Global warming tipping point could trigger ice age
Temperatures in Western Europe could fall by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius over the course of the century. While this may sound good in an era of rising temperatures around the world, such a climate event would have devastating consequences for agriculture. As one climate scientist told Inside Climate News, it would be like “trying to grow potatoes in Northern Norway.” According to Slate, other places (such as Norway) will simply become too cold for human habitation.
In the Russian city of Orsk on April 5, a dam broke, 1,121 people were evacuated, including 331 children
Water continues to arrive in Orsk. At the moment, about 600 houses on nine streets are flooded. Earlier, the Orsk mayor’s office reported that a dam that protected the city from the Ural River had broken. There is a massive evacuation of people from the Old City, where several villages are located that fell into the flood zone. Temporary accommodation centers have been prepared for those evacuated from the flooded area. The mayor’s office clarified that the protective dam in the area of Orenburgskaya Street broke through. 4,258 houses and 10,987 people fall into the flood zone. The city has prepared temporary accommodation centers for 6.5 thousand places, housing 235 people, including 73 children.
New natural sources of greenhouse gases and associated climate control technologies
Layers of methane are locked under permafrost in Arctic regions, but if they were released it could cause problems for the rest of the world. Researchers also discovered intense methane emissions deep in the Baltic Sea. Methane can be a real problem for the environment. The greenhouse gas, made up of carbon and hydrogen and about 80 percent more potent than carbon dioxide, occurs naturally in sedimentary layers of the seafloor and is responsible for about 30 percent of global temperature rise.
In 18% of the regions of the planet Earth, the circulation of fresh water has been significantly disrupted as a result of human activity
A new study by an international team of scientists has concluded that aquifer depletion is affecting countries around the world and can threaten both the stability of local ecosystems and water security, with groundwater pumping causing the entire planet to tilt. Also, an international team of hydrologists and climatologists comprehensively studied the fresh water cycle on Earth and came to the conclusion that in 18% of the planet’s regions, the circulation of fresh water between rivers, ponds, lakes, other bodies of water and other environments has been significantly disrupted as a result of human activity.
Anomalous red snow fell in the Primorsky Territory
Specialists of the Scientific Center for Marine Biology named after. A.V. Zhirmunsky Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences analyzed samples and found that tens of thousands of crustaceans – representatives of zooplankton of the genera Neocalanus, Pseudocalanus, Metridia and Microcalanus – were frozen into the ice. It turned out that due to the presence of carotenoid pigments in the bodies of the crustaceans, the water turned red. The phenomenon was recorded during monitoring in the area of the Vostok Marine Biological Station in the bay of the same name. The discovered species of copepods form the basis of the zooplankton population in the bay in winter and are typical inhabitants of its open deep-sea areas, said specialists from the National Scientific Center for Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Russian station “Vostok” in Antarctica explores Lake Vostok
Lake Vostok was the last major geographical discovery on Earth, and it was made by Russia. The existence of the lake under four kilometers of ice was proven in 1994. In February 2012, for the first time in human history, as a result of drilling into the ice sheet, Russian scientists reached the surface of the subglacial Lake Vostok at a depth of 3769.3 meters. The Russian research station “Vostok” is one of the most modern and well-equipped in Antarctica, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the ceremony of putting into trial operation a new wintering complex.
Groundwater reserves are catastrophically declining
Groundwater supplies are being depleted in aquifers around the world, a new study has found, with the rate of decline accelerating over the past four decades in nearly a third of the aquifers studied. Rapid declines in water levels are most common in aquifers beneath cropland in drier regions, the largest analysis of groundwater trends shows.
75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels are not trackable
An innovative study by Sentinel-1 and AI (European Space Agency) combining satellite data and artificial intelligence has shed light on the number of ships, wind turbines and oil platforms at sea. Shockingly, the study shows that about 75% of the world’s industrial fishing vessels were previously hidden from publicly available tracking systems. The study, published recently in the journal Nature, was conducted by Global Fishing Watch, an organization that seeks to improve ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea.
The oldest forests on Earth are over 32 million years old
Kelp forests arose on the floor of the Pacific Ocean at least 32 million years ago, not 14-15 million years ago as previously thought. This calls into question the prevailing ideas about the evolution of their inhabitants, the press service of the University of California at Berkeley reported. Researchers have found that these important oceanic ecosystems appeared in the Pacific Ocean at the beginning of the Oligocene era, over 32 million years ago. The largest kelp forests are found in cold seas (Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, Nordic Seas), but in 2007 kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador.
Dagestan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan announced an environmental disaster in the Caspian Sea
The water level in the Caspian Sea is rapidly decreasing; since 1996, the water level in the Caspian Sea has dropped by almost three meters. Fishing is rapidly declining, ships cannot enter the port due to shallowing. Some scientists call the situation with the Caspian shallowing catastrophic. The water level has dropped so much that shipping in the port of Makhachkala is increasingly stopped after a storm. And these days the ships are in the roadstead near Makhachkala because they cannot enter the port – the canals are covered with sand.
A wall of 17 artificial islands in the Pacific Ocean with a total length of 24 kilometers will be built around the capital of Indonesia
Jakarta, a metropolis of 10 million, is recognized as the most sinking city in the world. Every year the capital drops by 25 centimeters, and floods due to tides rise by 200 centimeters. Floods are already costing the state dearly – the disaster takes tens of billions of dollars from the government every year. According to forecasts, in the next 10 years there will be even more flooding, and by 2050 a third of the city risks being under water.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Has Its Own Flora and Fauna
Scientists have discovered more than 40 species of animals living in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of man-made debris in the North Pacific Ocean. In size it is more than 900 thousand square meters. km.
The last whalers are going to stop their fishing
A moratorium on whaling, with the exception of the needs of the indigenous population of certain regions, has been in effect since 1982. But Japan, Norway and Iceland continue to harvest whales through quotas and withdrawal from the International Whaling Commission.
In the UK, crabs, lobsters and octopuses are recognized as sentient animals and are protected under animal rights law
Decapods – crabs, lobsters, shrimp and crayfish; Cephalopod cephalopods – octopuses, squids and cuttlefish – have a complex central nervous system, which is one of the key features of their ability to experience various feelings.
NASA and UNESCO plan to study up to 80 percent of the ocean floor by 2030
The US space agency’s goal is twofold: to understand the nature of the oceans that exist on other planets and to develop technologies to operate in extreme conditions. UNESCO study of the world’s oceans is important for preserving a sustainable climate and ecosystems.
Unexpected sources of ocean pollution
Decaying plastic and nutrients from cities and farms pollute the ocean as much as oil spills.
Melting glaciers reveal unknown species and meteorite remains
Glaciers are capable of preserving information about the history of the Earth, as they trap dust particles, traces of gas, microbes and plant matter from the environment.