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24 news posts in Environmental impact

Earth science

14 Nov 2023

New study highlights need to address risk of continued global warming after net zero

by Liad Hollender, Frontiers science writer Image: Shutterstock.com The UN Climate Panel’s latest best estimate is that global warming will end once we reach net zero CO2 emissions – but a study in Frontiers in Science warns significant warming could still occur. Researchers including those from Imperial College London and University of Exeter assess factors controlling global temperatures post ‘net zero’ and offer a pioneering framework for better estimating climate change risks. These risks must inform climate mitigation and adaptation policies to protect future generations.  From scorching heatwaves to torrential downpours and devastating storms, the disastrous effects of global warming are sweeping across the world. Being the predicted outcome of burning fossil fuels, our best and only plan to limit warming is to reduce CO2 emissions from human activities to ‘net zero’ – where the amount of CO2 we emit into the atmosphere is equal to the amount we remove from it. To keep within the 1.5°C limit of the 2015 Paris Agreement, this needs to happen as soon as possible.   Though the scientific community’s current best estimate from models is that global warming will stop at net zero, an article published in Frontiers in Science raises a red flag.  […]

Environment

13 Apr 2023

Coral-eating fish poo may act as ‘probiotics’ for reefs

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image/Shutterstock.com Coral-eating fish are thought to weaken coral reefs because they consume coral tissue, whereas grazer fish are assumed to have positive effects because they eat algae that compete with corals. However, a new study shows that feces from coral-eating fish contain bacteria that can be beneficial to corals. On the other hand, feces from grazers contain high levels of pathogens that can kill corals. Until recently, fish that eat coral — corallivores — were thought to weaken reef structures, while fish that consume algae and detritus — grazers — were thought to keep reefs healthy. But scientists have discovered that feces from grazers leave large lesions on coral, possibly because they contain coral pathogens. By contrast, feces from corallivores may provide a source of beneficial microbes that help coral thrive. “Corallivorous fish are generally regarded as harmful because they bite the corals,” said Dr Carsten Grupstra of Rice University, lead author of the study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. “But it turns out that this doesn’t tell the whole story. Corallivore feces contain many of the bacterial taxa that associate with healthy corals under normal conditions, potentially resulting in the natural […]

Environment

22 Mar 2023

Unusual Toxoplasma parasite strain killed sea otters and could threaten other marine life

by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image by Mr Laird Henkel, California Department of Fish and Wildlife Four sea otters that stranded in California were found to have died of an unusually severe form of toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by the microscopic parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Scientists warn that this new strain, never previously reported in aquatic animals, could potentially pose a health threat to other marine wildlife and humans. Scientists in California are raising the alarm about a newly reported form of toxoplasmosis that kills sea otters and could also infect other animals and people. Although toxoplasmosis is common in sea otters and can sometimes be fatal, this unusual strain appears to be capable of rapidly killing healthy adult otters. This rare strain of Toxoplasma hasn’t been detected on the California coast before, and may be a recent arrival, but scientists are concerned that if it contaminates the marine food chain it could potentially pose a public health risk. “I have studied Toxoplasma infections in sea otters for 25 years — I have never seen such severe lesions or high parasite numbers,” said Dr Melissa Miller of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, corresponding author of the study […]

Featured news

15 Aug 2022

Humans have totally altered small mammal communities in just a few centuries

By Suzanna Burgelman, science writer Image: Paul Abrahams/Shutterstock.com Researchers have found that small mammal communities today are fundamentally different from even a few centuries ago, during North America’s pre-colonial past. They identified small mammal remains from the Anthropocene and archaeological Holocene along a geographical area with varying degrees of human impact and examined diversity across these sites and time periods. Optimistically, the researchers also found that even small, protected spaces can conserve native small mammal communities, highlighting their important role in urban conservation projects. Characterized by rapid climate change, pollution, and landscape alteration, the Anthropocene is an unofficial unit of geological time and is defined as the most recent period in Earth’s history (from the 1950s to present) when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s ecosystems and climate. This impact is increasingly modifying natural ecosystems and threatening biodiversity, for example by quickly expanding urbanization. Researchers at Stanford University have now discovered that modern small mammal communities from the Anthropocene are less diverse and are differently structured then even a few centuries ago, during the Holocene (around 500 years ago), showing the extent of the impacts of human activities on our ecosystems. The results were published […]