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Sunny California may be getting too sunny. Increasing summer temperatures brought on by a combination of intensifying urbanization and warming climate are driving off once common low-lying morning clouds in many southern coastal areas of the state, leading to increased risk of wildfires, says a new study.

Over-prescribing has long been thought to increase antibiotic resistance in bacteria. But could much bigger environmental pressures be at play?

While studying the role of climate on the distribution of antibiotic resistance across the geography of the U.S., a multidisciplinary team of epidemiologists from Boston Children’s Hospital found that higher local temperatures and population densities correlate with higher antibiotic resistance in common bacterial strains. Their findings were published today in Nature Climate Change.

Cape Town has come dangerously close to running out of water after 3 years of persistent drought.

Global lake evaporation will increase 16 percent by the end of the century as a consequence of climate change, a new Yale study finds. But the specific mechanisms that will drive that phenomenon are not quite what scientists expected.
 
While it is commonly believed that lake evaporation is controlled primarily by incoming solar radiation, the researchers used modeling tools to show that other factors — from shorter ice periods to a “reallocation” of heat energy at lake surfaces — are accelerating the loss of lake water into the atmosphere.

The main type of “bunker” oil for ships is heavy fuel oil, derived as a residue from crude oil distillation. Crude oil contains sulphur which, following combustion in the engine, ends up in ship emissions. Sulphur oxides (SO_x) are known to be harmful to human health, causing respiratory symptoms and lung disease. In the atmosphere, SO_x can lead to acid rain, which can harm crops, forests and aquatic species, and contributes to the acidification of the oceans.

Limiting SO_x emissions from ships will improve air quality and protects the environment.