Environmental Awareness – PossibleThreat Articles

18x more floods, 105% bigger storms — all from a single clear-cut

July 25, 2025 0 Comments Climate, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Issues, Floods, Global Warming, Rainforests, Severe Weather, Weather

Clear-cutting forests doesn’t just raise flood risk — it can supercharge it. UBC researchers found that in certain watersheds, floods became up to 18 times more frequent and over twice as severe after clear-cutting, with these effects lasting more than four decades. The surprise? Terrain details like which direction a slope faces played a huge role in flood behavior. Conventional models miss these dynamics, which could mean we've been underestimating the danger for decades — especially as climate change accelerates extreme weather.

News Science

US corn yields get boost from a global warming 'hole'

October 24, 2019 0 Comments Agriculture and Food, Climate, Endangered Plants, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Issues, Food and Agriculture, Global Warming, Nature

The global average temperature has increased 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the last 100 years. In contrast, the Corn Belt of the U.S., one of the most agriculturally productive regions of the world, has experienced a decrease in temperatures in the summer during the growing season. Known as the 'US warming hole,' this anomalous cooling phenomenon, which occurred in tandem with increasing rainfall, was responsible for boosting corn yields by 5 to 10 percent per year, according to a new study.

News Science

Higher local earthworm diversity in temperate regions than in the tropics

October 24, 2019 0 Comments Biodiversity, Ecology, Ecology Research, Environmental Awareness, Nature, New Species, Rainforests, Soil Types

In any single location, there are typically more earthworms and more earthworm species found in temperate regions than in the tropics. Global climate change could lead to significant shifts in earthworm communities worldwide, threatening the many functions they provide.

News Science

The shelf life of pyrite

October 24, 2019 0 Comments Climate, Early Climate, Early Mammals, Environmental Awareness, Fossils, Global Warming, Oceanography, Origin of Life

What exactly triggers the increase in carbon dioxide concentrations that causes the transition from a glacial stage to a warm stage is not fully understood. Scientists have developed a new model in which the weathering of pyrite, a common mineral containing sulfur, plays a key role.

News Science

Why are bald eagles such great gliders? It's all in the wrist

October 24, 2019 0 Comments Bird Flu Research, Birds, Charles Darwin, Early Birds, Environmental Awareness, Evolution, Nature, Rainforests, Weather

Birds come in an astounding array of shapes and colors. New research helps explain why bird species with similar flight styles or body sizes don't have consistent wing shapes. Bird species tend to reshape the range of motion of their wings — rather than wing shape or size itself — as they evolve new ways of flying.

News Science

Understanding local attitudes to snow leopards vital for their ongoing protection

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Awareness, Environmental Policy, Mammals, Nature, Perception, Psychology, Snow and Avalanches, Social Psychology, Wild Animals

Local people in the Nepal Himalayas value snow leopards as much for the potential personal benefits they gain from the animals' conservation as they do for the intrinsic value of this charismatic species.

News Science

Climate change could hasten deterioration of US bridge infrastructure

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Civil Engineering, Climate, Construction, Engineering and Construction, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Issues, Global Warming, Thermodynamics

Scientists are studying the toll climate change may take on aging US infrastructure, which includes over 600,000 bridges. A new study links the potential impacts of climate change with the structural integrity of thousands of bridges transecting America's highways and towns. The analysis demonstrates a need to rethink the nation's priority order of bridge repair, as climate change looms and infrastructure funding remains limited.

News Science

Underwater grandmothers reveal big population of lethal sea snakes

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Environmental Awareness, Exotic Species, Fish, Frogs and Reptiles, Geography, Marine Biology, Oceanography, Sea Life

A group of snorkelling grandmothers is helping scientists better understand marine ecology by photographing venomous sea snakes in waters off the city of Noumea, New Caledonia.

News Science

Scientists tout ocean protection progress, give road map for more

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Earth Science, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environmental Awareness, Geography, Global Warming, Oceanography, Water

World governments and other leadership bodies are taking vital steps to protect the ocean but more progress is urgently needed, scientists reported today at the Our Ocean Conference.

News Science

Mapping millet genetics

October 23, 2019 0 Comments Agriculture and Food, Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Desert, Environmental Awareness, Environmental Policy, Food and Agriculture, Genetically Modified, Grassland

In the semi-arid tropics of Asia and Africa, conditions can be difficult for crops. Plants need to have short growing seasons, survive on poor soils and tolerate environmental stresses. Enter, the millets.

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