Why did the Jakobshavn Isbræ ice stream in West Greenland retreat under a cold climate period called the Younger Dryas?

The JRC’s annual forest fires report confirms a trend towards longer and more intense fire seasons in Europe and neighbouring regions, with wildfires now occurring throughout the year. The report coincides with an international study which finds that global wildfire trends could have significant health implications due to rising harmful emissions.

Planting trees, restoring peatlands, and better land management could provide 37 percent of the greenhouse gas mitigation needed between now and 2030 to keep global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, according to a new study published in the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences.

The boreal forest is essential to Canada and the world, storing carbon, purifying water and air, and regulating climate. But keeping tabs on the health of this vulnerable biome has proven to be a painstaking and time-consuming undertaking – until now.

Cutting-edge DNA metabarcoding technology developed by the University of Guelph can help speed up and improve the monitoring process, according to a new study published today in Scientific Reports.

Water-repellent surfaces and coatings could make ice removal a literal breeze by forcing ice to grow up rather than just skate by, says a new study from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and several Chinese institutions.

Using a Lidar, a laser ranging instrument, at the University’s Bayfordbury Observatory near Hertford, the team monitored the height of the particles throughout the day. Laser pulses reflected from the particles show their arrival around midday, their growing height in the atmosphere, and their eventual departure in the evening.

The atmospheric profile was measured every second, allowing the changes in the particle layering to be observed throughout the day. The particles responsible for the red sky are seen as a diagonal stripe in the profile sequence. The layer of dust arrived over Hertford around 11:00 GMT at 1 km altitude, drifted past over the next 6 hours at progressively higher altitudes, and reached 2-3 km altitude by the time it moved away from Hertford around 18:00 UTC.

Forest fires in British Columbia. Floods in Quebec. Hurricanes in Texas. While it’s difficult to say definitively that such events are caused by climate change, there’s little doubt that a warming world exacerbates such extreme weather—and that our society will need to be ready for more of them.

These are the kinds of issues on Anika Bell’s mind as she prepares to pursue her master’s of applied science at the University of Victoria in the new year. Bell’s previous research was featured in an infographic at the Livable Cities Forum in Victoria in September, where planners, policymakers and other professionals across Canada discussed ways to build cities equipped for current and future climate change impacts.

Future high temperature extremes and soil moisture conditions may cause some regions to become more suitable for rainfed, or non-irrigated, agriculture, while causing other areas to lose suitable farmland, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study.  

These future conditions will cause an overall increase in the area suitable to support rainfed agriculture within dryland areas. Increases are projected in North America, western Asia, eastern Asia and South America. In contrast, suitable areas are projected to decline in European dryland areas.

Climate change is putting many tropical high altitude beetles at risk of extinction, warn an international team of scientists.

Infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite revealed that Tropical Storm Lan was getting stronger as it moved through the Northwestern Pacific Ocean.