Phys.org September 2, 2022 An international team of researchers (Russia, USA – University of Notre Dame) has developed a new simplified method of producing industrial cobalt-nickel catalysts for carbon dioxide processing that makes the process simple and inexpensive. The catalysts are a bulk alloy with a porous surface and nanoscale grains that form foamy high-activity particles. Due to the structure and the synergistic interaction of Co with Ni, the catalysts are characterized by a more intense interaction with CO2 molecules and high stability. They focused on exploring the possibilities of full utilization of carbon dioxide, simplifying the production of effective […]
Category Archives: Global warming
Review suggests current global efforts are insufficient to limit warming to 1.5°C
Phys.org June 24, 2022 According to researchers in Canada human activities have caused global temperatures to increase by 1.25°C, and the current emissions trajectory suggests that we will exceed 1.5°C in less than 10 years. Though the growth rate of global carbon dioxide emissions has slowed, and many countries have strengthened their emissions targets, current midcentury net zero goals are insufficient to limit global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial temperatures. The primary barriers to the achievement of a 1.5°C-compatible pathway are not geophysical but rather reflect inertia in our political and technological systems. Both political and corporate leadership are needed […]
A huge Atlantic Ocean current is slowing down—if it collapses, La Niña could become the norm for Australia
Phys.org June 7, 2022 Climate projections suggest a weakening or collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) under global warming, with evidence that a slowdown is already underway. This could have significant ramifications for Atlantic Ocean heat transport, Arctic Sea ice extent and regional North Atlantic climate. However, the potential for far-reaching effects, such as teleconnections to adjacent basins and into the Southern Hemisphere, remains unclear. Researchers in Australia used a global climate model to show that AMOC collapse can accelerate the Pacific trade winds and Walker circulation by leaving an excess of heat in the tropical South Atlantic. […]
Scientists address the imbalance of the ‘Asian Water Tower’
Phys.org June 7, 2022 The Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalayan system, Asian water tower, named the Third Pole, is the largest global store of frozen water after the polar regions, providing a reliable water supply to almost 2 billion people. Marked atmospheric warming has changed the balance of Asian water tower and altered water resources in downstream countries. In a review article an international team of researchers (China, UK, the Netherlands, USA – Ohio State University, Austria) synthesized the observational evidence and model projections that describe an imbalance in the Asian water tower caused by accelerated transformation of ice and snow into liquid […]
Climate change triggering global collapse in insect numbers, stressed farmland shows 63% decline: New research
Phys.org April 21, 2022 Although research has shown that biodiversity changes are driven primarily by land-use change and increasingly by climate change, the potential for interaction between these drivers and insect biodiversity on the global scale remains unclear. Researchers in the UK have shown that the interaction between indices of historical climate warming and intensive agricultural land use is associated with reductions of almost 50% in the abundance and 27% in the number of species within insect assemblages relative to those in less-disturbed habitats with lower rates of historical climate warming. These patterns are particularly evident in the tropical realm. […]
Warming oceans will significantly alter how sound travels underwater
Phys.org March 24, 2022 A considerable fraction of marine life depends on sound, marine mammals exploit sound in all aspects of their life. Researchers in Italy studied the impact of climate change in sound propagation by computing the three-dimensional global field of underwater sound speed based on present conditions (2006–2016) and a future climate scenario identifying two “acoustic hotspots” where larger sound speed variations are expected. Their results indicated that the identified acoustic hotspots would present substantial climate-change-induced sound speed variations toward the end of the century, potentially affecting the vital activities of species in the areas. They provided evidence […]
Carbon dioxide could be stored below ocean floor, research shows
Science Daily March 7, 2022 Naturally occurring methane (CH4) hydrates in oceanic sediments have been stable for millions of years kept in place by the natural pressure created by the weight of the seawater above. At low-temperature and under high-pressure conditions created by the ocean, CO2 can be trapped within water molecules, forming an ice-like substance. These CO2 hydrates form at a temperature just above the freezing point of water and can store as much as 184 cubic metres of CO2 in one cubic meter of hydrates. An international team of researchers (Singapore, USA – industry) recreated the conditions of […]
Iodine in Desert Dust Destroys Ozone – Could Prolong Greenhouse Gas Lifetimes
SciTech Daily December 31, 2021 An international team of researchers (USA – University of Colorado, NCAR, industry, University of Wisconsin, NESDIS, Spain, Argentina) has shown that dust is a source of gas-phase iodine, indicated by aircraft observations of iodine monoxide (IO) radicals inside lofted dust layers from the Atacama and Sechura Deserts that are up to a factor of 10 enhanced over background. Gas-phase iodine photochemistry, commensurate with observed IO, is needed to explain the low O3 inside these dust layers (below 15 ppbv; up to 75% depleted). The added dust iodine can explain decreases in O3 of 8% regionally […]
Liquid marbles: how this tiny, emerging technology could solve carbon capture and storage problems
Phys.org December 8, 2021 Research shows “liquid marbles”—tiny droplets coated with nanoparticles—could possibly address current challenges in materials used to capture carbon. Gas from the reactor hits the marbles, where it clings to the nanoparticle outer shell, the gas then reacts with the liquid within, separating the CO₂ and capturing it inside the marble. CO₂ can be taken out and stored underground, and then recycle the liquid for future processing. This process can be a more time and cost-efficient way of capturing CO₂. However, many properties of liquid marbles remain elusive as physical experiments have their limitations. An international team […]
Lightning strikes may trigger short-term thinning in the ozone layer
Phys.org October 11, 2021 An international team of researchers (USA – University of Colorado, Finland) used detailed computer simulations to follow what happened in the atmosphere after Hurricane Patricia that struck Texas and Mexico in 2015 and had more than 33,000 lightning strikes over the span of just two-and-a-half hours, the May 1917 storm in the Caribbean, and the 2013 storm over Nebraska. As the storms progressed, the electron energy raining down to Earth began to react with gasses high in Earth’s atmosphere, concentrations of certain molecules in the air, including hydrogen oxides and nitrogen oxides, shot up almost at […]