Turning waste into energy: the race is on to reuse waste as energy in the most effective way possible. Combined heat and power is an old idea for saving fuel with a new imperative to slash emissions. Innovative furnaces based on biofuel systems will generate heat and power from waste materials with near-complete efficiency and very low emissions.
Fluctuating temperatures are causing severe weather events. Greenhouse gases are the culprit, insulating the Earth and trapping heat in the atmosphere. What we do now to protect the planet is crucial, as many houses need updates to fight climate change.
Combating climate change requires battling threats on multiple fronts, especially when it comes to flooding. Coastal residents have a unique waterborne threat that destroys livelihoods numerous times each year. We should consider ways to protect these regions from flooding and advocate for long-term solutions.
Antarctica is the coldest continent in the world, holding the record for the lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth. Even more surprisingly, its average temperature is far lower than that of the Arctic. Despite both the Arctic and Antarctica being located at the poles, the Antarctic ice sheet is significantly larger and thicker than the ice found in the Arctic. So, why is Antarctica so much colder than the Arctic? Here are the key reasons behind this extreme cold.
Large-scale circulation patterns can be found throughout Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, and play a crucial role in maintaining the stability of regional climates. As the climate warms, researchers find that these patterns are experiencing a fundamental transformation, which can result in catastrophic consequences. According to scientists, these changes could lead to hotter, drier conditions in regions including the Mediterranean, California, and Australia – which are already recording an increase in the frequency and severity of droughts and wildfires.
Dr. Hu Yang at the Alfred Wegener Institute identifies and explains the mechanisms of these changes. His study offers crucial insights into how both human populations and natural ecosystems will be affected by these transformations – and how they will need to adapt to cope with them.
To keep Earth from dangerous ongoing global warming, the world is looking for an energy source without CO2 emissions. There is actually a dream candidate: successfully achieving nuclear fusion holds the promise of delivering a limitless, sustainable source of clean energy.
As a civilization, we’ll pay a huge price if we can’t get carbon out of the Earth’s atmosphere because of the ongoing runaway climate change. Some kind of carbon capture technology that captures atmospheric carbon dioxide and stores it underground became vital to keep Earth from dangerous global warming. We need to clean up the skies and we must do it fast.
One of the parts most damaged by the current rate of climate change is Earth’s bodies of water. Scientific forecasts have estimated that in the next century, almost all coral reef habitats on our planet will be decimated. This is largely due to continuing ocean acidification among other practices done by humans, which all drastically destroy our coral reefs and underwater ecosystems.
The climate crisis and the chemistry of the oceans are inextricably connected. The oceans have absorbed close to a third of our carbon dioxide emissions since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, leading to an increasingly acidic environment (hence the term, Ocean Acidification) and making it more difficult for organisms such as corals, mollusks, and plankton to form their shells and skeletons.
Mapping future changes in ocean chemistry is the first step in developing mitigation strategies. However, our knowledge of the future state of the oceans relies on mathematical models that are often not calibrated with modern ship-based observations.
Dr. Li-Qing Jiang of the University of Maryland and his collaborators are improving ocean acidification predictions by coupling millions of past and present ocean chemistry measurements with the best model projections at each location of the global ocean.
Many future climate scenarios suggest that negative emissions will be needed to limit global warming. Researchers are now investigating how feasible this is.
By Sandrine Ceurstemont