news 2023

A new study led by The University of Manchester has identified that mammal species are being pushed to their ecological limits in areas where they are unlikely to thrive. The researchers examined whether habitat loss caused by human activity leads to species being pushed into poor-quality environments.

Tropical forests recovering from logging are sources of carbon for years afterwards, contrary to previous assumptions, finds a new study. Tropical forests that are recovering from having trees removed were thought to be carbon absorbers, as the new trees grow quickly. A new study, led by Imperial College London researchers, turns this on its head, showing that the carbon released by soil and rotting wood outpaces the carbon absorbed by new growth.

New research led by The University of Manchester has developed unique river basin modelling software which, for the first time, combines reservoir management, economy-wide performance, and artificial intelligence techniques to design adaptive plans for various climate change situations. Published in Nature Climate Change , it reveals solutions that can provide greater economic benefits for the nations affected by the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) - Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt - when compared with a negotiated proposal.

Researchers have developed a system that can transform plastic waste and greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels and other valuable products - using just the energy from the Sun. A solar-driven technology that could help to address plastic pollution and greenhouse gases at the same time could be a game-changer in the development of a circular economy Subhajit Bhattacharjee The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed the system, which can convert two waste streams into two chemical products at the same time - the first time this has been achieved in a solar-powered reactor.

Scientists have developed AI to track the development of crevasses - or fractures - on the Thwaites Glacier ice tongue in west Antarctica. Crevasses are indicators of stress building-up in the glacier. A team of researchers from the University of Leeds and University of Bristol have adapted an AI algorithm originally developed to identify cells in microscope images to spot crevasses forming in the ice from satellite images.

A new study has revealed that glaciers formed in the highest mountains of Antarctica at least 60 million years ago, which is 30 million years earlier than previously thought, and almost as long ago as the geological era of the dinosaurs. The continent of Antarctica is the coldest on Earth. Its extensive ice sheets, which today occupy approximately 98% of the land surface, have shrouded the continent for the last 34 million years, when they expanded as global climate cooled dramatically at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary.

First study to look at long-term effect of insulation finds fall in gas consumption per household was small, with all energy savings disappearing by the fourth year after a retrofit.