Clouds: bright and with a fresh pine scent
A new study has shed light on the first step of cloud formation, revealing that organic oxides - such as the molecule responsible for giving pine forests their smell - are a vital ingredient.
Environment News
El Niño offers a new way to predict poor harvests in a changing climate
Scientists have announced the findings of the first study on the connection between the El Niño and global crop yield fluctuations, providing a new tool for adapting food security to climate change.
Super-charged tropical trees
A team of scientists has found that Borneo's productive trees are vitally important for global carbon cycling.
Could Colombian ranchers become 'carbon farmers'?
Converting cattle ranches to forests is a cheap way of tackling climate change and saving species threatened with extinction, a new study has found.
Amazon rainforest survey could improve carbon offset schemes
Carbon offsetting initiatives could be improved with new insights into the make-up of tropical forests.
Invasive species 'hitchhiking' on water sports kit
Foreign species that are devastating water ecosystems could be "hitchhiking" around Britain on canoeists' and anglers' kit, according to a new study.
Amazon inhales more carbon than it emits
A new study led by NASA and the University of Leeds has confirmed that natural forests in the Amazon remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emit.
Climate change will reduce crop yields sooner than we thought
A study led by the University of Leeds has shown that global warming of only 2°C will be detrimental to crops in temperate and tropical regions, with reduced yields from the 2030s onwards.
Simulating how the Earth kick-started metabolism
Researchers have developed a new approach to simulating the energetic processes that may have led to the emergence of cell metabolism on Earth - a crucial biological function for all living organisms.
The first animals created a world hospitable to complex life forms
The first animals may have oxygenated the Earth's oceans - contrary to the traditional view that a rise in oxygen triggered their development, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience.