by Marlene Cimons, Nexus Media News The Smithsonian Institution calls coralline algae “the unsung architects of coral reefs.” These pink-colored seaweed, with a skeletal structure that resembles honeycomb, live in harmony with coral. They strengthen the corals’ foundation by growing over and between gaps in coral reefs, essentially gluing sections of coral together. They provide a […]
by Justin Gillis, The New York Times Cape Grim, Tasmania — On the best days, the wind howling across this rugged promontory has not touched land for thousands of miles, and the arriving air seems as if it should be the cleanest in the world. But on a cliff above the sea, inside a low-slung […]
by Phil McKenna, InsideClimate News The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General will investigate how the agency estimates methane emissions from the oil and gas sector after an environmental group alleged that its emission estimates and regulations are based, in part, on faulty studies. The evaluation, announced Wednesday, will focus on a pair of […]
By Bob Berwyn, Insideclimate News The longest and most widespread coral bleaching event on record is abating. As the powerful 2015-2016 El Niño faded, the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans remained warmer than average, but they at least cooled to levels that may enable some reefs to start recovering from extreme ocean heat, according to […]
by Marianne Lavelle, InsideClimate News Deadly heat waves—already a risk for 30 percent of the world’s population—will spread around the globe, posing a danger for 74 percent of people on Earth by the end of this century if nothing is done to address climate change, according to a new study. Nearly as alarming, the researchers […]
by Katie Fehrenbacher, Greentech Media Some of the first companies in the U.S. to commit to buying clean energy were internet giants, including Google and Apple, which were worried about the massive energy needs of their data centers in coal country. But today, more and more companies across a number of sectors are opting to […]
by Oregon State University College os Science CORVALLIS, Ore. – A three-year survey of the California Current System along the West Coast of the United States found persistent, highly acidified water throughout this ecologically critical nearshore habitat, with “hotspots” of pH measurements as low as any oceanic surface waters in the world. The researchers say […]
by Caleb A. Scharf, Scientific American Want some perspective on how much carbon dioxide human activity produces? Here it is. A major question in astrobiology is how we’ll measure and interpret the atmospheric composition of any Earth-analog worlds we find out among the exoplanets. We pretty much know the technical requirements: big telescopes, excellent spectroscopic instruments, […]
by Nicholas Kusnetz, Inside Climate News Schemes allowed by the Paris climate agreement won’t help countries reach their reduction targets, European report says, and should be phased out. As nations grapple with how they can slash their emissions as part of the Paris climate agreement, some may use international credit schemes that were approved in […]
Global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were flat for a third straight year in 2016 even as the global economy grew, according to the International Energy Agency, signaling a continuing decoupling of emissions and economic activity. This was the result of growing renewable power generation, switches from coal to natural gas, improvements in energy efficiency, as […]
