Is tropical afforestation currently undervalued?

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Researchers in Canada have used a comprehensive Earth system model to evaluate the climate impact of varying levels of afforestation, in different parts of the world. They looked at scenarios in which the world’s current cropland was gradually converted to forest, over the next 50 years. The scientists used a computer simulation to determine the cropland areas in which forests could feasibly become established so that an artificial supply of water or nutrients would not be required.

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Oceans to enter Holocene Mass Extinction

The cumulative effect of environmental threats like climate change, ocean acidification and overfishing, brings the world’s interconnected ocean close to a phase of extinction of marine species that is ‘globally significant’ and unprecedented in human history, an international panel of marine scientists states.

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IPCC AR5 looks into geoengineering science

Next week, Monday till Wednesday, climate experts from IPCC WGI, II & III will get together in Lima to discuss a possible inclusion of geoengineering measures in climate policy.

Although intended for participants only, the programme, including abstracts of keynote speeches, has leaked to the media. There’s not much new in the science, but it does provide some new insights into the geoengineering debate, and how it may one day close in to reach actual policy.

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Shutting down 20GW nuclear translates to 11GW extra coal

And 5GW of newly built gas power plants, which also emit more CO2 than [practically zero carbon] nuclear power plants.

This is just the German case. Meanwhile also Switzerland has announced it will phase out its entire nuclear capacity and on Monday the Italians voted ‘no’ in their own nuclear referendum.

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Flower biodiversity linked to CCD – bees on fast food are unhealthy, susceptible to pests

Just recently Colony Collapse Disorder was back in the news. Swiss scientists conducted an experiment to look into claims (even) cell phones may have something to do with CCD. They concluded bees don´t like the buzz.

Most specialists however agree CCD is likely caused by a culmination of factors, including pesticides – and microbial pests. And we´ve dug up some further research that seems to support that idea.

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Recycling waste heat to power your car

If global warming has achieved one thing, it is that more and more people are aware of their energy usage and many of us frown upon the blatant waste of energy by others. That is why switching from the common light bulb to CFL’s has seemed like the proper thing to do. So why is it that millions of car owners all over the world still waste more than half of a car’s energy as heat? It is in fact considered to be one of the leading problems in energy use around the world.

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Population decline: comparing Russia and Ukraine

In our new demography series we compare population growth for sets of countries, based on the UN World Population Prospects 2010 Revision, which was released last month. To better illustrate that global population growth is far from uniform, today we take a look at negative numbers.

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Does cyclone modification geoengineering make sense?

Geoengineering hurricanes and cyclones?Is what a group of engineering policy researchers and atmospheric scientists from Carnegie Mellon and MIT asked themselves. Considering increasing hurricane damage around the Gulf of Mexico – and technological options – they get to a ‘maybe’.

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