Environmental

Comprehensive climate data has shown that globally, 2020 was the warmest year on record, tied with 2016. Worryingly, 2020’s record came in spite of a La Niña event, which has a cooling effect, while 2016’s record came off the back of a warming El Niño.

The Arctic is one place that’s been hit particularly hard by climate change. Now a new study has shown that the Arctic is beginning to transition into an entirely new climate state, leaving its predominantly frozen state behind.

On 12 July 2017, one of the biggest icebergs ever seen broke off from the Antarctic mainland. Now on the third anniversary of the event, satellite data has shown that the berg has traveled over 1,000 km (620 mi) and managed to stay relatively intact

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.

Although a hole in the ozone layer might sound like a retro environmental issue, it’s still a problem today. While it's usually over Antarctica, scientists have now spotted the biggest ozone layer hole in at least 25 years forming over the Arctic.

Antarctica wasn't always a cold lifeless landscape. An international team has recovered a 90-million-year old soil sample that paints the most detailed picture of ancient Antarctica ever found, revealing a swampy rainforest and balmy temperatures.

Research from a team of US scientists is again raising doubt over the safety of “BPA-free” plastic products. The animal studies described in a new article suggest bisphenol S (BPS) “causes almost identical changes in gene expression” compared to BPA.

A new study has examined 25 years of satellite data to get a sense of the extent of ice loss across Antarctica. According to the findings, warming waters have destabilized as much as a quarter of the glacier ice in West Antarctica.

NASA’s ongoing Operation IceBridge has found a gigantic cavity underneath Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, which shows that the area has suffered even more drastic ice loss in recent years than previously thought – and it’s accelerating.

A new international study into the impact of agricultural land use on climate change has found organic food production is worse for the climate than conventional farming, due to the fact that it needs greater areas of land to grow produce.

Two new products from Wynd are suggested to be the ultimate in home air purification – Halo, an app-controlled sensor that can monitor specific pollutants in the air, and the Home Purifier, a massive air cleaner that can quickly clear contaminants from large spaces.​

It’s long been known that the hole in the ozone layer is shrinking, but a new study has provided greater insight into the improving health of the ozone layer by analyzing the chemicals around the hole over the last decade or so.