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Climate Change

Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth’s climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to Earth’s climate. The current rise in global temperatures is driven by human activities, especially fossil fuel burning since the Industrial Revolution. Fossil fuel use, deforestation, and some agricultural and industrial practices release greenhouse gases. These gases absorb some of the heat that the Earth radiates after it warms from sunlight, warming the lower atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, the primary gas driving global warming, has increased in concentration by about 50% since the pre-industrial era to levels not seen for millions of years.
(Source: Wikipedia | CC BY-SA)

Image: Assorted Vegetable Lot
Improved refrigeration could save nearly half of the 1.3* billion tons of food wasted each year globallyClimate

Improved refrigeration could save nearly half of the 1.3* billion tons of food wasted each year globally

By University of Michigan About a third of the food produced globally each year goes to waste, while approximately 800 million people suffer from hunger,…
SourceSourceMay 29, 2024 Full article
Image: Artist's view of EarthCARE satellite on board a Falcon 9 launch vehicle
EarthCARE satellite to probe how clouds affect climateClimateNews

EarthCARE satellite to probe how clouds affect climate

By Patrick T. FALLON with Juliette COLLEN in Paris | AFP Vandenberg Air Force Base, United States (UPDATED) - A rocket carrying a sophisticated satellite…
SourceSourceMay 29, 2024 Full article
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US announces ‘guardrails’ for controversial carbon markets to succeedNews

US announces ‘guardrails’ for controversial carbon markets to succeed

By Issam Ahmed with Nick Perry in Paris | AFP Washington, United States (UPDATED) - President Joe Biden's administration announced new "guardrails" to help ensure…
SourceSourceMay 29, 2024 Full article
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Cases of bacterial disease rise in Brazil’s flooded southNews

Cases of bacterial disease rise in Brazil’s flooded south

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil | AFP - Brazilian authorities on Tuesday reported an increase in cases of leptospirosis, a bacterial disease transmitted by rats, in…
SourceSourceMay 28, 2024 Full article
Image: Rickshaw on the Road During Rainy Day
Deadly Bangladesh cyclone one of longest seenClimateNews

Deadly Bangladesh cyclone one of longest seen

By Mohammad MAZED and Shafiqul ALAM in Dhaka | AFP Patuakhali, Bangladesh (UPDATED) - Bangladeshi weather experts said Tuesday that a deadly cyclone that carved…
SourceSourceMay 28, 2024 Full article
Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado higher than in Amazon: reportNews

Deforestation in Brazil’s Cerrado higher than in Amazon: report

Sao Paulo, Brazil | AFP - Deforestation in Brazil's Cerrado region, a vast tropical savanna renowned for its rich biodiversity, increased sharply in 2023 and…
SourceSourceMay 28, 2024 Full article
Submerged homes, heat waves fuel Mexico climate angstNews

Submerged homes, heat waves fuel Mexico climate angst

By Yussel Gonzalez | AFP El Bosque, Mexico - Waves wash over abandoned homes in a Mexican village slowly being swallowed by the sea --…
SourceSourceMay 28, 2024 Full article
Rights court takes climate crisis hearing to Brazilian AmazonNews

Rights court takes climate crisis hearing to Brazilian Amazon

Brasília, Brazil | AFP - Academics, activists and Indigenous people gathered Monday in the Brazilian Amazon to weigh in on a key legal question: What…
SourceSourceMay 27, 2024 Full article
World’s island states blame richest countries for climate threatsClimateNews

World’s island states blame richest countries for climate threats

By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS | AFP United Nations, United States (UPDATED) - Extremely vulnerable to climate change, not rich enough to stop it on their own,…
SourceSourceMay 27, 2024 Full article
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Exceptionally early heatwave hits FinlandNews

Exceptionally early heatwave hits Finland

Helsinki, Finland | AFP - Finland has been experiencing unusually warm weather this May, prompting the Meteorological Institute to issue a heat warning on Monday.…
SourceSourceMay 27, 2024 Full article
France’s historic D-Day beaches threatened by rising sea levelsNews

France’s historic D-Day beaches threatened by rising sea levels

By Matthieu CLAVEL | AFP Caen, France - As France prepares to mark 80 years since Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, the…
SourceSourceMay 27, 2024 Full article
Image: Detail of the rice plant
From wild to domesticated: Scientists reveal 100,000 years of continuous rice evolutionScience

From wild to domesticated: Scientists reveal 100,000 years of continuous rice evolution

By Zhang Nannan, Chinese Academy of Sciences According to a study published in Science on May 24, scientists have used phytolith analysis and other methods…
SourceSourceMay 27, 2024 Full article
Kenyan fishers face increased drowning risk from climate changeClimateScience

Kenyan fishers face increased drowning risk from climate change

By Krishna Ramanujan, Cornell University Fatal drownings are a big risk for small-scale fishers on Africa’s largest lake, with many of those deaths attributed to…
SourceSourceMay 27, 2024 Full article
Forest with technology - image generated by AI
Machine learning accelerates discovery of high-performance metal oxide catalystsScience

Machine learning accelerates discovery of high-performance metal oxide catalysts

Researchers have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to significantly advance the discovery and optimization of multicomponent metal oxide electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction…
SourceSourceMay 26, 2024 Full article
Mexico City records highest-ever temperature of 34.7 CNews

Mexico City records highest-ever temperature of 34.7 C

Mexico City, Mexico | AFP - Mexico City recorded its highest-ever temperature on Saturday when thermometers hit 34.7 degrees Celsius (94.46 degrees Fahrenheit) as a…
SourceSourceMay 26, 2024 Full article
Image: Artist's view of EarthCARE satellite on board a Falcon 9 launch vehicle
EarthCARE satellite to probe how clouds affect climateNews

EarthCARE satellite to probe how clouds affect climate

By Juliette Collen | AFP Paris, France - Will clouds help cool or warm our world in the years ahead? The EarthCARE satellite will soon…
SourceSourceMay 26, 2024 Full article
This artist’s concept depicts one of two PREFIRE CubeSats in orbit around Earth.
NASA launches ground-breaking climate change satelliteNews

NASA launches ground-breaking climate change satellite

Washington, United States (AFP) - A tiny NASA satellite was launched Saturday from New Zealand with the mission of improving climate change prediction by measuring…
SourceSourceMay 25, 2024 Full article
Low-lying Maldives seeks easier funding to battle wavesNews

Low-lying Maldives seeks easier funding to battle waves

Malé, Maldives (AFP) - The Maldives on Saturday demanded international funding to battle rising sea levels, saying the low-lying Indian Ocean archipelago was being unfairly…
SourceSourceMay 25, 2024 Full article
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Kenyan president warns debt clouds Africa climate potentialNews

Kenyan president warns debt clouds Africa climate potential

Washington, United States (AFP) - Africa's vast potential in the global fight against climate change is at risk due to the heavy burden of debt…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Image: Boy drinking water
The global clean water crisis looms largeClimateScience

The global clean water crisis looms large

By Utrecht University Water scarcity will intensify with climate and socioeconomic change, disproportionately impacting populations located in the Global South. So concludes a new Utrecht University…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Atlantic faces ‘extraordinary’ hurricane season: US agencyNews

Atlantic faces ‘extraordinary’ hurricane season: US agency

By Lucie AUBOURG | AFP Washington, United States (UPDATED) - The North Atlantic hurricane season, which starts on June 1, is forecast to be "extraordinary,"…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Image walrus on the sea shore (s. Arctic)
Drones validate walrus counts in satellite images from spaceScience

Drones validate walrus counts in satellite images from space

In the first successful attempt to calibrate walrus counts from satellite imagery, scientists used drones to validate animal counts in Svalbard, Norway. This International Day…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Antarctic survey
Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica calves new icebergClimate

Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica calves new iceberg

By British Antarctic Survey A large iceberg (380 km²), about the size of the Isle of Wight, has broken off the 150m thick Brunt Ice…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Beach erosion will make Southern California coastal living five times more expensive by 2050Climate

Beach erosion will make Southern California coastal living five times more expensive by 2050

By Nina Raffio | University of Southern California The region’s sandy coastlines are vanishing at an alarming rate. It’s a warning sign for coastal communities worldwide,…
SourceSourceMay 22, 2024 Full article