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Archive for the ‘climatology’ category: Page 9

Jul 4, 2024

Scientists discover new plants that could lead to ‘climate-proof’ chocolate

Posted by in categories: climatology, economics, sustainability

Scientists have found three new species that are close relatives to the plant from which chocolate is produced—a discovery that could pave the way for climate-proof chocolate. The team’s research has been published in the journal Kew Bulletin.

The , discovered in the rain forests of South America, are closely related to Theobroma cacao, the tree that bears which are of tremendous economic importance.

The research team comprising scientists from University College Cork (UCC), the University of São Paulo and New York Botanical Garden say their finding is significant as it indicates that there is much work still to be done in characterizing Earth’s biodiversity.

Jul 2, 2024

Solar Power Investment Will Overtake Oil for the First Time Ever This Year

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, climatology, nuclear energy, sustainability

Year 2023 Basically solar will last several billion years and make type 0 civilization resources obsolete by making trillions of dollars in profits with nearly zero emissions.


Between the Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukraine conflict, inflation, and the renewables transition, the 2020s have been a volatile decade for energy. The pandemic reduced demand for electricity and oil all over the world, causing prices to plummet. Then the Ukraine invasion brought sanctions on Russian oil and gas, pushing energy prices up and leaving European countries scrambling (particularly for natural gas). High energy prices have since contributed to inflation, and in many places utility costs are far surpassing inflation. All the while, worry over climate change has continued to mount, with calls to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels growing ever louder.

In short, the energy situation in the US and around the world is a mess. But the International Energy Agency released some good news in its recent World Energy Investment report. The report is compiled annually, and the 2023 version came out at the end of May. For the first time ever, it found that investment in renewables—specifically solar power—will overtake spending on oil.

Continue reading “Solar Power Investment Will Overtake Oil for the First Time Ever This Year” »

Jul 1, 2024

Increased atmospheric moisture may dampen the ‘seeds’ of hurricanes

Posted by in categories: climatology, innovation

Increased atmospheric moisture may alter critical weather patterns over Africa, making it more difficult for the predecessors of many Atlantic hurricanes to form, according to a new study published this month. The work is published in the Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems.

The research team, led by scientists from the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), used an innovative model that allows for higher-resolution simulations of hurricane formation than ever before. This allowed researchers to study the effects of increased regional moisture over Africa, which is the birthplace of weather systems that later produce hurricanes over the Atlantic.

Past research has suggested that warmer ocean water and a moister atmosphere could cause hurricanes to become more intense with greater amounts of rainfall. But how , which is predicted to increase in a warming climate, may be impacting hurricane formation itself has not been studied in detail until now.

Jul 1, 2024

Weird connection found between temperature and brain development

Posted by in categories: climatology, neuroscience, sustainability

Exposure to extreme temperatures during early life is associated with alterations in children’s brain white matter microstructure, particularly in lower socioeconomic status neighborhoods, highlighting potential vulnerability to climate change impacts.

Jun 27, 2024

Detecting Alien Terraforming with Artificial Greenhouse Gases

Posted by in categories: alien life, climatology, engineering, environmental

Could we identify an alien terraformed planet through the detection of greenhouse gases? This is what a recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal hopes to address as a team of international researchers investigated whether artificial greenhouse gases could be detected from an exoplanet whose alien inhabitants could be attempting to terraform that world, either from trying to control its climate or terraforming an uninhabitable planet into a habitable one. This study holds the potential to help scientists better understand the criteria and methods for identifying an extraterrestrial civilization, especially with the number of confirmed exoplanets increasing almost weekly.

“For us, these gases are bad because we don’t want to increase warming” said Dr. Edward Schwieterman, who is an Assistant Professor of Astrobiology at the University of California Riverside and lead author of the study. “But they’d be good for a civilization that perhaps wanted to forestall an impending ice age or terraform an otherwise-uninhabitable planet in their system, as humans have proposed for Mars.”

Jun 27, 2024

MIT Uncovers Surprising Wave Activity on Titan, Saturn’s Largest Moon

Posted by in categories: climatology, evolution, space

MIT researchers have used simulations to suggest that the shorelines of Titan, Saturn ’s largest moon, are shaped by waves. This finding builds on images from NASA ’s Cassini spacecraft, which first confirmed the existence of Titan’s methane and ethane bodies. Understanding how these waves might erode the coastlines could offer insights into Titan’s climate and future sea evolution.

Titan’s Unique Extraterrestrial “Waters”

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is the only other planetary body in the solar system that currently hosts active rivers, lakes, and seas. These otherworldly river systems are thought to be filled with liquid methane and ethane that flows into wide lakes and seas, some as large as the Great Lakes on Earth.

Jun 27, 2024

A Major Earthquake Caused One of the Largest Rivers on Earth To Abruptly Change Course — Could It Happen Again?

Posted by in category: climatology

A recent study has uncovered that a major earthquake around 2,500 years ago significantly rerouted the Ganges River in Bangladesh, marking the first documented instance of seismic activity causing a river avulsion. This discovery highlights the ongoing geological risks in delta regions, which could impact millions of people if repeated today. Credit: SciTechDaily.com.

A recent study published in Nature Communications reveals that a massive earthquake 2,500 years ago dramatically shifted the course of one of the world’s largest rivers. This previously undocumented seismic event rerouted the main channel of the Ganges River into present-day, densely populated Bangladesh, an area that continues to be at high risk for significant earthquakes.

Scientists have documented many river-course changes, called avulsions, including some in response to earthquakes. However, “I don’t think we have ever seen such a big one anywhere,” said study coauthor Michael Steckler, a geophysicist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is part of the Columbia Climate School. It could have easily inundated anyone and anything in the wrong place at the wrong time, he said.

Jun 25, 2024

| Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Posted by in categories: biological, climatology, physics, robotics/AI, sustainability

Physics meets machine learning.


The Progress and Promise for Science in Indonesia Regional Special Feature focuses on biodiversity and climate change, highlighting research based on the unique geology and biology of a nation comprising more than 17,600 islands, containing about 10 percent of the world’s remaining tropical forests, and home to over 300,000 species of wildlife.

Jun 23, 2024

Infinite Resources: Develop the arctic, green hydrogen, fresh water and healthy food for the world

Posted by in categories: climatology, cryptocurrencies, sustainability

Discussion with Jeff Krehmer about his book Infinite Resources: How to sustainably develop the arctic, by supplying green hydrogen, fresh water and healthy food to the world, while mitigating the negative effects of anthropocentric climate change.

Links related to Infinite Resources:
The book Infinite Resources:
https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Resou?tag=lifeboatfound-20

Continue reading “Infinite Resources: Develop the arctic, green hydrogen, fresh water and healthy food for the world” »

Jun 19, 2024

Significance of Wave Activity for Understanding Titan’s Climate

Posted by in categories: climatology, evolution, information science, mathematics, space

Lakes and seas of liquid methane exist on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, due to the moon’s bone-chilling cold temperatures at-290 degrees Fahrenheit (−179 degrees Celsius), whereas it can only exist as a gas on Earth. But do these lakes and seas of liquid methane strewn across Titan’s surface remain static, or do they exhibit wave activity like the lakes and seas of liquid water on Earth? This is what a recent study published in Science Advances hopes to address as a team of researchers have investigated coastal shoreline erosion on Titan’s surface resulting from wave activity. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of planetary surfaces throughout the solar system and how well they relate to Earth.

For the study, the researchers used a combination of shoreline analogs on Earth, orbital images obtained by NASA’s now-retired Cassini spacecraft, coastal evolution models, and several mathematical equations to ascertain the processes responsible for shoreline morphology across Titan’s surface. Through this, the researchers were able to construct coastal erosion models depicting how wave activity could be responsible for changes in shoreline morphology at numerous locations across Titan’s surface.

“We can say, based on our results, that if the coastlines of Titan’s seas have eroded, waves are the most likely culprit,” said Dr. Taylor Perron, who is a Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-author on the study. “If we could stand at the edge of one of Titan’s seas, we might see waves of liquid methane and ethane lapping on the shore and crashing on the coasts during storms. And they would be capable of eroding the material that the coast is made of.”

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