Microplastics are absorbing heat in the atmosphere and contributing to global warming, a new study reveals. Microplastics are infamous for being everywhere, contaminating ecosystems and accumulating inside our bodies. Scientists have known for a while that plastics are also blown high into the atmosphere, where they are now pervasive, but it was unclear what impact … Read more
Research suggests we are on the brink of crossing several ecological “tipping points” that could derail ecosystems like the Amazon rainforest and permafrost-covered tundras. But just as humans can cause these negative tipping points, we can also trigger positive ones that restore ecosystems, says Tim Lenton, a professor of climate change and Earth system science … Read more
Human-driven climate change is slowing Earth’s rotation at a rate not seen in 3.6 million years, with sea level rise increasing the length of days by 1.33 milliseconds per century, according to a new study. Earth spins faster when its mass is more concentrated, just as twirling figure skaters pull in their arms to speed … Read more
Canada could remove more than five times its annual carbon emissions from the atmosphere by the end of the century by planting trees along the northern edge of its boreal forest, a new study suggests. In recent decades forests have slowly moved north in response to climate change — in particular the taiga area on … Read more
Carbon dioxide emissions from China have flatlined or fallen for 21 months, meaning the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter may have reached a global turning point sooner than expected. China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions dropped by 1% in the last quarter of 2025 and likely by 0.3% over the whole year, keeping them just beneath … Read more
Mass tree planting in China is turning one of the world’s largest and driest deserts into a carbon sink, meaning it absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits, new research reveals. The Taklamakan Desert (also spelled Taklimakan or Takla Makan) is slightly larger than Montana, stretching across about 130,000 square miles (337,000 square … Read more
The ocean soaked up more heat last year than in any year since modern measurements began around 1960, according to a new analysis published in Advances in Atmospheric Science. The world’s oceans absorb more than 90% of excess heat trapped in Earth’s atmosphere by greenhouse gas emissions. As heat in the atmosphere accumulates, heat stored … Read more
China’s efforts to slow land degradation and climate change by planting trees and restoring grasslands have shifted water around the country in huge, unforeseen ways, new research shows. Between 2001 and 2020, changes in vegetation cover reduced the amount of fresh water available for humans and ecosystems in the eastern monsoon region and northwestern arid … Read more
Imagine driving down a highway in the summer. The windows are down, the music is loud, and the wind is whipping through your hair. Now picture your car’s windshield. You might expect to see a handful of splats from unfortunate bugs. But 30 years ago, there would have been significantly more buggy skid marks plastered … Read more
Earth may respond to the huge quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) that humans are pumping into the atmosphere by “overcorrecting” the imbalance, which could result in the next ice age arriving on time instead of being delayed by tens of thousands of years, as had previously been predicted. This is due to a newfound “thermostat” … Read more
