Water shortages have persisted in the Middle East despite “unusually” heavy rainfall in some areas, the UN said on Monday, warning that a powerful El Nino could bring more extreme weather in 2027. The World Meteorological Organisation said the shift in rainfall patterns showed how unpredictable weather is becoming in a region already facing severe […]
Tens of thousands of negotiators, activists, scientists and lobbyists will gather in the Turkish city of Antalya for the Cop31 climate change conference from November 9 to 20. The event comes three years after Cop28 in Dubai, which broke new ground by being the first to explicitly call for the world to transition away from […]
Deep within an ice cap in northwestern Tibet, scientists have uncovered evidence of a remarkable frozen record that may stretch back more than 128,000 years. The discovery suggests that ice high in the mountains has survived since the last ice age and could provide an extraordinary window into Earth’s ancient climate. The findings extend the […]
For nearly 50 years, scientists have struggled to explain why frogs began disappearing from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s richest regions for amphibian diversity. Beginning in the 1970s, researchers documented dramatic population declines, but the cause of these losses remained uncertain. Now, scientists have uncovered compelling evidence pointing to a deadly fungal disease […]
A newly developed textile covering helped strawberry plants produce more than three times as much fruit in tunnel field trials, while showing no harmful effects on plant health. Researchers say the technology may also offer a way to reduce water use and reliance on pesticides in strawberry production. The fabric, called Plant Armor, is designed […]
Scientists have uncovered a promising new way to protect some of the world’s most important food crops from a destructive fungus that threatens global food security. By engineering the natural immune defenses of plants, researchers have developed an experimental approach that could eventually help wheat, rice, and barley resist fungal infections more effectively. The international […]
Crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) are among the most feared creatures on coral reefs. Covered in sharp, toxin-filled spines, these predators are notorious for consuming coral and leaving widespread destruction in their wake. However, new research from the University of Sydney suggests these infamous reef destroyers may also have a surprisingly beneficial side. When their populations remain […]
Global warming has accelerated sharply over the past decade, with Earth heating up faster than at any point since modern temperature records began in 1880. A new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) provides the first statistically significant evidence that the pace of global warming has increased since around 2015, even […]
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that severely bleached corals can fully recover after spending just a few days in contact with healthy, genetically identical corals. In laboratory experiments, corals that had turned white and were close to dying regained their health within seven weeks. According to a study published on October 14 in […]
Scientists at the University of St Andrews have identified a previously unknown process that may help explain how Earth entered past ice ages. Their findings reveal a surprising connection between ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere and ocean changes near Antarctica, suggesting that cooling in one part of the world could trigger a chain reaction […]
