The conditions for life surviving on planets entirely covered in water are more fluid than previously thought, opening up the possibility that water worlds could be habitable, according to a new paper from the University of Chicago and Pennsylvania State University.

Working with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), a University of Saskatchewan research team has just launched a novel device into the edge of space to study the cooling effects of aerosol particles on a warming climate.    

Research shows a more prosperous global future is possible if both climate change and sustainable fisheries management are addressed now.

Trees try to protect themselves from extreme drought with various measures such as premature leaf shedding.

Scientists have already warned that climate change likely will impact the food we grow.

A new paper reviews current knowledge on climate change and biodiversity. In the past, plants and animals reacted to environmental changes by adapting, migrating or going extinct. These findings point to radical changes in biodiversity due to climate change in the future. The paper is published in the scientific journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution by an international group of scientists led by the Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of Copenhagen.

Cattle or sheep grazing on pastures where the parasite is present can become infected with liver fluke, which develops in the liver of infected animals, leading to a disease called fascioliasis. Current estimates suggest liver fluke contributes to around £300 million annually in lost productivity across UK farms and $3 billion globally.

If governments don’t act decisively by 2035 to fight climate change, humanity could cross a point of no return after which limiting global warming below 2°C in 2100 will be unlikely, according to a new study by scientists in the UK and the Netherlands. The research also shows the deadline to limit warming to 1.5°C has already passed, unless radical climate action is taken. The study is published today in the European Geosciences Union journal Earth System Dynamics.

Seven often wet and muddy researchers can be found bundled in their orange full-body suits sifting through mud on the back deck of the Healy.

Land ecosystems absorb on average 30% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, thereby tempering the increase of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. But plants need water to grow. When a drought occurs, and soils dry out, plants reduce photosynthesis and breathe less in order to save water and preserve their tissues. As a consequence, they are no longer able to capture carbon dioxide from the surrounding air and more CO2 remains in the air. While this effect can be easily observed in the lab, measuring its impact on the whole planet has proved quite difficult. One of the greatest challenges has been to measure where and how often droughts occur globally. In a new study, Vincent Humphrey, climate researcher in the lab of Sonia Seneviratne, Professor for Land-Climate Dynamics at ETH Zurich, used innovative satellite technology to measure the global sensitivity of ecosystems to water stress. The study was carried out in collaboration with the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (France) and the University of Exeter (United Kingdom).