flow the entire length of a subglacial valley and exit at Petermann Fjord, along the northern coast of the island. Updating ice sheet models with this open valley could provide additional insight for future climate change predictions.

Researchers studying the Bering and Chukchi seas for three weeks in October found no ice and a surprisingly active ecosystem as they added another year's data to a key climate change record.

Warm, moist rivers of air in Antarctica play a key role in creating massive holes in sea ice in the Weddell Sea and may influence ocean conditions around the vast continent as well as climate change, according to new research.

Massive explosions of energy happening thousands of light-years from Earth may have left traces in our planet's biology and geology, according to new research.

Arctic researchers have been visiting the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska for nearly 30 years, collecting information about the biological diversity of the watery world under the sea ice. This year, a late-season research cruise revealed a surprise. At a time of year when an ice-breaking ship is usually required to get to some of the data-gathering outposts, scientists found nothing but open water and an unusually active ecosystem.

Securing plant production is a global task. Using a combination of new molecular and statistical methods, a research team was able to show that material from gene banks can be used to improve traits in the maize plant. Old varieties can thus help to breed new varieties adapted to current and future climates.

Climate change is causing hurricanes that make landfall to take more time to weaken, reports a new study. The researchers showed that hurricanes that develop over warmer oceans carry more moisture and therefore stay stronger for longer after hitting land. This means that in the future, as the world continues to warm, hurricanes are more likely to reach communities farther inland and be more destructive.

By analyzing nesting data from across the contiguous US, the authors found widespread impacts of noise and light pollution on bird nesting habits and success. Birds that live in forests were most sensitive to noise pollution, as were those with low frequency songs. Sensitivity to light pollution was strongly linked to variation in low light vision. The results reveal traits and contexts indicative of sensitivities to these stimuli that can be used for conservation planning.

When the San Francisco Bay Area mandated shelter-in-place March 16, it created a natural experiment for UC Berkeley's Ron Cohen, who had established an inexpensive pollution sensor network in local neighborhoods. The sensors showed carbon dioxide emissions plummeting 25 percent in the subsequent six weeks, mostly because of a 48 percent drop in traffic. Networks like this -- soon to be emplaced in Glasgow -- can track greenhouse gases and progress toward lowering them, including the impact of electric vehicles.

Researchers say they have found more concrete evidence of the volcanic cause of the largest mass extinction of life. Their research looked at two discrete eruption events: one that was previously unknown to researchers, and the other that resulted in large swaths of terrestrial and marine life going extinct.

Scientists have detected what they say are the sediments of a huge ancient lake bed sealed more than a mile under the ice of northwest Greenland.

A recent study found evidence that particulate organic carbon levels are one of the most important factors in determining coral outplant survival.

Using new high-resolution simulations, researchers conclude that climate change made the Cape Town 'Day Zero' drought five to six times more likely and suggest extreme drought events could become common in southwestern South Africa by the end of the 21st century.

After a nuclear war, wild-catch marine fisheries will not offset the loss of food grown on land, especially if widespread overfishing continues, according to a new study. But effective pre-war fisheries management would greatly boost the oceans' potential contribution of protein and nutrients during a global food emergency, according to the study. The study for the first time explored the effects of nuclear war on wild-catch marine fisheries.

Physicists observed reef-forming corals at the nanoscale and identified how they create their skeletons. The results provide an explanation for how corals are resistant to acidifying oceans and suggest that controlling water temperature, not acidity, is crucial to mitigating loss and restoring reefs.

Maintaining forest cover is an important natural climate solution, but new research shows that too often, communities lose out when local forest management is formalized.