Physical sciences, Earth sciences

Revealing that global sea levels will most likely rise even if Paris Agreement goals are met, scientists warn that half measures and delays will have severe consequences.

Scientists explored the interaction between the tropical Indian Ocean and the atmosphere to gain better insight into climate change triggers.

With the growing global demand for sustainable and energy-saving products and processes, biosurfactants have come under the spotlight in recent years. A new study reviews their use in biotechnology applications, focusing on microorganisms in cold habitats.

The dramatic diversification of animals could be explained by a revolution within their own biology, rather than the planet’s rising oxygen levels. This is the novel hypothesis of a team of researchers who presented their findings of a recent study based on evidence from proteins found in tumours.

Studying 25 years’ worth of satellite data, scientists paint a grim picture of global warming. Sea levels are going up at a faster rate each year, and even sooner than projected.

Agriculture – both victim and cause of climate change. New research shows moving away from animal protein towards legumes makes sense nutritionally and environmentally.

Scientists are setting sail for Antarctica to explore a mysterious marine ecosystem that’s been covered by an iceberg for more than 100 000 years.

Carbon levels around 3 million years ago were similar to those of today and temperatures were even warmer. If something so significant is mirrored in the past, what else can we learn about extreme climate changes?

District heating based on renewable energy sources is becoming a preferred energy saving solution. One of the biggest challenges, however, is convincing property owners of the long-term value of retrofitting buildings to accommodate this smart solution.

Turning human and animal waste from problem to energy source is not new, animal dung has been used as fuel since the neolithic period. But a pilot project is showing dog poo can be used to fuel street lighting.

Perovskite solar cells are cheap to produce and simple to manufacture. Improving their efficiency, as one EU-backed project has just done, makes them an ever-more compelling alternative source of energy.

The discovery in the north-west of China of hundreds of fossilised eggs is allowing palaeontologists to better understand the flying pterosaur cousins of the dinosaurs, including new evidence that they were born flightless and needed to be cared for by their parents.

Ancient carvings recently discovered in caves in the Saudi desert are the first to show dogs on leads.

New study shows nanostructures on the surface of flower petals cause light particles to scatter, giving the flower what researchers have called a ‘blue halo’.

The latest research*eu RESULTS PACK– a collection of articles on EU-funded projects dedicated to a specific field of scientific research – is now available in free, accessible PDF. This brochure provides a detailed snapshot at the EU’s wide array of research interests with regards to the Earth’s marine environments.

Turkey faces a wider range of temperatures from hot summer days to very cold nights, which means it has both substantial heating and cooling needs for its building stock. Energy efficiency measures need to be earthquake resistant as the country lies one of the world’s most seismic zones.

Uneven road surfaces cause breaking and variable speeds both of which increase emissions, while low car occupancy rates mean duplicated journeys. An EU project is combining data from trip-sharing communities and phone sensors for feedback on road quality to make road travel greener.

We can never know how many species go extinct before we realise they exist. But in the case of the first new species of orangutan to be identified in almost 90 years, pressure is on to preserve the 800 individuals now living, to avoid witnessing the discovery and extinction of the species in a lifetime.

As most cities-dwellers know, urban environments offer both challenges and opportunities. But when it comes to birdlife, can telomeres provide an insight into which tips the balance?

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) the level of CO2 recorded in earth’s atmosphere in 2016 was up 50 % on that of last ten-year average.

Carbon dioxide is an essential part of our atmosphere, but industrial and commercial activities over the past 150 years have seen CO2 emissions rise to problematic levels. EU-funded research is examining how to capture the gas at source and safely store it deep beneath the sea.

When cells are threatened, for example by viral infection, special sensors are activated to kick-start the immune system. Now, new genetic techniques are increasing our knowledge about how this response mechanism actually unfolds.

Researchers find that the decline of cold regions called periglacial zones is now inevitable. Even based on optimistic future carbon emissions estimates, they predict a 72 % reduction of the periglacial zone in their study’s northern Europe region.

Quantization (the act or process of dividing) is the process of constraining an input from a continuous or otherwise-large set of values to a discrete set. The discovery of quantized quantities has often been associated with a revolution in our understanding of the laws of nature. EU-supported researchers have now predicted a novel form of quantization law.

According to a study recently published in the ‘The Lancet Planetary Health’, global warming could impact about two-thirds of the European population a year, 351 million people, by 2100, resulting in 152 000 deaths annually.