Read the full story at e360 Digest.
After more than six weeks without rain, Indonesia will soon start cloud seeding in an effort to kickstart precipitation and end an El Niño-driven drought that has put 50,000 acres of crops at risk of harvest failure, Reuters reported. Indonesian officials said the at-risk crops are worth an estimated $215 million — a loss that could cause significant food instability in the region.
Read the full story from U.S. EPA.
Arizona’s hot, dry summers, along with dust storms and other harsh conditions, will be the testing ground for low-cost air sensors to determine how well they provide accurate data over time and under different weather conditions.
Though low-cost sensors are not considered suitable for regulatory monitoring, they can provide valuable information about local air quality to state and local stakeholders, which could help identify areas in need of more robust and accurate monitoring and/or efforts to reduce air pollution exposures.
Read the full story from Carnegie Mellon University.
Research findings show significant human health benefits when air quality is better than the current national ambient air quality standard. The estimate of lives that could be saved by further reduction of air pollution levels is more than thirty thousand, which is similar to the number of deaths from car accidents each year.
Read the full story from the University of Würzburg.
Plants rely on bees for pollination; bees need plants to supply nectar and pollen. Scientists have studied how climate change affects these mutualistic interactions.
Read the full story from the University of Bern.
In contrast to pre-industrial climate fluctuations, current, anthropogenic climate change is occurring across the whole world at the same time, according to new studies. In addition, the speed of global warming is higher than it has been in at least 2,000 years.
Read the full story from the University of Delaware.
Scientists have revealed a new approach to convert carbon dioxide gas into valuable chemicals and fuels.
Read the full story from the BBC.
Normally associated with rot and decay, fungi may be a great overlooked resource that could help humanity deal with some of its greatest problems.
Read the full story in The Journal.
An Irish teenager has won an international science award for his project which removed microplastics from water.
Fionn Ferreira, from Ballydehob in west Cork, has been named the overall winner of the 2019 Google Science Fair, a prestigious annual global science competition open to students aged 13 to 18.
The 18-year-old was awarded a $50,000 (about €45,000) bursary at an awards ceremony at the Google international headquarters in Mountain View, California, yesterday.
Ferreira was one of 24 finalists chosen from a shortlist of 100 regional entries that competed for the top prize.
His project examined a new method for extracting microplastics (plastic particles less than 5mm in diameter) from water.
Read the full story in Manufacturers’ Monthly.
Tyre dust and micro-plastics in waterways may seem to be an invisible issue, however students from Swinburne University of Technology have visualised the problem.
In collaboration with CERN and Design Factory Melbourne, the students have applied their learning to develop innovative solutions.
Read the full story from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
Climate change affects not only the growth and survival of marine animals, but also their senses. A new study synthesizes the results of sensory change studies — revealing both broad patterns and intriguing outliers — and provides a conceptual framework to help guide future research in this emerging field.
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