Higher temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change turned an ordinary drought into an exceptional one that parched the American West from 2020–22. A study by UCLA and NOAA scientists has found that evaporation accounted for 61% of the drought’s severity, while reduced precipitation accounted for 39%. The research found that since 2000, evaporative demand has played a bigger role than reduced precipitation in droughts, which may become more severe as the climate warms.

New collaborative research from the University of Sydney and the Montreal Heart Institute has shown that using a fan in hot and humid weather reduces cardiac strain in older people, contradicting recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in the US.  

 

The study, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the efficacy of different low-cost cooling strategies – such as electric fans with and without spraying water on the skin – for older adults, who are known to be at a heightened health risk during hot summer weather.  

06 November 2024/Kiel. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai submarine volcano in January 2022 released massive quantities of volcanic material into the ocean and atmosphere. Researchers from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have investigated how this has affected surface water biogeochemistry in the South Pacific. During a GEOTRACES expedition, the team showed that large amounts of trace elements, including iron, were introduced into the ocean with the volcanic material, fostering phytoplankton growth. This nutrient input could have a lasting effect on marine life and could increase the ocean's capacity to sequester CO₂. These findings have now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Because nitrogen fertilizers contribute to global greenhouse gas emissions, scientists are looking for ways to modify agricultural plants so that they rely on less nitrogen. In research published in New Phytologist, investigators have found that blocking a particular protein may achieve this goal in potatoes.