Cutting Methane Could Slow the Recovery of the Ozone Layer

Reducing methane emissions will slow climate change but could also slow the recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer, new research from the University of Reading shows.

New Approach to Urban Planning With Less Car Traffic and Lower Carbon Emissions

Urban planning needs to tackle greenhouse gas emissions – and an important way to achieve this is by reducing the number and length of car commutes. 

Researchers Take Soft Robotics to New Heights with Pioneering Tiny Pump Able to Power and Control a Robot Butterfly

Engineers have invented an ingenious liquid-metal pump which could make future soft robotics and wearable devices much more portable and agile.

Longer Droughts and Changes in Rainfall Are Already Occurring in the Amazon, Research Indicates

According to two recently published studies led by scientists from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), the Brazilian Amazon is already beginning to experience scenarios previously projected for the coming decades, including longer dry seasons and changes in rainfall patterns. 

New Method Turns Ocean Water Into Drinking Water, Without Waste

The energy-efficient desalination system produces fresh water without chemical additives and transforms leftover salts into useful materials.

Antarctic Waters Reveal Hidden Genetic World

The discovery could improve understanding of how the ocean shapes Earth’s climate.

Blood Test Powered by AI Could Transform Diagnosis of Dementia

New tool can distinguish among major neurodegenerative diseases with goal of providing clarity for treatment decisions.

Supertrawlers Are Taking Antarctic Krill That Whales Depend On

Maxing out at around 200 tons, the blue whale is not only the largest animal on the planet, it is also the largest animal ever to exist.

Why Whales Became Giants: How Earth System Models Reveal Surprising Connections Between Volcanic Activity, Climate Change and Marine Life

Whales were not always such massive creatures.

Arctic Food Chain Hit as Tipping Point Passed

An irreversible shift in the chemical make-up of the Arctic Ocean driven by climate change is disrupting the region’s food chain, a study suggests.

Widespread loss of Arctic sea ice has led to a sharp fall in levels of a key nutrient, affecting populations of plankton, fish, seabirds and marine mammals, researchers say.

Their analysis reveals that exposure to sunlight of vast shallow regions of the ocean previously covered by ice fuels a process that breaks down the nutrient – nitrate – and removes it from seawater.

Read more at: University of Edinburgh

The polar research vessel RV Kronprins Haakon in Fram Strait, Arctic Ocean. (Photo Credit: Lawrence Hislop/Norwegian Polar Institute)