Combining his enjoyment of maths with his love for nature, Thomas Frölicher develops climate models to calculate the impact of greenhouse gases on the ocean. Why is there a poster featuring the children’s book Globi und die Energie on Thomas Frölicher’s office door? “The authors asked me to check some of the facts. And of course I said yes.” Although a professor of climate and environmental physics and the lead author of UN climate reports, he evidently doesn’t consider editing…

Analysis indicates ingested microplastics migrate into whales’ fat and organs. Microscopic plastic particles have been found in the fats and lungs of two-thirds of the marine mammals in a graduate student’s study of ocean microplastics. The presence of polymer particles and fibers in these animals suggests that microplastics can travel out of the digestive tract and lodge in the tissues. The study, slated for the Oct. 15 edition of Environmental Pollution, appeared online this week. Harms that embedded microplastics might…

…under threat from climate change. Novel approach to measuring microbe activity in wetted soil leads to better understanding of vulnerability, researchers report. Using a novel method to detect microbial activity in biological soil crusts, or biocrusts, after they are wetted, a Penn State-led research team in a new study uncovered clues that will lead to a better understanding of the role microbes play in forming a living skin over many semi-arid ecosystems around the world. The tiny organisms — and…

Re­search cruise with the MET­EOR starts. Ex­ped­i­tion in­vest­ig­ates hy­dro­thermal sys­tems in dif­fer­ent wa­ter depths for the first time. Deep-sea hydrothermal vents, also often called black smokers because of their characteristic appearance, are a hotspot of life. The vents are often the only source of food, which is why symbioses between animals and microorganisms form here. Hydrothermal systems also exist in shallower waters. Food scarcity is not prevalent because of the availability of light and the associated possibility of photosynthesis, and…

Graz University of Technology and University of Graz supply new forecasting service for the ESA’s Space Safety Programme. The effects of solar storms on the Earth’s atmosphere can cause satellites to crash. To prevent this from happening, the European Space Agency (ESA) is now using SODA, a forecasting service developed in Graz. After a successful test phase, the Satellite Orbit DecAy (SODA) service, which was jointly developed by TU Graz and the University of Graz, officially became part of the…

In the 1980s, the Elbe estuary had largely lost its function as an estuarine filter due to heavy metal pollution. After decades, the estuary was able to recover from this, as a team led by doctoral student Louise Rewrie from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon has discovered by measuring carbon and other parameters. Only in the last few years have biogeochemical processes in the Elbe River Estuary resumed naturally. The results recently appeared in the journal Limnology and Oceanography. River estuaries can…

Nitrous oxide has a much stronger effect on the climate than carbon dioxide. Soils, peatlands and rivers are potential nitrous oxide sources. However, when, where and how much nitrous oxide is emitted into the air has not yet been sufficiently researched. A team led by Gesa Schulz, a doctoral student at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, has now studied nitrous oxide production in the Elbe estuary in greater detail and discovered real hotspots. The results, which were recently published in the journal…

New research could spark future diamond discoveries. An international team of scientists led by the University of Southampton has discovered that the breakup of tectonic plates is the main driving force behind the generation and eruption of diamond-rich magmas from deep inside the Earth. Their findings could shape the future of the diamond exploration industry, informing where diamonds are most likely to be found. Diamonds, which form under great pressures at depth, are hundreds of millions, or even billions, of…

HALO research aircraft to analyze the transport of greenhouses gases and aerosols over the Pacific. The extreme precipitation that occurs during the Asiatic monsoon season repeatedly causes catastrophic devastation in Southeast Asia. The same weather systems which cause these extreme events also affect the altitude region of 12 to 20 kilometers. Strong convection transports partly heavily polluted air masses from the ground-level atmosphere in Southeast Asia into this altitude region, the so-called upper troposphere/lower stratosphere, and from the northern Pacific…

Earth’s earliest history still holds mysteries for geologists, and ancient craters could provide some answers — scientists are racing against time to find them. Earth’s oldest craters could give scientists critical information about the structure of the early Earth and the composition of bodies in the solar system as well as help to interpret crater records on other planets. But geologists can’t find them, and they might never be able to, according to a new study. The study was published…

… for TROPOS before re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. After completing a very successful mission, ESA’s Aeolus satellite is on its descent from 320 km altitude back to Earth’s atmosphere. While the satellite would usually fall down slowly due to the Earth’s gravity, ESA is attempting to return Aeolus in an controlled reentry (Read more via ESA:: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Aeolus/Guiding_Aeo…). The final manoeuvres for this reentry are happing right now and can be followed here: https://blogs.esa.int/rocketscience/2023/07/24/aeolus-reentry-live/ . On this occasion, a brief…

…could increase the resilience of Southern California’s urban beaches to sea level rise. Over the last several years, the residents of Santa Monica, a coastal city on the edge of Los Angeles, saw something neither they, their parents, or perhaps even their grandparents had ever seen before: a three-foot-tall dune system rising gently from the flat, groomed expanse of one of the world’s most famous urban beaches. It’s a six year alliance between sand, wind and vegetation, and, according to…

Can biosurfactants increase microbiological oil degradation in North Sea seawater? An international research team from the universities of Stuttgart und Tübingen, together with the China West Normal University and the University of Georgia, have been exploring this question and the results have revealed the potential for a more effective and environmentally friendly oil spill response. Oil leaks into the oceans are estimated at approximately 1500 million liters annually worldwide. This leads to globally significant environmental pollution, as oil contains hazardous…

German-Indonesian research team identifies new rock-like compounds from plastic waste and coral rubble for the first time. Plastic waste is a problem on our beaches. Hence, it is largely removed in a coordinated manner within a few weeks. However, it can litter other coasts of the world for many months to years due to unregulated waste disposal. Often the garbage on the beach is simply burned and a special form of plastic waste is created: so-called plastiglomerate. This “rock” is…

Conservation of arable soils through targeted erosion management. Arable soils are a valuable resource for our food and biodiversity – and are at risk from drought, storms and heavy rainfall. To help farmers better protect their fields from erosion, the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), in cooperation with the Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture (LfL), has produced erosion maps that identify areas particularly at risk of erosion and thus help to target protective measures where they will…

How can this be done? Rare-earth elements (REEs) are found in smartphones, plasma screens and even artificial joints. As components of wind turbines or electric motors, they play an important role in the production of clean energy. The battle for these valuable resources is already in full swing. In the scientific journal Nature, researchers from Germany, China and the USA show new ways to get a circular economy for REEs off the ground. Raimund Bleischwitz, an expert in circular economy…