Environment
Scientists look beyond climate change and El Nino for other factors that heat up Earth
Scientists are wondering if global warming and El Nino have an accomplice in fueling this summer’s record-shattering heat. The European climate agency Copernicus reported that July was one-third of a degree Celsius (six-tenths of a degree Fahrenheit) hotter than the old record. That’s a bump in heat that is so… Read
Even frozen Antarctica is being walloped by climate extremes, scientists find
Even in Antarctica — one of the most remote and desolate places on Earth — scientists say they are finding shattered temperature records and an increase in the size and number of wacky weather events. The southernmost continent is not isolated from the extreme weather associated with human-caused climate change,… Read
Indonesian capital becomes world's most polluted major city: monitor
Indonesian capital Jakarta has become the world's most polluted major city, according to air quality monitoring firm IQAir, topping global charts for days as authorities fail to grapple with a spike in toxic smog. Air pollution is estimated to contribute to seven million premature deaths every year and is considered… Read
Amazon rainforest gold mining poisoning scores of threatened species
In a camping tent in the Peruvian jungle, four scientists crowded around a tiny patient: An Amazonian rodent that could fit in the palm of a human hand. The researchers placed the small-eared pygmy rice rat into a plastic chamber and piped in anesthetic gas until it rolled over, asleep.… Read
Spain worries over 'lifeless land' amid creeping desertification
Ongoing droughts and an over-exploitation of land for both agriculture and industry have stoked fears in Spain over the creeping spread of "sterile soil" which could devastate Europe's kitchen garden. "There used to be a holm oak forest here.. but now the land is barren," says Gabriel del Barrio, pointing… Read
Loch Ness struggles with Scotland's shifting climate
Around Scotland's Loch Ness, famous for hosting a mythical monster in its murky depths, another prolonged dry spell earlier this year has heightened fears of a different kind. The drier than usual start to 2023, alongside other gradual climate shifts, is having implications for everything from native wildlife and species… Read
Where flooding has become more frequent, here's how gardeners can respond
Water is essential to plant life, but what happens when there’s too much of a good thing, as has been the case in many parts of the country and the world this summer? Extreme rainfall is more frequent now, atmospheric scientists say, as storms form in an atmosphere made warmer… Read
Lula to host South American summit on saving Amazon
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will host a regional summit next week with planetary stakes, as leaders of the countries that share the Amazon seek a roadmap to save the world's biggest rainforest. The meeting of the eight-nation Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization on Tuesday and Wednesday in Belem,… Read
South America sweats under high temps -- in the middle of winter
Far away from the extreme summer temperatures of the northern hemisphere, Southern Cone countries such as Chile and Argentina are also experiencing record heat, but in the middle of what is supposed to be their winter. On Tuesday, the mountain town of Vicuna in central Chile hit 37 degrees Celsius… Read
How concrete, asphalt and urban heat islands add to the misery of heat waves
It only takes just a fraction of a second to suffer a pretty serious burn. Asphalt and concrete in direct sunlight can often reach surface temperatures as high as 82 Celsius (180 Fahrenheit) on the hottest days, said Dr Kevin Foster, who directs the Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix. Forecasters… Read
