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331 news posts in Earth and beyond

Climate action

28 Jul 2022

Carbon removal using ‘blue carbon’ habitats ‘uncertain and unreliable’

By Cat Bartman / Media Centre, University of East Anglia Eelgrass beds are a form of Blue Carbon Restoring coastal vegetation – so called ‘blue carbon’ habitats – may not be the nature-based climate solution it is claimed to be, according to a new study. In their analysis researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA), the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the OACIS initiative of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, challenge the widely held view that restoring areas such as mangroves, saltmarsh, and seagrass can remove large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.  The findings of their review, published today in the journal Frontiers in Climate, identify seven reasons why carbon accounting for coastal ecosystems is not only extremely challenging but risky. These include the high variability in carbon burial rates, vulnerability to future climate change, and fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide. The authors, who also looked at information on restoration costs, warn that extra measurements can reduce these risks, but would mean much higher costs. However, they stress that blue carbon habitats should still be protected and, where possible, restored, as they have benefits for climate adaptation, coastal protection, […]

Environment

20 Jul 2022

Heat wave: article collections on the global impact of rising temperatures

As the temperature rises this summer, we have gathered our top article collections on how heat effects us and the planet. With collective views of over 1 million, researchers were fired up by topics spanning from plant heat stress and weather extremes in the urban environment to marine heatwaves and human heat acclimation. Article collections: Wild fires 16 articles | 104,000 views Addressing our current understanding of wildland fires, with a specific focus on engineering approaches to mitigate the harmful effects of fires Human heat acclimation 13 articles | 95,000 views Recent advances in our understanding of the physiological mechanisms underlying the adaptive process in vulnerable populations, and whether heat acclimation is beneficial for all populations Marine heatwaves 23 articles | 285,000 views A comprehensive overview of current research on marine heatwaves from across the range of marine science disciplines, covering physical processes through ecological impacts Drought and water scarcity 19 articles | 76,000 views Highlighting critical gaps in our understanding of water scarcity and setting urgent priorities for research and action, providing an international platform for generating an integrated perspective on this complex and socially constructed environmental hazard Overheated animals 7 articles | 29,000 views Demonstrating that climate change […]

Climate action

15 Jul 2022

Is declaring a climate emergency enough to stop the climate crisis? What we can learn from the Covid-19 pandemic

By Jordi Mazon, David Pino, and Mireia Vinyoles Image: Piyaset/Shutterstock.com Dr. Jordi Mazon is professor of meteorology at the Department of physics in the Technical University of Catalonia (BarcelonaTech) and teaches higher-level physics in the international baccalaureate in Aula higher school in Barcelona. In addition, he is currently Deputy Mayor of energy transition, mobility, and city cleaning management in Viladecans, a municipality of the metropolitan area of Barcelona. His research is focused on several topics of the atmospheric physics, the numerical simulation of coastal fronts, and severe meteorological events. Now, he explains what lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic we can apply to our fight against the climate crisis. If someone looks up the definition of emergency in any dictionary (for example in the Cambridge Dictionary), the following description can be read: “something dangerous or serious, that happens suddenly or unexpectedly and needs fast action in order to avoid harmful results for people or properties”. Keeping in mind the recent declaration of the state of emergency due to the climate crisis  by many scientists, administrations, and institutions worldwide, it is clear that fast actions must be taken to avoid harmful results for human societies and the Earth’s ecosystems. Accepting the declaration […]

Space sciences and astronomy

08 Jul 2022

Building blocks for RNA-based life abound at center of our galaxy

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Scientists here study the spectra from G+0.693-0.027, a molecular cloud near the center of the Milky Way. They detect a range of nitriles, key building blocks for RNA, including cyanoallene, propargyl cyanide, cyanopropyne, and possibly cyanoformaldehyde and glycolonitrile, none of which had previously been found in G+0.693-0.027. They conclude that nitriles are among the most abundant chemical families in the universe, which lends support to the ‘RNA world’ theory of the origin of life on Earth, and possibly elsewhere in our galaxy. Nitriles, a class of organic molecules with a cyano group, that is, a carbon atom bound with an unsaturated triple bond to a nitrogen atom, are typically toxic. But paradoxically, they are also a key precursor for molecules essential for life, such as ribonucleotides, composed of the nucleobases or ‘letters’ A, U, C, and G, joined to a ribose and phosphate group, which together make up RNA. Now, a team of researchers from Spain, Japan, Chile, Italy, and the US show that a wide range of nitriles occurs in interstellar space within the molecular cloud G+0.693-0.027, near the center of the Milky Way. The results are published in Frontiers in Astronomy and […]

Space sciences and astronomy

18 May 2022

Method used to track ants underground could revolutionize how we measure snow depth from space

By Simona Pesce, Frontiers writer Photo of snow taken by crew of the International Space Station. Image: NASA With the help of some ants, NASA scientists have developed an innovative concept to measure exactly how deep the snow layer is covering sea ice and mountains using a lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument in space. The findings, published in Frontiers in Remote Sensing, reveal this new method will have several applications and provide more accurate measurements on the evolution of snowpack as a result of the climate crisis and better monitoring of water resources globally. Ants may be the unlikely heroes when it comes to better understanding the health of our planet in the midst of a climate crisis. In a paper published to Frontiers in Remote Sensing, a team of scientists, including those from NASA, have found a way to estimate the depth of snow from orbit using ants deep underground. One member of the team is Yongxiang Hu from NASA’s Langley Research Center who drew inspiration from physics and biology to create a unique snow depth model. A previously developed model found that the average time an ant walks around inside the colony before coming back is roughly […]

Environment

05 May 2022

How bees prove to be skilled mathematicians and 3 other amazing science stories you may have missed

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, many often fly under the radar. Here are just four amazing papers you may have missed. What are the odds? Honeybees join humans as the only animals known to be able to tell the difference between odd and even numbers A study published to Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution has created quite a ‘buzz’ among academics after it was found honeybees possess maths skills beyond what was originally thought. Previous studies have shown honeybees can learn to order quantities, perform simple addition and subtraction, match symbols with quantities, and relate size and number concepts. However, this time around, the bees were tasked with solving a parity experiment which involves categorizing two sets of objects as ‘odd’ and ‘even’. The bees were split into two groups: one trained to associate even numbers with sugar water and odd numbers with quinine, a bitter-tasting liquid familiar to gin drinkers. The second group was trained in the reverse with odd numbers linked to sugar water, and even numbers with quinine. Amazingly – […]

Space sciences and astronomy

27 Apr 2022

Solar energy is superior to nuclear for powering crewed mission to Mars, show scientists

By Peter Rejcek, science writer A crewed mission to Mars will require transporting equipment for creating electricity to power life support systems. The choice for the type of device used will require a tradeoff between mass and energy efficiency. Researchers here show that a photovoltaic system using compressed hydrogen energy storage can compete with nuclear energy across about 50% of the Red Planet. No other planet in our solar system has sparked the human imagination more than Mars. While modern science has debunked the Red Planet as a likely source of an alien invasion, today’s technology is bringing us closer to a crewed mission. A research team out of the University of California, Berkeley published a paper in the journal Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences that argues a human expedition on the surface could be powered by harvesting solar energy. The concept is not new. The main source of power for some NASA Mars rovers comes from a multipanel solar array. But, in the last decade or so, most people had assumed that nuclear power would be a better option than solar energy for human missions, according to co-lead author Aaron Berliner, a bioengineering graduate student in the Arkin […]

Environment

20 Apr 2022

Most read articles of March 2022: Secrets of ancient leftovers revealed and endangered shark discovered in pet food

By Colm Gorey, Science Communications Manager, Frontiers Image: Shutterstock.com Each month, Frontiers shines a spotlight on some of the leading research across a wide range of topics. Here are just some of the highlights that resonated strongly with readers on our news site in the month of March. Leftovers in prehistoric pots let scientists peek into the kitchen of an ancient civilization How do you reconstruct the cookery of people who lived thousands of years ago? Bones and plant remains can tell us what kind of ingredients were available. But to reconstruct how ingredients were combined and cooked, scientists need to study ancient cooking vessels. “Fatty molecules and microscopic remains from plants such as starch grains and phytoliths – silica structures deposited in many plant tissues – get embedded into vessels and can survive over long periods,” said Dr Akshyeta Suryanarayan, a researcher at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, and co-author on a recent study in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. In their study, Suryanarayan and co-authors analyzed such ‘leftovers’ in Copper and Bronze Age vessels – including pots, vases, goblets, jars, and platters – from today’s Gujarat, India. “Our study is the first to combine starch grain […]

Climate action

05 Apr 2022

The hidden effects of deforestation on our planet and 3 other fascinating Frontiers articles you may have missed

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers Science Communications Manager Image: Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, many often fly under the radar. Now, as part of new series each month, Frontiers will highlight just some of those amazing papers you may have missed. The Unseen Effects of Deforestation: Biophysical Effects on Climate Research published to Frontiers in Forests and Global Change offers the most comprehensive and detailed evidence to date that forests are more important to the climate – both globally and locally – than we think due to the way in which they physically transform the atmosphere. The first-ever research conducted by a team from the US pinpointed the local, regional and global non-CO2 benefits of specific forest zones worldwide to find that the entire world gains the most benefits from the band of tropical rainforests spanning Latin America, central Africa and Southeast Asia. It finds that, together, forests keep the planet at least half of a degree Celsius cooler when we account for the understudied biophysical effects – from chemical compounds to turbulence and the reflection of light. These effects in […]

Environment

28 Mar 2022

Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry 2021 Editor Awards

Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry is pleased to announce the inaugural edition of our Editor Awards. In 2021, Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry posted 28 themed article collections across our 7 specialty sections, highlighting cutting-edge themes and contemporary issues within their respective fields. We also launched various Community-Driven initiatives that were spearheaded by members of our Editorial Board. We could not have achieved these milestones without the dedication and collaboration of our Associate and Review Editors. With these awards, we aim to highlight those Associate Editors and Review Editors who we believe have gone above and beyond in the past year to make excellent contributions to our journal. All of our editorial board members have been pivotal in the continued growth and visibility of important research in the field of Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry. This success was achieved by safeguarding the quality of articles published in 2021 during the peer-review process, as well as by suggesting and leading highly relevant and contemporary article collections. We are very proud of our journal, and its community, and are grateful for each member’s support. Every member of our board helps Frontiers achieve its goal of making science open, allowing us to live healthy lives on a healthy […]

Environment

25 Mar 2022

Frontiers in Environmental Science 2021 Editor Awards

We are pleased to announce the first edition of the Frontiers in Environmental Science Editor Awards. In 2021, our journal published over two thousand articles and posted 134 Research Topics across our portfolio of 14 specialty sections. We launched the Drylands section last year, and so far we have already added two new sections in 2022 – Environmental Citizen Science and Environmental Systems Engineering. These accomplishments would not be possible without our fantastic Editors, who contributed to the growth of the journal by safeguarding the quality of the articles we have published during peer-review, as well as by suggesting and leading article collections on the themes of great significance in their respective fields. With these awards, we would like to recognise Associate Editors and Review Editors from our Editorial Board, who went above and beyond in the past year. Thanks to you, our journal can truly flourish and further realize Frontiers’ goal to make science open, so we may all live healthy lives on a healthy planet. Many congratulations to our finalists and a big thank you to all our Editors. Frontiers in Environmental Science Outstanding Associate Editors Awards Yang GaoOcean University of ChinaAtmosphere and ClimateMonika MortimerChina Jiliang UniversityBiogeochemical DynamicsAlex Oriel […]

Earth science

25 Mar 2022

Last of the giant camels and archaic humans lived together in Mongolia until 27,000 years ago

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Camelus knoblochi would have dwarfed the modern domestic Bactrian camel, Camelus bactrianus, which also has two humps. Image credit: Bandurka/Shutterstock.com This is the first report of fossils of a species of giant camel, Camelus knoblochi, from today’s Mongolia. The author show that the species’ last refuge in the world was in Mongolia until 27,000 years ago. There, they coexisted with archaic humans and the much smaller wild Bactrian camel C. ferus. Climate changing leading to desertification and possibly hunting by humans and competition with C. ferus drove C. knoblochi into extinction. A species of giant two-humped camel, Camelus knoblochi, is known to have lived for approximately a quarter of a million years in Central Asia. A new study in Frontiers in Earth Science shows that C. knoblochi’s last refuge was in Mongolia, until approximately 27,000 years ago. In Mongolia, the last of the species coexisted with anatomically modern humans and maybe the extinct Neanderthals or Denisovans. While the main cause of C. knoblochi’s extinction seems to have been climate change, hunting by archaic humans may also have played a role. “Here we show that the extinct camel Camelus knoblochi persisted in Mongolia until climatic […]