After One of the Country’s Worst Wildfires WWF Australia is Preparing for a Year of Renewal

2020 was a sad summer to look back on for conservationists in Australia—it was one of the worst seasons for bushfires in history destroyed millions of acres of the country. But already there are reasons to hope, as WWF, the world’s largest independent conservation organization, looks to build on the remarkable response they received to help […]

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Irreversible hotter and drier climate over inner East Asia

(Utah State University) Researchers warn that heatwaves and concurrent droughts of Mongolia’s semi-arid plateau have increased significantly during the past two decades, with troubling implications for the future. The change also has ramifications for atmospheric conditions across the Northern Hemisphere.

Satellite images confirm uneven impact of climate change

(Faculty of Science – University of Copenhagen) University of Copenhagen researchers have been following vegetation trends across the planet’s driest areas using satellite imagery from recent decades. They have identified a troubling trend: Too little vegetation is sprouting up from rainwater in developing nations, whereas things are headed in the opposite direction in wealthier ones. As a result, the future could see food shortages and growing numbers of climate refugees.

Irreversible hotter and drier climate over inner East Asia

(Utah State University) Researchers warn that heatwaves and concurrent droughts of Mongolia’s semi-arid plateau have increased significantly during the past two decades, with troubling implications for the future. The change also has ramifications for atmospheric conditions across the Northern Hemisphere.

In fire-prone West, plants need their pollinators — and vice versa

A new study grounded in the northern Rockies explores the role of wildfire in the finely tuned dance between plants and their pollinators. Previous studies have looked at how fire affects plants, or how fire affects animals. But what is largely understudied is the question of how fire affects both, and about how linkages within those ecological networks might respond to fire disturbance. The findings are particularly significant in light of recent reports about the rapid and widespread decline of insects globally.

Scientists call for decade of concerted effort to enhance understanding of the deep seas

(University of Plymouth) An international team of scientists, spanning 45 institutions in 17 countries, has called for a dedicated decade-long programme of research to greatly advance discovery in the deep ocean.

Bird with tall, sickle-shaped beak reveals hidden diversity during the age of dinosaurs

(Ohio University) A new bird fossil helps scientists better understand convergent evolution of complex anatomy and provides new insights into the evolution of face and beak shape in a forerunner of modern birds.

The invasive species that Europe needs to erradicate most urgently are identified

(University of Córdoba) An international research team analyzed the risk impact and the effectiveness of possible erradication strategies for invasive species already in the region as well as those that have yet to arrive

T. rex had huge growth spurts, but other dinos grew slow and steady

By cutting into dinosaur bones and analyzing the growth lines, a team of researchers discovered that T. rex and its closest relatives got big thanks to a huge growth spurt in adolescence, while its more distant cousins kept on growing a little bit every year throughout their lives.

Researchers go underwater to study how sponge species vanished

Researchers embarked on an underwater journey to solve a mystery: Why did sponges of the Agelas oroides species, which used to be common in the shallow waters along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, disappear? The researchers believe that the main reason for the disappearance of the sponges was the rise in seawater temperatures during the summer months, which in the past 60 years have risen by about 3°C (37°F).