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Climate Change and Wildfires: New Study Outlines the Path to Pervasive Adaptation

Every year, 400,000 hectares in the European Union are affected by fire, 85% of which in southern Europe, due to most pronounced 'fire weather' conditions, which are determined by high temperature, low precipitation, strong winds and low relative humidity.

8 Mar 2022

Megatooth Sharks Grew to Larger Sizes in Cooler Environments than in Warmer Waters

Otodus megalodon is commonly portrayed as a gigantic, monstrous shark in novels and films, such as the 2018 sci-fi thriller "The Meg." In reality, this species is only known from teeth and vertebrae in the fossil record, although it is generally accepted scientifically that the species was indeed quite gigantic, growing to at least 50 feet (15 meters) and possibly as much as 65 feet (20 meters). The new study re-examined published records of geographic occurrences of Megalodon teeth along with their estimated total body lengths.

7 Mar 2022

Environmental Change may have Driven the Formation and Abandonment of Native American Shell Ring Villages

Mollusk shells at 4,000-year-old Native American shell ring villages indicate that environmental change may have driven the formation and abandonment of these coastal communities, according to a study by Carey Garland and Victor Thompson in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 2, 2022.

3 Mar 2022

Large-Scale Relationships Between Vegetation and Climatic Characteristics

With the help of machine learning, a new study has identified the large-scale relationships existing between vegetation and climatic characteristics.

28 Feb 2022

Rising Temperatures are Causing Earth's Coldest Forests to Shift Northward, Study Shows

New research from Northern Arizona University shows rising temperatures are causing Earth's coldest forests to shift northward, raising concerns about biodiversity, an increased risk of wildfires and mounting impacts of climate change on northern communities.

25 Feb 2022

Extreme Fires to Increase Globally by 50% at the End of the Century

Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 per cent by 2030, 30 per cent by the end of 2050 and 50 per cent by the end of the century, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal.

24 Feb 2022

Shrub Recruitment in Greenland and the Tibetan Plateau Suppressed by Global Warming

A new study led by Prof. LIANG Eryuan from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research (ITP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) shows that global warming has suppressed shrub recruitment in Greenland and the Tibetan Plateau.

23 Feb 2022

Native Bird Studies Take Flight

The lives of the endangered southern emu-wren and one of Australia’s smallest falcons the nankeen kestrel will be better understood thanks to a strategic research investment by a leading Australian space company.

23 Feb 2022

Experts Explore the Phytoremediation Potential of Birch Trees in Soil with Microplastic Contamination

Remediation of microplastic-polluted soils could be made possible with the help of trees.

22 Feb 2022

Tall Trees in the Amazon are Impacted by Periods of High Maximum Temperatures

Amazon forests are increasingly becoming fragmented by deforestation and fire. A new study published in Nature Communications and led by researchers in the University of Helsinki, in cooperation with scientists across the globe, uses a novel approach to quantify the impacts of fragmentation on plant phenology.

18 Feb 2022