The Washington Post reports:
In the midst of a historic heat wave in the West, the mercury in Death Valley, California surged to a searing 130 degrees on Sunday afternoon, possibly setting a world record for the highest temperature ever observed during the month of August. If the temperature is valid, it would also rank among the top three highest temperatures ever…
Tag: forests
Can we rely on tropical forests to stop runaway climate change?
The world’s jungles absorb a large proportion of our CO2 emissions, helping to slow the pace of human-induced global warming. But they may be reaching saturation point Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24732951-800-can-we-rely-on-tropical-forests-to-stop-runaway-climate-change/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Theoretical Physicists Say 90% Chance of Societal Collapse Within Several Decades
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Two theoretical physicists specializing in complex systems conclude that global deforestation due to human activities is on track to trigger the “irreversible collapse” of human civilization within the next two to four decades. If we continue destroying and degrading the world’s forests, Earth will no longer be able to sustain a large human…
Spiderwebs gather DNA that can help us monitor insects in forests
Spiders may build their webs to catch prey, but trials in Slovenian forests show they also grab onto DNA, which can help us monitor biodiversity in a less invasive manner Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2249691-spiderwebs-gather-dna-that-can-help-us-monitor-insects-in-forests/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
The Entire World’s Carbon Emissions Will Finally Be Trackable In Real Time
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Vox: There’s an old truism in the business world: what gets measured gets managed. One of the challenges in managing the greenhouse gas emissions warming the atmosphere is that they aren’t measured very well. The ultimate solution to this problem– the killer app, as it were — would be real-time tracking of all global…
Saharan-fed sunsets in the US
A massive Saharan dust plume is moving into the southeast US, bringing technicolor sunsets and suppressing tropical storms. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/saharan-dust-cloud-us-sunsets-june2020…
Lightning is silently killing forests – and it’s going to get worse
Lightning sparks wildfires, causes pollution and destroys some of the planet’s most important trees. Climate change could see its incidence – and impact – increase Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632881-500-lightning-is-silently-killing-forests-and-its-going-to-get-worse/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Lightning is killing our forests – and it’s only going to get worse
Lightning sparks wildfires, causes pollution and destroys some of the planet’s most important trees. Climate change could see its incidence – and impact – increase Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24632881-500-lightning-is-killing-our-forests-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Controversial Theory Claims Forests Don’t Just Make Rain — They Make Wind
sciencehabit writes from a report via Science Magazine: With their ability to soak up carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, the world’s great forests are often referred to as the planet’s lungs. But Anastassia Makarieva, a theorist at the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Russia, says they are its beating heart, too. They recycle vast amounts of moisture into the air…
Ancient Mass Extinction Tied To Ozone Loss, Warming Climate
Iwastheone shares a report from Science Magazine: The end of the Devonian period, 359 million years ago, was an eventful time: Fish were inching out of the ocean, and fernlike forests were advancing on land. The world was recovering from a mass extinction 12 million years earlier, but the climate was still chaotic, swinging between hothouse conditions and freezes so deep…