One of France’s first commercial-scale tidal energy pilot projects, NH1 is due to supply thousands of locals with clean electricity. A tidal farm featuring the world’s most powerful underwater turbines is being built off the coast of Normandy after winning EU funding. The NH1 tidal project from Normandie Hydroliennes will use four turbines to turn […]
Harnessing moisture from air, Northwestern University chemists have developed a simple new method for breaking down plastic waste. The non-toxic, environmentally friendly, solvent-free process first uses an inexpensive catalyst to break apart the bonds in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common plastic in the polyester family. Then, the researchers merely expose the broken pieces to […]
Microplastics made it more difficult for drugs to be efficient, researchers say. Bacteria exposed to microplastics can become resistant to antibiotics, a new study has found. Researchers from the US investigated how bacteria reacted when exposed to different concentrations of microplastics – small plastic pieces measuring less than five millimetres that are omnipresent in the […]
Climate change may lead to more precipitation and more intense floods. A new study shows that to understand the details of this relationship, it is important to distinguish between different types of rainfall and flood events — namely, between short-term events that occur on a time scale of hours, and longer-term events that last several […]
Since the satellite recording of ocean height began in 1993, the rate of annual sea level rise has more than doubled. Global sea levels rose faster than expected in 2024 as the world experienced its hottest year on record, a new study has found. This was due to an unusual amount of ocean warming combined […]
Atmospheric rivers can bring much needed rain to drought-struck places, but may be dangerous when they are strong and last long. As extreme weather events have hit the world hard in recent years, one meteorology term – atmospheric rivers – has made the leap from scientific circles to common language. Particularly in places that have […]
Flooded by the Nile for thousands of years, Cairo is facing increasingly severe drought as the world’s most extreme example of a phenomenon called “climate flip”. Riyadh, Jeddah and Khartoum are also in the grip of “drying trends” as the Middle East and North Africa take a pounding from climate change, a major study has found. Scientists working for the charity […]
Levels of a major pollutant in the UAE’s air have dropped significantly in a year, according to a report that ranks countries by air quality. While concentrations of the smallest type of particulate matter remain above levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the 2024 World Air Quality Report from Swiss company IQAir reveals that they have […]
Satellites could collide in space due to climate change shrinking part of the atmosphere, scientists have warned. Space junk could get stuck in orbit due to humans damaging a layer called the thermosphere, according to MIT engineers. That would leave less room for new satellites that provide internet, navigation and weather forecasting to our planet. Overcrowding in orbit could lead […]
The last time a cyclone struck so far south along Australia’s east coast was in 1974. For the first time in more than five decades, a tropical cyclone is on track to hit Australia’s relatively temperate east coast. Slow-moving Cyclone Alfred is barrelling toward Brisbane – Australia’s third biggest city – and the nearby tourist […]
