News
An island made of wet wipes in the river Thames
A «wet wipe island» the size of two tennis courts has formed in the Thames, causing the river as it flows through London to change course, according to The Times of London. Ministers have asked people to stop using wet wipes, and the government is considering banning those that contain plastic. Fleur Anderson, a Labour […]
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Computer powered by colony of blue-green algae has run for six months
Blue-green algae sealed within a small container have powered a computer for six months. Similar photosynthetic power generators could run a range of small devices cheaply in the coming years, without the need for the rare and unsustainable materials used in batteries. Christopher Howe at the University of Cambridge and his colleagues built a small […]
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Deep ocean warming as climate changes
Much of the «excess heat» stored in the subtropical North Atlantic is in the deep ocean (below 700m), new research suggests. Oceans have absorbed about 90% of warming caused by humans. The study found that in the subtropical North Atlantic (25°N), 62% of the warming from 1850-2018 is held in the deep ocean. The researchers—from […]
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Human-made iron inputs to the Southern Ocean ten times higher than previously estimated
Although it is important to control emissions of CO2 to mitigate global warming, atmospheric levels of the gas are also related to how quickly it is removed from the air by the means of land and ocean storage. The micronutrient iron is crucial for oceanic carbon storage because it can support the production of chemical […]
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Silicone wristbands track firefighters’ exposure to harmful chemicals
Firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from the disease than the general adult U.S. population, according to studies by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and other agencies. Recent research by scientists at Duke University could give doctors and public health […]
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How digital technology can help keep cities green and pleasant
Parks, small woodlands and even simple patches of grass not only keep a city attractive, but also help people find a sense of bliss in an otherwise bustling urban environment. With new technologies, we can plan and monitor these urban «green spaces» better than ever before. As several studies have highlighted, nature within urban settings […]
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Fjords may emit as much methane as all the deep oceans globally
During heavy storms, the normally stratified layers of water in ocean fjords get mixed, which leads to oxygenation of the fjord floor. But these storm events also result in a spike in methane emissions from fjords to the atmosphere. Researchers from the University of Gothenburg have estimated that the total emissions of this climate-warming gas […]
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White roofs and rooftop lawns can mitigate urban heat island effect, researchers say
Alleviating the urban heat-island effect through regulating urban landscape can improve human thermal comfort and living environment in urban residential areas. However, most previous studies focused on the single environmental factor of temperature, ignoring the actual human feeling of thermal comfort, which is affected not only by temperature, but also by humidity, wind speed, and […]
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