Alarming

This graph shows global ocean surface temperatures, with the 2023 track at the top. Credit: climatereanalyzer.org, CC BY-ND A changing climate is upon us, with more frequent land and marine heatwaves, forest fires, atmospheric rivers and floods. For some, it is the backdrop to day-to-day life, but for a growing number of people it is a life-changing reality. …

While Greenland and Antarctica are losing masses of ice, so too are most of the glaciers around the world, but it’s tricky to measure how much ice they are shedding. Thanks to ESA’s CryoSat satellite and a breakthrough way of using its data, scientists have discovered that glaciers worldwide have shrunk by a total of 2% in just 10 years. That adds up to 2720 Gigatonnes in all. This can be imagined as a giant ice cube, bigger than Europe’s highest mountain. Credit: ESA/Planetary VisionsScientists have used data from ESA’s…

A recent study reveals that over the past three centuries, the Asian elephant has lost more than 3 million square kilometers of its historic habitat range. The research, which utilized a unique data set modeling land-use changes over 13 centuries, found that suitable habitats for Asian elephants have decreased by nearly two-thirds within the past 300 years. Colonial-era land-use practices, including timber extraction and agriculture, have reduced the average habitat patch size by over 80%. The decline in suitable habitats…

Greenland’s Steenstrup Glacier has retreated 5 miles, thinned by 20%, doubled its ice discharge, and quadrupled in velocity between 2018 and 2021, according to a study led by The Ohio State University. The rapid change places Steenstrup in the top 10% of glaciers contributing to the region’s total ice discharge, highlighting the vulnerability of even stable glaciers to sudden retreat due to warmer waters, with potential consequences for global sea level rise.A recent study has revealed that the rising temperatures of the…

Decades after manufacturers have stopped producing a class of harmful chemicals once used in electrical equipment, traces of these chemicals have found in a deep sea trench.Lower Drought Conditions In California | Extreme EarthIn a study published in Nature Communications, researchers report detecting PCB chemicals at the bottom of the Atacama Trench off the coast of South America. During an expedition in 2018, a team retrieved sediment cores from fivelocations along the trench. The depths for these samples ranged from…

Candida auris is an emerging fungus that poses an urgent antimicrobial resistance threat. CDC data reveals that it rapidly spread in U.S. healthcare facilities in 2020-2021, with a tripling in the number of cases that were resistant to echinocandins, the most recommended antifungal medicine for treating C. auris infections. Healthy people are generally not at risk, but those who are very sick, have invasive medical devices, or have long stays in healthcare facilities are at increased risk. CDC has deemed C. auris as an…

Photo taken in 2015 of a burning forest in Belterra, in the Brazilian Amazon. In this photo, the flames are about 30cm high. The continuous fire line can be seen at the back of the photo, together with a lot of smoke. Credit: Adam Ronan/Rede Amazônia SustentávelA new study recently published in Science reveals that the Amazon rainforest has been damaged to a much greater extent than previously thought, with over a third of the remaining forest impacted by human activity.A study led by a team of 35 international scientists…

High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a common yet silent health concern that affects millions of people worldwide. Often without noticeable symptoms, this condition increases the force of blood against the walls of your arteries, potentially leading to severe health complications over time, such as heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.A recent study published in the Journal of Pediatrics highlights the detrimental effects of elevated blood pressure and hypertension during adolescence, leading to early…

E-commerce platform eBay Inc on Monday asked a U.S. judge to block a bid by Meta Platforms Inc for testimony from an eBay corporate official as the social media giant seeks rivals' information to counter a Federal Trade Commission antitrust lawsuit. EBay's lawyers from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan said in a filing in San Francisco federal court that Meta is demanding confidential business information about eBay's privacy policies, data retention and other topics that are not relevant to the FTC's monopoly claims.…

Following Mumbai’s air quality crisis this winter, critics accused the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board of moving air quality sensors to “cleaner” parts of the city. Meanwhile, India’s wealthier residents have taken matters into their own hands. Air purifier brands have become a common topic of conversation among middle-class residents. People who can afford to do so move from air-purified homes (where each room often has its own purifier) to air-purified shops and malls, driven in air-purified cars. Brands have…