Accurate predictions of regional sea-level change are essential in understanding the impact of climate change on coastal areas. Rising sea levels from melting glaciers and ice sheets pose an increasing threat to coastal communities worldwide. A new analysis of high-resolution satellite observations takes a major step forward in assessing this risk by confirming theoretical predictions and computational models of sea-level changes used to forecast climate-change-driven impacts. “Using sea-surface-height observations from satellites in the way we have independently verifies observations of Arctic and…

The transition zone between the Earth’s upper and lower mantle contains considerable quantities of water, according to an international study involving the Institute for Geosciences at Goethe University in Frankfurt. The German-Italian-American research team analysed a rare diamond formed 660 metres below the Earth’s surface using techniques including Raman spectroscopy and FTIR spectrometry. The study confirmed something that for a long time was only a theory, namely that ocean water accompanies subducting slabs and thus enters the transition zone. This…

… could cause large tsunamis. Due to a lack of data, the studies available so far underestimated the seismic and tsunami risk of these large faults. A new study led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) in Barcelona and the Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA) has revealed the exact location of the boundary between the European and African tectonic plates, located in the Alboran Sea region. The work also evaluates its potential capacity to produce…

… causes changes in both fast and slow cloud responses. Extreme climate warming has shown to change how cloud cover behaves throughout East Asia (EA). Recent research suggests that in a warmer climate with greater amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere, slow cloud responses to meteorological mechanisms can cause a cooling effect over certain regions of EA. However, in some areas within Asia, fast cloud responses may have the opposite effect. This new dynamic is concerning to climatologists who are…

NASA’s DART space probe, launched last year, will test whether the course of an asteroid can be changed at a distance of eleven million kilometres from Earth on 27 September 2022 at 1.14 a.m. CEST. DART will make a targeted impact on the 170-metre asteroid Dimorphos. It is the first time in the history of spaceflight that an attempt will be made to influence the orbit of a celestial body by a man-made body. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and…

Scientists who drilled deeper into an undersea earthquake fault than ever before have found that the tectonic stress in Japan’s Nankai subduction zone is less than expected, according to a study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and University of Washington. The findings, published in the journal Geology, are a puzzle because the fault produces a great earthquake almost every century and was thought to be building for another big one. “This is the heart of the…

A joint research group led by Prof. SUN Chenglin, Porf. WEI Huangzhao and Prof. LI Rengui from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a new coupling strategy of photocatalytic water oxidation and catalytic wet peroxide oxidation (Photo-CWPO) for efficient organic wastewater treatment. This study was published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental on August 17. CWPO technology is a kind of advanced oxidation process for advanced treatment of organic wastewater using hydroxyl radical (·OH), which is generated from…

Using satellites, we are now able to measure the ice thickness – also in the summer. This is of great importance for the shipping in Arctic and future weather and climate forecasts. The solution is developed by an international team, led by researchers at UiT The Arctic University of Norway and the University of Bristol.  “The Arctic ice is melting faster than ever. We need knowledge about the thickness of the sea ice, both to reduce safety risks for businesses…

In the cultivation of organic cacao, many factors determine the yield. An international research team with scientists from the universities of Würzburgh and Göttingen has now identified important players and their combined effects. It’s not possible to grow cacao without insects – that’s logical. After all, they ensure that the flowers are pollinated and that the valuable cacao fruits, a sought-after material for the food industry, develop. Studies in Indonesia had shown in the past that birds and bats also…

Scientists from Rostock and Prague trace ship emissions over and in the Baltic Sea. Ship exhausts generated over the heavily trafficked Baltic Sea affect the marine environment and human health. Within the “PlumeBaSe”* project, researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW), the University of Rostock and the Charles University in Prague are now investigating how the emitted pollutants spread above and in the sea, how they change in the air and in the water, and what…

The disappearance of forests will have consequences for water quality in reservoirs. Heat waves, drought, floods, forest fires – the consequences of climate change are increasing and are changing our environment. A prime example is the countryside in the catchment area for the Rappbode reservoir in the eastern Harz region. This is the largest drinking water reservoir in Germany and provides drinking water for roughly one million people. Long periods of drought over the years from 2015 to 2020 have…

Researchers suggest ocean cooling is an effectively impossible solution to mitigate disasters. A new study found that even if we did have the infinite power to artificially cool enough of the oceans to weaken a hurricane, the benefits would be minimal. The study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science showed that the energy alone that is needed to use intervention technology to weaken a hurricane before landfall makes it…

Life in space is hard. If you wish to colonize it, for example by setting up stations on the Moon or on Mars, you need technologies that enable extremely efficient use of the scarce resources. The aim of the ERIS research project is to make use of these space technologies in the context of climate protection and the long-term safeguarding of life on Earth. The University of Stuttgart is supporting ERIS with the development of sustainable life support and supply…

Eight ice caves in four Austrian federal states: A team of geologists from the University of Innsbruck has comprehensively documented the loss and gain of ice in Alpine ice caves over the last 2000 years for the first time. The geologist Tanguy Racine warns: The ice of smaller caves especially is in danger of disappearing in the near future and with it a valuable climate archive. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports. There are several thousand documented…

The genetic history of eelgrass may play a greater role than the local present-day environment for how tall the eelgrass can become and for how many other plants and animals will live within the eelgrass meadow. These findings were shown in a large survey that included researchers from the University of Gothenburg. Eelgrass in the Atlantic Ocean has less genetic variation compared with eelgrass meadows in the Pacific and may have a harder time to adapt and survive under climate…

A new study from North Carolina State University shows soil temperature can be used to effectively monitor and predict the spread of the corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea), an important pest that ravages corn, cotton, soybeans, peppers, tomatoes and other vegetable crops. The ability to better monitor the pest and make predictions about where it will appear could help farmers control the pest more effectively, which would reduce the financial and environmental impacts of pesticide use. The researchers combined historical soil…