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Geoengineering Earth's Atmosphere: Potential Effects of Climate Intervention on Ecology

Nine of the hottest years in human history have occurred in the past decade. Without a major shift in this climate trajectory, the future of life on Earth is in question, which poses a new question: Should humans, whose fossil fueled society is driving climate change, use technology to put the brakes on global warming?

6 Apr 2021

Fish-Oil Based Polyurethane Could Help Meet the Need for Sustainable Plastics

Polyurethanes, a type of plastic, are nearly everywhere -- in shoes, clothes, refrigerators and construction materials. But these highly versatile materials can have a major downside.

6 Apr 2021

Ozone Pollution Decreases Crop Yields in Maize

Although stratospheric ozone protects us by filtering out the sun's ultraviolet radiation, tropospheric ozone is a harmful pollutant.

6 Apr 2021

Increased Lightning Storms may Amplify Arctic Warming

Back in 2019, the National Weather Service in Alaska had reportedly detected the first-familiar lightning strikes within 300 miles of the North Pole.

6 Apr 2021

Study Finds Drastic Fluctuations in Atmospheric Oxygen After its Early Appearance

A new study reveals that the permanent increase in oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere, which enabled the emergence of life as it is known, occurred 100 million years later than considered earlier.

6 Apr 2021

Study Shows Effect of Changing Climate Conditions on Colombia’s Coffee Production

For people who begin their day with a cup of coffee, there is a good chance that their morning beverage came from Colombia.

6 Apr 2021

A Safe and Cheap Technology for the Disinfection of Packaged Eggs

Scientists from Russia have designed a secured, trustworthy, and cheap packed eggs surface disinfection technology. This technology helps destroy bacteria, such as salmonella, present on eggshells.

5 Apr 2021

Researchers Study Causes of Consumer Resistance to Sustainability Interventions

Researchers from University of Queensland, University of Melbourne, and Universidad Finis Terrae published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that studies consumer resistance to a nationwide plastic bag ban implemented in Chile in 2019.

5 Apr 2021

Solar Variability can Drive Changes to Seasonal Weather on Earth, Study Suggests

A new study shows a correlation between the end of solar cycles and a switch from El Nino to La Nina conditions in the Pacific Ocean, suggesting that solar variability can drive seasonal weather variability on Earth.

5 Apr 2021

Study Quantifies the Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural Productivity Growth

The University of Maryland (UMD) has collaborated with Cornell University and Stanford University to quantify the man-made effects of climate change on global agricultural productivity growth for the first time. In a new study published in Nature Climate Change, researchers developed a robust model of weather effects on productivity, looking at productivity in both the presence and absence of climate change.

2 Apr 2021

Researchers Confirm that Antarctic Glacier Could Cross Tipping Points

Researchers have confirmed for the first time that Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica could cross tipping points, leading to a rapid and irreversible retreat which would have significant consequences for global sea level.

2 Apr 2021

Heterogeneity can Lead to Improved Stability in the Power Grids

The recent power outages in Texas brought attention to its power grid being separated from the rest of the country. While it is not immediately clear whether integration with other parts of the national grid would have completely eliminated the need for rolling outages, the state's inability to import significant amounts of electricity was decisive in the blackout.

2 Apr 2021

Climate Change Slowed Global Agricultural Productivity Growth

Despite important agricultural advancements to feed the world in the last 60 years, a Cornell-led study shows that global farming productivity is 21% lower than it could have been without climate change. This is the equivalent of losing about seven years of farm productivity increases since the 1960s.

2 Apr 2021

New Technology can Enable Low-Cost, Energy-Efficient Separation of Hydrogen

Scientists from the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have designed a new technology to separate hydrogen from natural gas in an affordable and energy-efficient manner.

2 Apr 2021

Study Investigates the Environmental Effects of Battery Recycling

The EU will be home to 30 million electric cars by 2030 and the European Commission is preparing tough targets for recycling these and other batteries. Yet the impacts of battery recycling, especially for the sizeable lithium-ion batteries of the electric cars soon filling our streets, has been largely unstudied.

1 Apr 2021