news 2020

Ventilation systems in many modern office buildings, which are designed to keep temperatures comfortable and increase energy efficiency, may increase the risk of exposure to the coronavirus, particularly during the coming winter, according to research published in the Journal of Fluid Mechanics .

The largest-ever study of tree rings from Norilsk in the Russian Arctic has shown that the direct and indirect effects of industrial pollution in the region and beyond are far worse than previously thought.

High levels of air pollution are forcing people inside to consume more electricity, subsequently causing even greater environmental problems by increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This is according to a new study from researchers at Cardiff University who have shown that the effects are seen more in lower-income families and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

An international team of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, has discovered a new class of planet, an 'ultrahot Neptune', orbiting the nearby star LTT 9779. This planet is particularly exciting because of its peculiarity: how did this planet come to arrive on such a short period orbit and why does it still possess an atmosphere? Ed Gillen The planet orbits so close to its star that its year lasts only 19 hours, and stellar radiation heats the planet to over 1700 degrees Celsius.

Summary of major extinction events through time, highlighting the new, Carnian Pluvial Episode at 233 million years ago. D. Bonadonna/ MUSE, Trento. September 2020 It's not often a new mass extinction is identified; after all, such events were so devastating they really stand out in the fossil record.

Animals in tropical and Mediterranean areas are the most sensitive to climate change and land use pressures, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The findings, published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution , show how extinction risks are not evenly distributed worldwide, and suggest that large declines in tropical biodiversity are likely to occur imminently.

The impacts of predator loss and climate change are combining to devastate living reefs that have defined Alaskan kelp forests for centuries, according to new research published in Science. "We discovered that massive limestone reefs built by algae underpin the Aleutian Islands' kelp forest ecosystem," said Douglas Rasher, a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the lead author of the study.

Global animal populations have on average declined by two-thirds in less than half a century, according to the WWF's Living Planet Report 2020 involving UCL researchers, released today. The Living Planet Index (LPI), provided by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), shows that factors believed to increase the planet's vulnerability to pandemics such as COVID-19 - including land-use change and the use and trade of wildlife - were also some of the drivers behind the 68% average decline in global mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish populations between 1970 and 2016.

Changes in the Earth's climate over the last 66 million years have been revealed in unprecedented detail by a team involving UCL researchers, highlighting four distinctive climatic states and the natural millionand thousand-year variability that Earth's climate has experienced. , the new global "climate reference curve" created by the team is the first record to continually and accurately trace how the Earth's climate has changed since the great extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.

A fifth of carbon dioxide emissions come from multinational companies' global supply chains, according to a new study led by UCL and Tianjin University that shows the scope of multinationals' influence on climate change. The study, published , maps the emissions generated by multinationals' assets and suppliers abroad, finding that the flow of investment is typically from developed countries to developing ones - meaning that emissions are in effect outsourced to poorer parts of the world.

Distinct psychological mix associated with mountain populations is consistent with the theory that harsh frontiers attracted certain personalities. This psychological fingerprint for mountainous areas may be an echo of the personality types that sought new lives in unknown territories Friedrich Götz When historian Frederick Jackson Turner presented his famous thesis on the US frontier in 1893, he described the "coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and acquisitiveness" it had forged in the American character.

Evidence from Earth's past warming events should be built into forecasts showing how today's climate change could affect different species and ecosystems. Durham's bioscientists were part of an international team of researchers that identified and examined past increases in temperature similar to those anticipated in the coming decades.

Fewer of the world's large aquifers are depleting than previously estimated, according to a new study by the University of Sussex and UCL. Groundwater, the world's largest distributed store of freshwater, plays a critical role in supplying water for irrigation, drinking and industry, and sustaining vital ecosystems.

A new paper, co-authored by a University of Sussex scientist, has revealed major holes in an international treaty designed to help repair the ozone layer, putting human health at risk and increasing the speed of climate change. Evidence amassed by scientists in the 1970s and 1980s showed that the depletion of the ozone layer in the stratosphere was one of the first truly global threats to humanity.

Researchers have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity. We hope this technology will pave the way toward sustainable and practical solar fuel production Erwin Reisner The device, developed by a team from the University of Cambridge, is a significant step toward achieving artificial photosynthesis - a process mimicking the ability of plants to convert sunlight into energy.

Researchers have found that pulse-like releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere are a pervasive feature of the carbon cycle and that they are closely connected to major changes in Atlantic Ocean circulation.

A study from the Universities of Cambridge and Melbourne has found that the onset of past climate changes was synchronous over an area extending from the Arctic to the low latitudes. These findings provide confirmation of a persistent but, until now, unsubstantiated assumption that climate changes between the tropics and the Arctic were synchronous Eric Wolff The Last Glacial Period, between 115,000 and 11,700 years ago, was punctuated by a series of severe climate changes: warm periods where temperatures in Greenland spiked by 8-16°C over the course of a decade.

Researchers have identified the optimal dish positions to help "nudge" diners into picking more planet-friendly meals in cafeterias. More research is needed on how to set up our society so that the self-interested default decision is the best one for the climate Emma Garnett Meat-heavy diets not only risk our health but that of the planet, as livestock farming on a massive scale destroys habitats and generates greenhouse gases.

The oceans play an important role in regulating our climate and its change by absorbing heat and carbon. Scientists from the Department of Physics at Oxford University have discovered that the influence of circulation changes on shaping ocean warming will diminish in the future. This is despite having been identified and modelled as a key factor over the past 60 years.

Radiocarbon dating is set to become more accurate than ever after an international team of scientists improved the technique for assessing the age of historical objects. The team of researchers at the Universities of Belfast, Sheffield, Bristol, Glasgow, Oxford, St Andrews and Historic England, plus international colleagues, used measurements from almost 15,000 samples from objects dating back as far as 60,000 years ago, as part of a seven-year project.