Volcanic carbon dioxide emissions helped trigger Triassic climate change

Volcanic eruption (stock image).Credit: © Fotos 593 / Adobe Stock A new study finds volcanic activity played a direct role in triggering extreme climate change at the end of the Triassic period 201 million year ago, wiping out almost half of all existing species. The amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from these volcanic […]

The right dose of geoengineering could reduce climate change risks

View of Earth from space (stock image).Credit: © studio023 / Adobe Stock Stratospheric aerosol geoengineering is the idea that adding a layer of aerosol particles to the upper atmosphere can reduce climate changes caused by greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.advertisement Previous research shows that solar geoengineering could be achieved using commercially available aircraft technologies to […]

Crocs’ better parenting skills could make them more resilient to climate change

The ability of crocodiles to survive mass extinctions could be in part due to their more hands-on approach to parenting, say scientists at the University of Bath’s Milner Centre for Evolution.advertisement Crocodiles are one of the oldest surviving lineages on Earth, having survived two extinctions — the mass extinction in the late Cretaceous period that […]

Seeding oceans with iron may not impact climate change

Phytoplankton (stock image).Credit: © tonaquatic / Adobe Stock Historically, the oceans have done much of the planet’s heavy lifting when it comes to sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Microscopic organisms known collectively as phytoplankton, which grow throughout the sunlit surface oceans and absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, are a key player.advertisement To help stem escalating […]

‘Rule breaking’ plants may be climate change survivors

Plantago lanceolate (stock image).Credit: © Tetiana / Adobe Stock Plants that break some of the ‘rules’ of ecology by adapting in unconventional ways may have a higher chance of surviving climate change, according to researchers from the University of Queensland and Trinity College Dublin.advertisement Dr Annabel Smith, from UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, and Professor […]

Rethinking land conservation to protect species that will need to move with climate change

All plants and animals need suitable conditions to survive. That means a certain amount of light, a tolerable temperature range, and access to sources of food, water and shelter.advertisement Many of the existing efforts to protect plant and animal species across the United States rely on information about where these species currently live. For example, […]

Driven by Earth’s orbit, climate changes in Africa may have aided human migration

Earth (stock image).Credit: © robert / Adobe Stock In 1961, John Kutzbach, then a recent college graduate, was stationed in France as an aviation weather forecaster for the U.S. Air Force. There, he found himself exploring the storied caves of Dordogne, including the prehistoric painted caves at Lascoux.advertisement Thinking about the ancient people and animals who […]

Small change for climate change: Time to increase research funding to save the world

A new study shows that there is a huge disproportion in the level of funding for social science research into the greatest challenge in combatting global warming — how to get individuals and societies to overcome ingrained human habits to make the changes necessary to mitigate climate change.advertisement The analysis argues that despite many of […]

Genetic variation gives mussels a chance to adapt to climate change

Existing genetic variation in natural populations of Mediterranean mussels allows them to adapt to declining pH levels in seawater caused by carbon emissions. A new study by biologists from the University of Chicago shows that mussels raised in a low pH experimental environment grew smaller shells than those grown at normal pH levels, but the […]

Climate change not the only threat to vulnerable species, habitat matters

Though climate change is becoming one of the greatest threats to the Earth’s already stressed ecosystems, it may not be the most severe threat today for all species, say authors of a new report on the effects of deforestation on two lemur species in Madagascar.advertisement Writing in the current issue of Nature Climate Change, Toni Lyn […]