EurekAlert! Climate Change - Latest News Releases

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Apr-2025 08:08 ET (30-Apr-2025 12:08 GMT/UTC)

Protected habitats aren’t enough to save endangered species

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In tropical forests, endangered species inside protected habitats are still in danger from threats from beyond their sanctuaries, according to a study published February 13^th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Ilaria Greco and Francesco Rovero of the University of Florence, Italy, and colleagues.

Journal: PLOS Biology

New England’s salt marshes store 10 million cars’ worth of carbon—and add another 15,000-worth every year

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the race to combat global climate change, much attention has been given to natural “carbon sinks:” those primarily terrestrial areas of the globe that absorb and sequester more carbon than they release. While scientists have long known that coastal salt marshes are just such a sink for “blue carbon,” or carbon stored in the ocean and coastal ecosystems, it has been difficult to get an accurate estimate of just how much they store, and so most of the focus has been on terrestrial sinks such as forests and grasslands. Now, a team of scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently debuted a new, highly accurate method for quantifying carbon capture in the Northeast’s salt marshes — and it’s a lot.

Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences

Study uncovers why record cold spells persist in a warming world

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study led by CAS Institute of Atmospheric Physics investigates the paradox of these record-breaking cold spells and assesses future risks in a changing climate. The study reveals that human-induced climate change is actually weakening extreme cold events but also highlights that while extreme cold events are becoming less common, they have not disappeared entirely.

Journal: npj Climate and Atmospheric Science

Models show intensifying wildfires in a warming world due to changes in vegetation and humidity; only a minor role for lightning

Institute for Basic Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study published in the journal Science Advances by an international team of climate scientists presents the first realistic supercomputer simulation that resolves the complex interactions between fire, vegetation, smoke and the atmosphere. The authors find that increasing greenhouse gas emissions will likely increase the global lightning frequency by about 1.6% per degree Celsius global warming, with regional hotspots in the eastern United States, Kenya, Uganda and Argentina [Figure 1A]. Locally this could intensify wildfire occurrences. However, the dominant drivers for the growing area burned by fires each year [Figure 1B] remain shifts in global humidity and a more rapid growth of vegetation, which can serve as wildfire fuel.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: Institute for Basic Science

California's most economically and culturally important species among those most vulnerable to projected climate change

PLOS
Peer-Reviewed Publication

California's most economically and culturally important species among those most vulnerable to projected climate change, per Climate Vulnerability Assessment of 34 marine species.

Journal: PLOS Climate

Unraveling the complex role of climate in dengue dynamics

Institute for Basic Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The research team led by KIM Jae Kyoung, Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at KAIST and Chief Investigator of the Biomedical Mathematics Group at the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has unveiled new insights into how weather influences the spread of dengue fever. Their study identifies temperature and rainfall as critical factors driving the global surge in dengue cases and offers actionable strategies for mitigating the disease's impact.

Journal: Science Advances
Funder: Institute for Basic Science

Climate Change in the British Mind

Yale University
Reports and Proceedings

A majority of Britons surveyed by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication say they believe climate change is real, they have experienced its impacts, and they are worried. That public awareness about the risks of climate change could bolster Britain’s climate change policies.

The 3,000-year coral reef shutdown: a mysterious pause and a remarkable recovery

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New study reveals that coral reefs in the Gulf of Eilat experienced a surprising 3,000-year "shutdown" in growth, from about 4,400 to 1,000 years ago, likely due to a temporary drop in sea level that could have been caused by global cooling. This phenomenon, which aligns with similar reef interruptions in Mexico, Brazil, and Australia, suggests a widespread environmental shift during that period. Despite the long pause, the reef eventually recovered, with coral species reappearing from deeper waters, demonstrating their natural resilience. However, researchers warn that today's climate change, pollution, and ocean acidification pose far greater challenges, making conservation efforts more critical than ever to protect these vital marine ecosystems.

Journal: Global Change Biology

500-year-old Transylvanian diaries show how the Little Ice Age completely changed life and death in the region

Frontiers
Peer-Reviewed Publication

People have been recording local climates for centuries, chronicling hot and cold periods as well as resulting floods, famines, and fatal diseases. Now, researchers have examined a wealth of historic documents to learn how climate impacted 16th century Transylvania, a region that today is part of Romania. They found that after several decades of uncharacteristically high temperatures, the climate changed in favor of excessive rain – and that both climates shaped human lives and societies in their own way.

Journal: Frontiers in Climate

Why we need to expand the search for climate-friendly microalgae

University of Technology Sydney
Peer-Reviewed Publication

As global efforts to combat climate change intensify, microalgae stand out as an underutilised yet promising resource.

Journal: Natural Products and Bioprospecting

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