Natural and human-made CO2 differentiation possible thanks to new monitoring technique

A large diversity of gasses in the atmosphere influence air quality, climate change and the recovery of the ozone layer. Measuring the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere is quite straightforward. But pinpointing wether the gasses are a natural … Continue reading

Deadly Chagas disease spreading in US? 50% of kissing bugs infected, 38% bite humans

In the spring of 1835, Charles Darwin was bitten in Argentina by a “great wingless black bug,” he wrote in his diary.

“It is most disgusting to feel soft wingless insects, about an inch long, crawling over one’s body,” Darwin wrote, “before sucking they are quite thin, but afterwards round & bloated with blood.”

Chagas disease kissing bug

Biologist Lori Stevens of the University of Vermont finds a surpring number of kissing bugs in the US contain human blood. Half of them also carry a potentially deadly parasite, which can cause Chagas disease. Is the kissing bug speading as a consequence of climate warming?

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Sea level rise brings millions of Americans at risk of storm surge flooding

Nearly four million Americans, occupying a combined area larger than the state of Maryland, find themselves at risk of severe flooding as sea levels rise in the coming century, new research suggests.

Sea level rise flooding

Figure 4 - 2nd of two Environmental Research Letters SLR publications. Sea level rise storm surge flooding risk along US coast. For the ensemble average estimate of relative SLR at each gauge, projected return periods, by 2050, for floods currently qualifying as 100 yr events.

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Nigeria, Pakistan & Indonesia vs Russia: infographic shows state of population growth in 20 years

In our series comparing population growth for different sets of countries today we have a special: the new number 4, 5 and 6 of world populations – compared to the biggest decliner, set in the year 2031.