To protect the climate, the aim is to recover CO₂ from combustion processes for use as valuable materials. This is challenging because exhaust gases contain not only CO₂ but also other gases. An international research team led by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schuhmann from the Zentrum für Elektrochemie at Ruhr-Universität Bochum has shown how CO₂ can be electrochemically reduced even at low concentrations in order to reuse it. They report on this in the journal “Angewandte Chemie” on December 23, 2024….

Salt pollution in freshwater is a growing global concern. Excessive salt harms plants, degrades soil, and compromises water quality. In urban areas, road salts used for de-icing during winter often wash into stormwater systems, posing health concerns and challenges for infrastructure. Specifically, salts can impact the processes like filtration and contaminate retention basins that are used to manage and treat urban stormwater runoff. Megan Rippy, assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering, is on a mission to understand how salt affects plants in…

What will the future of our soils – and thus also the availability of water – look like under the influence of imminent climatic changes? An international study led by Jesse Radolinski and Michael Bahn from the Institute of Ecology at the University of Innsbruck shows how drought, warming and increased CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere change the hydrological balance in the soil and challenge the resilience of ecosystems. The results were published in the journal Science. Grasslands cover almost…

A study led by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL shows that there has been a worrying increase in the number of long droughts over the last 40 years. These affect agriculture, energy production and ecosystems, the research team warns in the scientific journal Science. For fourteen years, northern Chile has been suffering from extreme drought. The southwest of the USA recently experienced eight bone-dry years, and southern Australia three. This accumulation is no coincidence:…

A study by the University of Bern and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the USA concludes that the ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which includes the Gulf Stream, has not weakened in the past 60 years. These results contradict previous assumptions. We owe Europe’s mild climate to the ocean circulation in the North Atlantic, which not only transports heat northwards from the equator, but also distributes oxygen and nutrients in the ocean. The collapse of this central element…

So-called foraminifera are found in all the world’s oceans. Now an international study led by the University of Hamburg has shown that the microorganisms, most of which bear shells, absorb phosphate from the water that pollutes the oceans to an unprecedented extent. The work has been published in the scientific journal “Nature”. Phosphate Use in Agriculture and Its Environmental Impact Phosphate is one of the main components of many fertilizers. It stimulates the growth of many crops – but is…

The regions of the Arctic are particularly vulnerable to climate change. However, there is a lack of comprehensive scientific information about the environmental changes there. Researchers from the Helmholtz Center Hereon have now examined inorganic carbon components, nutrients and trace elements in fjord systems. The result: the melting glacier ice is changing the chemical composition of the water in the fjords, causing ecosystems to become unbalanced. The study was recently published in the journal “Global Biogeochemical Cycles”. Impact of Freshwater…

Groundwater and multilevel cooperation in recovery efforts mitigated water crisis after flooding. Converting Disasters into Opportunities Society is often vulnerable to disasters, but how humans manage during and after can turn devastation into opportunities for improved resilience. An Alternative Water Source: Private Wells For instance, private wells are attracting attention as an alternative resource for securing water for daily use and consumption in the event the water supply is cut off after a disaster. However, there are few records on…

From the persistent droughts of southern Africa and Central America in the early part of the year to the more recent devastating extreme rainfall in Spain and the deadly Hurricane Helene along America’s east coast, 2024 has been a year of climate events that affected the lives of billions of people. A “Climate-Resilient” Future In a recent paper published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, an international team of scientists led by Dr Wenxia Zhang at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese…

The closest relatives of humans adapt genetically to habitats and infections Survival of the Fittest: Genetic Adaptations Uncovered in Chimpanzees Görlitz, 10.01.2025. Chimpanzees have genetic adaptations that help them survive in different forest and savannah habitats. This is the result of a study published today in the renowned journal “Science”. An international research team led by University College London (UCL) shows that some of these adaptations could also protect the animals from malaria. The researchers emphasize that their results provide…

Overfishing, illegal fishing and increasing marketing of shark meat pose significant threats to the more than 80 species of sharks and rays that inhabit the Mediterranean Sea, according to a new study. Current Legislation for Elasmobranch Conservation The research examined current levels of legislation in place to protect elasmobranch populations (which include sharks, rays and skates) within each of the 22 coastal states of the Mediterranean region. Across those countries – stretching from Spain and Morocco in the west to…

Microorganisms are everywhere and have been influencing the Earth’s environment for over 3.5 billion years. Researchers from Germany, Austria and Taiwan have now deciphered the role they play in the formation of lime – for the first time in the deep sea rather than in the laboratory. The basis was a five-meter-long lime core obtained during an expedition. The team of authors has now published their results in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. Correlation between Microorganisms and Mineral Formation…

Analysis of three decades of aerial survey data reveals major changes In the Arctic, the old, multiyear ice is increasingly melting, dramatically reducing the frequency and size of pressure ridges. These ridges are created when ice floes press against each other and become stacked, and are a characteristic feature of Arctic sea ice, an obstacle for shipping, but also an essential component of the ecosystem. In a recently released study in the journal Nature Climate Change, experts from the Alfred Wegener…

To stay healthy, plants balance the energy they put into growing with the amount they use to defend against harmful bacteria. The mechanisms behind this equilibrium have largely remained mysterious. Soil Bacteria: The Unexpected Key to Plant Immunity Now, engineers at Princeton have found an answer in an unexpected place: the harmless, or sometimes beneficial, bacteria that cluster around plants’ roots. In an article published Dec. 24 in the journal Cell Reports, researchers showed that some types of soil bacteria can influence a…

The longest natural metagenome time series ever collected, with microbes, reveals a startling evolutionary pattern on repeat. A Microbial “Groundhog Year” in Lake Mendota Like Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day,” bacteria species in a Wisconsin lake are in a kind of endless loop that they can’t seem to shake. Except in this case, it’s more like Groundhog Year. According to a new study in Nature Microbiology, researchers found that through the course of a year, most individual species of bacteria in…

A new study explores the intersection of industrial automation and environmental sustainability, focusing on the role of industrial robots in reducing the carbon intensity of manufacturing exports. The research demonstrates that robots can significantly lower CO2 emissions in the manufacturing process. However, the study also uncovers a complex U-shaped relationship, where emissions initially drop but then plateau, highlighting the need for careful integration of robotics into manufacturing systems. These findings provide critical insights for industries seeking to minimize their environmental footprint…