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Shelled Organisms Have Been More Resilient to Past Ocean Acidification than Currently Thought

Two groups of tiny, delicate marine organisms, sea butterflies and sea angels, were found to be surprisingly resilient--having survived dramatic global climate change and Earth's most recent mass extinction event 66 million years ago, according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

29 Sep 2020

Extent of Arctic Pollution is Worse Than Previously Believed

The largest-ever analysis of tree rings from Norilsk in the Russian Arctic has demonstrated that the direct and indirect impacts of industrial pollution in the area and beyond are far worse than believed before.

28 Sep 2020

Climate-Driven Wildfires in Cascade Range Restructure the Forests

In recent years -- and 2020 is no exception -- parts of the Pacific Northwest that are typically too wet to burn are experiencing more frequent, severe and larger wildfires due to changes in climate.

25 Sep 2020

Amazonia Moving Closer to Catastrophic Ecological Tipping Point

Amazonia is closer to a catastrophic ecological tipping point than any time in the last 100,000 years, and human activity is the cause.

24 Sep 2020

Deep-Sea Coral Reefs at Risk of Collapse Due to Ocean Acidification

Deep-sea coral reefs face challenges as changes to ocean chemistry triggered by climate change may cause their foundations to become brittle, a study suggests.

18 Sep 2020

Europe's Primary Forests are Unprotected and at Risk of Being Destroyed

Like its ancient cathedrals, Europe has a remarkable--but poorly understood--legacy of old-growth forests.

18 Sep 2020

Crop Pests Rapidly Respond to Changing Climates

Fruit flies have the uncanny ability to wake up from a months-long hibernation right when their food of choice--say, the fruit from apple or Hawthorn trees--is at its peak.

18 Sep 2020

Reforestation can Only Partially Reverse Soil Degradation in Tropical Forests

Tropical forest soils play a crucial role in providing vital ecosystem functions.

17 Sep 2020

Short Intrusions of Cooler Deep Water can Mitigate Thermal Stress in Corals

The risk of severe coral bleaching--a condition in which corals lose their symbiotic algae, called zooxanthellae--is five times more frequent today than it was forty years ago.

17 Sep 2020