U.N. Members Adopt First-Ever Treaty to Protect Marine Life in the High Seas
Members of the United Nations adopted the first-ever treaty to protect marine life in the high seas on Monday, with the U.N.’s chief hailing the historic agreement as giving the ocean “a fighting chance.”
Delegates from the 193 member nations burst into applause and then stood up in a sustained standing ovation when Singapore’s ambassador on ocean issues, Rena Lee, who presided over the negotiations, banged her gavel after hearing no objections to the treaty’s approval.
Oceans produce most of the oxygen we breathe and absorb carbon dioxide, which makes them increasingly critical in reducing ca...
Source: TIME: Science - June 20, 2023 Category: Science Authors: EDITH M. LEDERER / AP Tags: Uncategorized Environment healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news
There Are Amazing Fathers in the Animal Kingdom
Why treat fatherhood as a miracle?
This was my question when Murphy, a bald eagle, became a viral sensation for being a great stepdad. At first, Murphy tried to incubate a rock at the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri. When the sanctuary received an eaglet that had dropped out of its nest, they allowed Murphy to move from rock-sitting to actual offspring care. He did so well that the eaglet is expected to be released around Father’s Day.
But have you ever seen a female eagle getting this kind of attention for raising young? Motherhood may be cherished but is taken for granted. Since we’re mammals, w...
Source: TIME: Science - June 17, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Frans de Waal Tags: Uncategorized freelance Science society Source Type: news
5 Planets Are Aligning Before Sunrise This Weekend. Here ’ s How To See Them
Wake up early this weekend to catch a celestial sight: Five planets will line up in the sky before sunrise on Saturday.
Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury will appear together, weather permitting. Here’s how to spot the planet parade.
When and where can I see them?
For the best views, seek a spot with little light pollution and a clear view of the horizon.
Mercury will be the last to come into view, about an hour before sunrise. If you go outside at that time, you’ll be able to see all five planets stretching across the sky — from Mercury down by the horizon to Saturn higher up in the sky &mdash...
Source: TIME: Science - June 15, 2023 Category: Science Authors: MADDIE BURAKOFF / AP Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Space wire Source Type: news
El Ni ño Could Make Coffee, Cookies, and Chocolate More Expensive
There’s an aisle of the grocery store where inflation is looking exceptionally sticky: indulgent treats.
Think coffee, chocolates and your favorite snacks. Prices of soft commodities have soared this year because of supply constraints. The return of El Niño and prospects of hotter, drier weather in producing countries is now threatening to exacerbate tight supply.
In the UK, retailers are locking instant coffee jars in security cases to prevent theft. In Japan, one beverage giant suspended the sale of Tropicana orange juice because of a shortage. And in Germany, chocolate and biscuit makers complain of soaring...
Source: TIME: Science - June 10, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Mumbi Gitau and Dayanne Sousa / Bloomberg Tags: Uncategorized bloomberg wire climate change Food & Agriculture healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
El Nino Could Make Coffee, Cookies, and Chocolate More Expensive
There’s an aisle of the grocery store where inflation is looking exceptionally sticky: indulgent treats.
Think coffee, chocolates and your favorite snacks. Prices of soft commodities have soared this year because of supply constraints. The return of El Niño and prospects of hotter, drier weather in producing countries is now threatening to exacerbate tight supply.
In the UK, retailers are locking instant coffee jars in security cases to prevent theft. In Japan, one beverage giant suspended the sale of Tropicana orange juice because of a shortage. And in Germany, chocolate and biscuit makers complain of soaring...
Source: TIME: Science - June 10, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Mumbi Gitau and Dayanne Sousa / Bloomberg Tags: Uncategorized bloomberg wire climate change Food & Agriculture healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
El Ni ño Has Begun. What to Know About the Weather Phenomenon
El Niño—the natural climate phenomenon of warm temperature in the Pacific Ocean—has officially begun, and it’s sure to affect weather patterns globally in conjunction with climate change.
On Thursday morning, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) announced that El Niño conditions were present and that its strength is expected to gradually increase throughout the year, into 2024. Climate analysts track the Pacific Ocean’s temperatures meticulously and declare a period of El Niño once temperatures near the equator are at least 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit above histor...
Source: TIME: Science - June 9, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Anisha Kohli Tags: Uncategorized climate change Environment Explainer healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
In Photos: How Wildfire Smoke Impacted Cities Across the U.S. and Canada
Millions of residents on the eastern coast of the U.S. and beyond have been burdened by billows of smoke from Canada’s wildfires, enacting an environmental health crisis across the country.
Air quality warnings have been issued in states as far south as North Carolina and as far west as Ohio, where alerts are extended through Friday. Densely-populated metros like New York City have endured the brunt of the smoke, as the city recorded some the worst air quality in the world on Wednesday, reaching hazardous levels.
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Images of an orange haze engulfing the city have been wide...
Source: TIME: Science - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Solcyre Burga Tags: Uncategorized climate change extreme weather healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Why Wildfire Smoke Turns the Sky Yellow
If you were standing on the streets of New York City any time this week, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d somehow been transported to Mars. The local skies were a foggy yellow-orange and the sun was partly obscured behind the haze. Photographs taken by the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers reveal strikingly similar conditions in the Martian atmosphere. On Mars, things are that way all the time. On Earth, the effect has been due to smoke from more than 400 active wildfires raging across eastern Canada. But what is it about wildfire smoke that turns the sky yellow instead of, say gray or even black? The answer ...
Source: TIME: Science - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized Environment Explainer healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
After Going to Space, You Need to Spend At Least Three Years on Earth Recovering From Brain Damage
Space travel is one of the worst things your body can experience. Spending time in zero-g can cause bones to decalcify, muscles to atrophy, the immune system to weaken, the eye to flatten slightly and the optic nerve to swell. Time in space also exposes the human body to unhealthy doses of cosmic radiation, which can increase the lifetime risk of cancer.
Now, astronauts have another part of their body to worry about: the brain. According to a new paper published in Scientific Reports, too much time aloft can cause the brain’s ventricles—cavities filled with cerebrospinal fluid that cushion the brain, nourish ti...
Source: TIME: Science - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Jeffrey Kluger Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Space Source Type: news
The Start of El Nino Has Officially Arrived, Says NOAA
An early bird El Nino has officially formed, likely to be strong, warp weather worldwide and give an already warming Earth an extra kick of natural heat, meteorologists announced.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday issued an El Nino advisory, announcing the arrival of the climatic condition. It may not quite be like the others.
It formed a month or two earlier than most El Ninos do, which “gives it room to grow,” and there’s a 56% chance it will be considered strong and a 25% chance it reaches supersized levels, said climate scientist Michelle L’Heureux, head of NOAA’...
Source: TIME: Science - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: SETH BORENSTEIN and ISABELLA O'MALLEY/AP and Video by Andrew D. Johnson Tags: Uncategorized climate change Environment healthscienceclimate wire Source Type: news
How to Help The Fishing Industry? Stop Fishing So Much
Today, June 8, is World Oceans Day, when stakeholders around the world stop to reconsider the value of ocean conservation. This year’s theme is “Planet Ocean: Tides are Changing”—making the case that by protecting the ocean we are ultimately protecting ourselves. One of its core pillars is supporting sustainable seafood, which, in some cases, means not fishing at all.
Scientists agree that at least 30% of the world’s oceans should be declared off limits to commercial exploitation in order to protect fish stocks and marine biodiversity. The fishing industry, not surprisingly, has yelped that co...
Source: TIME: Science - June 8, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Aryn Baker Tags: Uncategorized climate change Climate Is Everything healthscienceclimate Londontime Oceans Source Type: news
Why Wildfire Smoke Travels So Far And How Long It Will Last
As hundreds of wildfires burn in Canada, parts of the U.S. are seeing thick smog and record high air quality issues caused by smoke from the blazes.
Swaths of Canada’s eastern provinces, Quebec and Ontario, began battling fires over a week ago. So far, more than 9 million acres of land have been burned and over 20,000 people have evacuated, Canadian officials said Wednesday.
Smoke from those fires traveled south to the U.S. this week where it’s affecting the northeast, the Great Lakes, and the mid-Atlantic. Many cities, including New York City, Philadelphia, and Pennsylvania have issued air quality alerts due t...
Source: TIME: Science - June 7, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Anisha Kohli Tags: Uncategorized climate change Explainer extreme weather healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
It ’ s Vital to Protect Water Infrastructure During War
The destruction in the early hours of June 6 of Ukraine’s massive Nova Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper River is a dangerous escalation of the war between Ukraine and Russia. It risks massive human and ecological consequences to communities downstream being hit by vast floodwaters, and also threatens a potentially catastrophic nuclear accident. World leaders are also calling it a war crime.
Because of the central role that water plays in daily life and in our economies, there is a long history of violence associated with water resources, going back 4,500 years. This includes conflicts over access and control of water, att...
Source: TIME: Science - June 7, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Peter H. Gleick Tags: Uncategorized climate change healthscienceclimate Ukraine Source Type: news
What Wildfire Smoke Does to the Human Body
Massive wildfires raging in eastern Canada are sending huge plumes of smoke across the border, blanketing thousands of square miles in the Northeastern U.S. and Upper Midwest, and casting a haze over skies from Wisconsin and Minnesota to New York. Hundreds of out of control fires are currently burning in Quebec, while authorities have managed to contain two wildfires burning in Nova Scotia. All that smoke isn’t a mere nuisance—it’s a legitimate health hazard, with the widespread plumes prompting air quality alerts from state health agencies.
A burning wildfire produces many different kinds of particles, m...
Source: TIME: Science - June 6, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Alejandro de la Garza Tags: Uncategorized adaptation climate change Environmental Health Explainer healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
I Spent My Life Saving the Whales. Now They Might Save Us
More than fifty years ago, my team and I first discovered that whales sing to each other. Recordings we captured of the beautiful, evocative songs of the humpback whale captivated people all over the world. Whale song became the soundtrack for the “Save the Whales” movement, one of the most successful conservation initiatives in history. It led to the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, which marked the end of large-scale whaling in the United States and saved several whale populations from extinction.
In the decades since, I’ve often pondered what it would take to spark a new conservation movement uniquel...
Source: TIME: Science - June 5, 2023 Category: Science Authors: Roger Payne Tags: Uncategorized climate change healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
