The simple act of a tree absorbing carbon dioxide from the air serves as an unsung hero in our ongoing fight against climate change. Surrounded by threats like deforestation and forest fires, our guardians, the world's forests, have been resilient for more than three decades, absorbing harmful carbon dioxide despite adversity.

Our source for this new look at forest resilience is a study led by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis ( IIASA ), involving researchers from 11 countries, including IIASA Distinguished Research Fellow Emeritus Anatolii Shvidenko. (Sanjana Gajbhiye, more at earth.com)

Climate change education in higher education is crucial for several reasons. First, climate change has direct and indirect effects on human health, food security, economic stability and environmental sustainability. These challenges require a thorough understanding and solutions that only qualified professionals can provide. Institutions of higher education therefore play an important role in promoting a better understanding of the links between climate change and these aspects of life.

Second, universities can make a significant contribution to mitigating climate change and prepare future leaders to solve environmental problems. By integrating education for sustainable development (ESD), these institutions can help shape a society that is better prepared to act towards global sustainability. This reduces the negative impact of climate change on various sectors, such as agriculture, and promotes innovative solutions that are in line with the principles of sustainability.

By revitalizing climate change education, universities can serve as centers not only for education, but also for research and practical measures to combat climate change. In this way, a new generation of aware and equipped individuals is being formed, who will be ready to lead the social transformation towards a sustainable future. Additionally, education in this area can also contribute to raising public awareness and strengthening community sustainability efforts. Through public lectures, workshops and conferences, universities can mobilize the wider community and promote inclusive dialogue on climate solutions. All of this contributes to creating a more resilient and informed community that is able to effectively face the challenges posed by a changing climate. (CO2AI)

Despite facing regional threats such as deforestation and forest fires, the world's forests remain a powerful weapon in the fight against climate change. A new study reveals that these vital ecosystems have consistently absorbed carbon dioxide over the past three decades, even as disruption erodes their capacity.

Based on long-term ground measurements combined with remote sensing data, the study found that forests consume an average of 3.5 ± 0.4 billion metric tons of carbon per year, nearly half the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels between 1990 and 2019. .

The study, titled "Sustained Global Carbon Sequestration in Forests," published in the journal Nature of July 18, 2024, emphasizes the decisive role of forests in mitigating climate change. The study further shows that deforestation and disturbances such as forest fires threaten this vital carbon store. (USDA Forest Service, more at phys.org)

Our ability to face the challenges of climate change, thereby ensuring the stability and efficient functioning of our socio-economic systems, is closely related to the protection and restoration of natural systems. (more…)

The observation is terrifying. According to of the latest report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) all indicators of global warming (global surface temperature, greenhouse gas concentration rate, ocean warming, sea level rise or even glacier retreat) have reached in 2023 unprecedented thresholds . "We didn't wait until Olympic Games will break records," joked journalist Anne-Sophie Novel during " Tech for Climate? » (1), which took place on June 13, 2024 in Paris. "Science has been telling us what's going on for decades," she added. But we don't trust what we know. What are we all waiting for to act ? (More on harmonie-sante.fr)

Global warming slows down not only people but also our planet. The rate of ice melting at the poles is so great that it noticeably lengthens the length of days. Scientists from Zurich warn that if the Earth continues to warm, this effect could overcome the tidal forces of the Moon in the future.

Movement of water from the poles to the equator

Due to climate change, the ice in Greenland and Antarctica is melting and water from these areas is moving into the oceans, especially in the equatorial region. Benedikt Soja from ETH Zurich explains that this movement of mass affects the rotation of the Earth.

Lengthening of days measured by satellites

Currently, the days are lengthening by about 1.33 milliseconds per century. Climate change therefore causes a measurable lengthening of the days, which can be recorded by modern satellites.

A chain reaction of slowing down the Earth's rotation

This effect is the result of a chain reaction: the melting of the ice in the polar regions, the rise in the level of the oceans and the subsequent change in the distribution of mass on the Earth, which slows down its rotation.

An example with a figure skater

"Soja compares it to a figure skater who, during a pirouette, first holds her arms close to her body and then spreads them out. When the arms are close to the body, the rotation is faster, but when they are spread out, the rotation slows down due to increased inertia," Soja explains. The slowing down of the Earth's rotation leads to a lengthening of the days, albeit only minimally.

Losing the "job" of the Moon

Scientists warn that if climate change is not curbed, this effect could exceed the influence of the Moon on the Earth's rotation. The Moon exerts tidal forces on the Earth, visible in the tides, which slightly slow the Earth's rotation and thereby lengthen the day. (CO2AI)

A trio of physicists and oceanologists, two from the Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology of the University of Cologne and the third from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean (more…)

The insurance industry has set its priorities for a more prosperous, resilient and competitive European Union. Insurance Europe calls on EU policymakers to continue to fight climate change through concrete measures to adapt to climate change and build resilience.

For the first time, researchers from ETH Zurich have succeeded in fully explaining the various causes of long-term polar motion in the most complex modeling to date using AI methods. Their model and their observations show that climate change and global warming will have a greater effect on the Earth's rotation rate than the influence of the Moon, which has predestined the lengthening of the day for billions of years.

Climate change is causing the melting of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. Water from the polar regions flows into the world's oceans — and especially into the equatorial region.

"This means that there is a displacement of mass and this affects the rotation of the Earth," explains Benedikt Soja, professor of space geodesy at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering at ETH Zurich. (More on phys.org)

On July 15, the EU commemorates the victims of the global climate crisis at a ceremony in Brussels with the participation of Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez  Lenarčič and representatives of the Belgian government. On this second annual EU Day for the Victims of the Global Climate Crisis, we honor those who have been lost and affected by the climate crisis. The day also serves as a call to action to minimize the impact of climate change wherever possible and build resilience to protect lives and livelihoods. (More on climate.ec.europa.eu)

Soot, the black carbon that triggers smog and coughing fits, is also the biggest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, according to a four-year assessment by US scientists. A new study concludes that black carbon, the soot particles in smoke and smog, contributes about twice as much to global warming as previously estimated, even by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2007.

"We were surprised by its potential contribution to climate," said Sarah Doherty, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington (UW) and one of the four lead authors, reports the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres.

Black carbon contributes to climate change in mid- to high latitudes, including the northern US, Canada, northern Europe, and northern Asia, as well as affecting the precipitation pattern of the Asian monsoon. (IANS, more at khaleejtimes.com)

Research published in Earth System Science Data found that nitrous oxide emissions from human activity have increased by 40 percent over the past four decades, in part due to rising global demand for meat and dairy products. The research found that nitrous oxide emissions over the past decade have exceeded even the highest predicted levels in the emission pathways.

Continuing to emit greenhouse gases at current rates would "really impact" the world's ability to meet the Paris Agreement's long-term goal of limiting global warming to "well below" 2°C, says the lead author of the Carbon Brief study. (Orla Dwyer, Carbon Brief, more at eco-business.com)

Floods, droughts and fires caused by climate change could cause as much damage as an asteroid or a massive volcanic eruption. Here's what the experts say. The most famous mass extinction in Earth's history occurred 66 million years ago, when a gigantic asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs and many other living species. And while it was a major event, wiping out about 76 percent of the world's species, there have been two more devastating apocalypses in the 4.5 billion years of our planet's history, for a total of five. MailOnline asked scientists what could cause the sixth mass extinction and when, if this scenario is already underway, it could happen. (More on passionastronomia.it)

A recent study identified significant impacts of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on coral bleaching events in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Great Barrier Reef, covering nearly 350,000 square kilometers along the northeast coast of Australia, is the largest coral ecosystem in the world.

The GBR contributes about $6.4 billion to Australia's economy annually, but faces serious threats from rising ocean temperatures due to climate change. (Andrei Ionescu, more at earth.com)

A recent study published in Nature Climate Change points to the potential negative consequences of geoengineering, including cloud brightening, on the global climate. The aim of this technique is to reduce temperatures by conditioning sunlight . Specifically, it involves dispersing salt water into the air with the aim of cooling the climate locally. But paradoxically, this operation in California could amplify the waves  the heat in Europe. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, used climate models to simulate the impacts of two cloud-lightening operations in the northeast Pacific Ocean. One was located near California, the other in Alaska. The results show that these interventions, while beneficial in the short term for certain regions, could have significantly adverse effects on others, especially Europe. (Cédric DEPOND, more at techno-science.net)

Just as you enjoy a picnic with a soothing view of the lake, it is disheartening to know that these peaceful waters are in grave danger. Lakes around the world are facing an alarming warming trend - their temperatures are skyrocketing at an unprecedented rate.

The scientific details behind this problem are detailed in a recent study. This research is the work of a joint team of limnologists and climate modelers from different backgrounds. (Sanjana Gajbhiye, more at earth.com)

The discovery of new evidence about the behavior of the Gulf Stream during the last ice age could mean that it is more sensitive to future climate change than previously thought. Study published in journal Nature and led by researchers from University College London (UCL) found that around 20,000 years ago, an exceptionally strong Gulf Stream was associated with more intense winds over the subtropical North Atlantic. This finding suggests that a slowdown in such winds, as some studies have predicted could occur under ongoing climate change, would actually sap energy from the Gulf Stream, with potential consequences for heat distribution, sea level. (More on earth.com)

A consensus of a magnitude described as “surprising” is emerging from the 2024 Climate Vote, the second edition of a climate change survey supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the results of which were released on June 20. The survey, which was larger than the previous one in 2021, involved more than 73,000 people in 77 countries, representing 87% of the world’s population, and reached citizens who had never been asked about the topic before, including the world’s poorest countries.

The interviews, collected between September 2023 and May 2024, reveal how people are experiencing the climate crisis, their views on how countries have managed it so far and how they would like to address it. We call on leaders and policymakers around the world to take note, UNDP stresses, before the deadline in February 2025 when they will have to submit their climate action plans, the so-called “nationally determined contributions”, updated and aligned with the Paris Agreement, which commits to limiting the increase in the average global temperature to 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. The new pledges from countries will serve to define strategies to combat the climate crisis at COP 30, scheduled for 2025, taking into account the fact that climate change is accelerating faster than expected. (More on asvis.it)