Environment
- Climate
Countries urgently need to ramp up emissions cuts to meet climate targets
A new U.N. report finds that pledged emissions cuts aren’t nearly enough to limit warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius by 2100.
- Climate
50 years ago, scientists puzzled over a slight global cooling
Five decades ago, scientists were puzzled over a slight dip in global temperatures. Today we know it was just a blip, and that Earth’s climate is warming thanks to industrial activity over the last century.
- Animals
Power lines may mess with honeybees’ behavior and ability to learn
Under power lines, honeybees might suffer neurological effects from exposure to electromagnetic fields.
- Ecosystems
Can forensics help keep endangered rosewood off the black market?
Timber traffickers are plundering the world’s forests, but conservationists have a new set of tools to fight deforestation.
- Life
Michelle O’Malley seeks greener chemistry through elusive fungi
Michelle O’Malley studies anaerobic gut fungi, microbes that could help make chemicals and fuels from sustainable sources.
- Climate
How climate change is already altering oceans and ice, and what’s to come
A new IPCC report gives the lowdown on how climate change is already wreaking havoc on Earth’s oceans and frozen regions, and how much worse things could get.
- Agriculture
Birds fed a common pesticide lost weight rapidly and had migration delays
Scientists have previously implicated neonicotinoid pesticides in declining bee populations. Now a study suggests that songbirds are affected, too.
- Earth
Brazil’s Amazon has burned this badly before. This year’s fires are still bad
An environmental scientist discusses possible impacts from the thousands of fires burning across the Brazilian Amazon rainforest.
- Earth
Decades of dumping acid suggest acid rain may make trees thirstier
Acidified soil loses calcium, which can affect trees’ ability to hang on to water.
- Tech
Tiny magnetic coils could help break down microplastic pollution
Carbon nanotubes designed to release plastic-eroding chemicals could clear the long-lasting trash from waterways.
- Particle Physics
How a 2017 radioactive plume may be tied to Russia and nixed neutrino research
A botched attempt at producing radioactive material needed for a neutrino experiment may have released ruthenium-106 to the atmosphere in 2017.
- Tech
This solar-powered device produces energy and cleans water at the same time
Someday, the two-for-one machine could help curb electricity and freshwater shortages.
