Major agriculture producers, including Brazil, are pushing back against new European Union (EU) regulations that require proof of crops being grown on non-deforested land, citing increased food production costs.
Continue reading “EU deforestation rules for food producers”Carbon dioxide triggers explosive volcanoes
Geoscientists have long thought that water – along with shallow magma stored in Earth’s crust – causes volcanoes to erupt. New research shows that gaseous carbon dioxide can trigger explosive eruptions.
Continue reading “Carbon dioxide triggers explosive volcanoes”Successfully managing forests from belowground
Half of biodiversity in forests lives belowground. These organisms are tiny but their importance to the ecosystem is enormous. In one teaspoon of forest soil there are thousands of species and billions of individual organisms.
Continue reading “Successfully managing forests from belowground”Drones to monitor Rainforest health
A team of researchers from Switzerland are using drones to monitor the health of the rainforest. The project has reached the finals of the global XPRIZE Rainforest competition which encourages the development of technology to measure and monitor the rainforest ecosystem.
Continue reading “Drones to monitor Rainforest health”NASA Satellite to help fight Amazon deforestation
The American space agency NASA has offered its satellite technology to Brazil to help monitor and identify destruction in the Amazon rainforest.
Continue reading “NASA Satellite to help fight Amazon deforestation”When Greenland was green
New research has uncovered evidence that most of Greenland melted only about 400,000 years ago, suggesting the country may be more sensitive to climate change than previously thought.
Continue reading “When Greenland was green”Massive lava outburst triggered snowball Earth
Massive eruptions roughly 719 million years ago in what is now Canada may have sucked enough CO2 from the atmosphere to freeze Earth over 2 million years later.
Continue reading “Massive lava outburst triggered snowball Earth”Land surface temperatures follow simple physics
Radiation largely contributes to variations of temperatures across continents, but evaporation and turbulent heat transfer also play a role. These are complex processes. Following new research, the observed temperature patterns follow relatively simple and predictable rules.
Continue reading “Land surface temperatures follow simple physics”Groundwater depletion shifting Earth’s axis
Beneath the Earth’s surface lies over a thousand times more water than all the rivers and lakes in the world. This groundwater makes up for almost all the freshwater on the planet. However, in many areas of the world, groundwater is being extracted faster than the rate that it naturally recharges.
Continue reading “Groundwater depletion shifting Earth’s axis”Meltwater is hydro-fracking Greenland’s ice sheet
Moulins are near-vertical conduits that capture and funnel meltwater runoff from the ice surface during summer. There are many thousands of them across Greenland, and they grow to substantial sizes because of the thickness of the ice coupled with the exceptionally high surface melt rates experienced. These gaping holes can be as large as tennis courts at the surface, with chambers hidden in the ice beneath that could swallow cathedrals.
Continue reading “Meltwater is hydro-fracking Greenland’s ice sheet”