Current scenarios used to inform climate policy have a weakness in that they typically focus on reaching specific climate goals in 2100 – an approach which may encourage risky pathways that could have long-term negative effects. A new study presents a novel scenario framework that focuses on capping global warming at a maximum level with either temperature stabilization or reversal thereafter.
Read moreThick, impenetrable ice slabs are expanding rapidly on the interior of Greenland's ice sheet, where the ice is normally porous and able to reabsorb meltwater. These slabs are instead sending meltwater spilling into the ocean, according to a new assessment, threatening to increase the country's contribution to sea level rise by as much as 2.9 inches by 2100.
Read moreModeling currents together with wind and waves provides more accurate predictions for weather forecasts and climate scientists.
Read moreA doctoral student has found a way to view the life of plants and animals in murky waters – by using a lens of freshwater.
Read moreA new study has estimated for the first time how the eruption of Mount Tambora changed the probability of the cold and wet European 'year without a summer' of 1816. It found that the observed cold conditions were almost impossible without the eruption, and the wet conditions would have been less likely.
Read moreA new article presents 19 high-coverage penguin genome sequences. Adding this to the two previously published penguin genomes, there are now genome sequences available for all living penguin species. Here, the Penguin Genome Consortium, made up of researchers from 10 countries, has produced an unparalleled amount of information that covers an entire biological order. Research from evolution, the impact of human activities impact, and environmental changes, will benefit from this work.
Read moreA new study found that the larvae of haddock, a commercially important type of cod, have a magnetic compass to find their way at sea. The findings showed that haddock larvae orient toward the northwest using Earth's magnetic field.
Read moreScientists studied the two species of moss that make up the peatland. They discovered that in hot weather and drought conditions, one species resists, whereas the other is negatively impacted. In wet weather conditions the opposite takes place. Peatland however survives in the end. Although peatlands make up only 3% of the Earth's surface, they store one third of CO2 present in soil. Preserving peatlands would therefore limit the impact of future climate change.
Read moreResearchers have identified six corporate actions that, combined with effective public policy and improved governmental regulations, could help large transnational corporations steer environmental stewardship efforts around the world.
Read moreDo you think that major statutory reform is necessary address global environmental challenges? Think again. New research by a group of environmental law scholars explores the untapped capacity of existing environmental and natural resources management statutes to address accelerating environmental change in the absence of major legislative reform.
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