Environment

What would Earth’s climate naturally be doing if it weren’t for human intervention? Researchers have now analyzed 12,000 years of climate data, and found that human-induced warming interrupted and reversed a long-term natural global cooling period.

Scientists have uncovered an accelerated heating trend taking place at the South Pole, with 30 years of weather data revealing the region has warmed at more than three times the global rate since 1989.

There are few more spectacular demonstrations of nature's power than a thunderstorm. The World Meteorological Association (WMO) has now confirmed two new records for the biggest lightning bolts in recorded history, measured by duration and distance.

New observations from a weather station in Siberia illustrate the warming trend taking hold in the Arctic Circle, with scientists logging an extreme temperature of 38 °C (100.4 °F), thought to be a new record for the region.

That tiny plastic fragment exists in soil is perhaps not so surprising, but researchers have now conducted one of the first studies on what this means for plant life, finding that it can reduce the total biomass of the finished product.

Everyone knows that walking on soft sand is more difficult than walking on a hard sidewalk. By the same token, MIT scientists are now suggesting that if road surfaces were to be made stiffer, large trucks would use less fuel.

Scientists are exploring many options when it comes to shoring up the wellbeing of coral reefs in the face of warming waters, and an international team of researchers is putting forward another possibility, showing how probiotics can boost their health and chances of survival.

BMW i Ventures announced today it is investing in Prometheus Fuels. The Silicon Valley startup is working on technologies for pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere and processing it into carbon-neutral gasoline.

One area where metal organic frameworks have real potential is in the field of carbon capture, which a team of researchers has demonstrated with a sponge-like device that adsorbs CO2 using just a third of the energy required by other methods.

Current levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are the highest they’ve been in a long time. According to a new study of fossil plant matter, CO2 concentrations haven’t been this high in at least 23 million years, and have never shot up this fast.

A new study from MIT looks at the consequences of solar geoengineering, exploring some of the flow-on effects of such a move and finding that it could weaken storms, destabilize ice sheets and lead to more polluted urban areas.

Back in 2015 scientists published a paper outlining what they perceived as a sixth mass extinction event. Researchers have now provided an update in the form of a new study that has found the rate of extinctions is increasing at an unprecedented rate.