From domestic cats’ ecocide of small animals to the greenhouse gases they emit, owning a pet is an environmental vice we must confront, writes Graham Lawton Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432592-100-why-you-should-worry-about-your-pets-ecological-footprint/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: greenhouse
The World May Already Have Crossed a Series of Climate Tipping Points
The world may already have crossed a series of climate tipping points, according to a stark warning from scientists. This risk is “an existential threat to civilization,” they say, meaning “we are in a state of planetary emergency.” From a report: Tipping points are reached when particular impacts of global heating become unstoppable, such as the runaway loss of ice sheets…
Greenhouse Gas Emissions Are Still Rising, UN Report Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: Greenhouse gas emissions have risen steadily for the past decade despite the current and future threat posed by climate change, according to a new United Nations report. The annual report compares how clean the world’s economies are to how clean they need to be to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change…
CO2-guzzling bacteria made in the lab could help tackle climate change
Bacteria have been engineered to live off carbon dioxide in the air. As well as pulling the greenhouse gas from the air they could be used to make food and fuel Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2224908-co2-guzzling-bacteria-made-in-the-lab-could-help-tackle-climate-change/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
India’s Ominous Future: Too Little Water, or Far Too Much
Throughout India, the number of days with very heavy rains has increased over the last century. At the same time, the dry spells between storms have gotten longer. Showers that reliably penetrate the soil are less common. For a country that relies on rain for the vast share of its water, that combination is potentially ruinous. The New York Times reports:…
Sea Levels Will Rise For Centuries Even If Greenhouse Gas Emissions Goals Are Me
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Weather Channel: Sea levels will continue to rise for the next three centuries even if governments meet carbon emissions pledges for 2030 set in the Paris climate agreement, a new study indicates. Greenhouse gas emissions from 2016 to 2030 alone would cause sea levels to increase nearly 8 inches (20 cm) by 2300,…
Sea Levels Will Rise For Centuries Even If Greenhouse Gas Emissions Goals Are Met
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Weather Channel: Sea levels will continue to rise for the next three centuries even if governments meet carbon emissions pledges for 2030 set in the Paris climate agreement, a new study indicates. Greenhouse gas emissions from 2016 to 2030 alone would cause sea levels to increase nearly 8 inches (20 cm) by 2300,…
Asthma Carbon Footprint ‘As Big As Eating Meat’
Cambridge University researchers say some inhalers are bad for the environment because they release greenhouse gases linked to global warming. They recommend patients with asthma talk to their doctors to see if there’s a “greener” medication they could switch to to help cut their carbon footprint and save the environment. The BBC reports: There are more than five million people with…
Organic Farming is Actually Worse For Climate Change
Organic practices can reduce climate pollution produced directly from farming — which would be fantastic if they didn’t also require more land to produce the same amount of food. From a report: Clearing additional grasslands or forests to grow enough food to make up for that difference would release far more greenhouse gas than the practices initially reduce, a new study…
How small is the smallest habitable exoplanet?
Where can we expect to find life beyond Earth? A new study has redefined the lower limit in mass for habitable exoworlds. It suggests that low-mass waterworlds might exist and might be a place to look. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/small-rocky-exoplanets-can-still-be-habitable…