News by Subject Atmospheric Science

Vigorous and rapid air exchanges might not always be a good thing when it comes to levels of coronavirus particles in a multiroom building, according to a new modeling study. Particle levels can spike in downstream rooms shortly after rapid ventilation.

Substantial cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved by raising water levels in agricultural peatlands, according to a new study in the journal Nature. A team of researchers led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology estimates halving drainage depths in these areas could cut emissions by around 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, which equates to 1 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities.

The downward trajectory of plant and animal diversity constitutes a key issue of the Anthropocene. Whether diversity is changing also in the world of microbes is unknown, however -- a "profound ignorance" -- because the importance of these microorganisms maintain Earth's habitability. A paper published today frames the rate of change of microbial biodiversity as an important question on which progress is possible.

One consequence of the coronavirus pandemic has been global restrictions on mobility. This, in turn, has had an effect on pollution levels in the atmosphere. Researchers from across the world are using this unique opportunity to take measurements, collect data, and publish studies. An international team led by Forschungszentrum Jülich's Institute of Climate and Energy Research - Troposphere has now published a comprehensive review providing an overview of results up to September 2020.

Is it possible to simultaneously address the increase of the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and the resulting acidification of the oceans? The research of the project DESARC-MARESANUS, a collaboration between the Politecnico di Milano and the CMCC Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change Foundation, explores the feasibility of this process, its chemical and environmental balance, and the benefits for the marine sector, focusing on the Mediterranean basin.

The April snow falling on fruit blossoms in Europe these days may be directly connected to the loss of the sea ice in the Barents Sea in the Arctic.  That was definitely the case in 2018 when the sudden cold spell known as "Beast from the East" descended on the mid-latitudes of the continent,  a new study in Nature Geoscience shows.

To confirm life on other planets, we need to detect far more molecules in their atmospheres than we currently do to rule out non-biological chemical processes.