Veículo

• Home
• Veículos
• Environmental News Network (EUA)

The Amazon rainforest could approach a tipping point, which could lead to a large-scale collapse with serious implications for the global climate system. A new Nature study by an international research team including scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact research (PIK) reveals that up to 47 percent of the Amazonian forest is threatened and identifies climatic and land-use thresholds that should not be breached to keep the Amazon resilient. “The Southeastern Amazon [...]

Gas exchanges between the atmosphere and the ocean are a key part of the carbon cycle, playing a vital role in climate regulation and maintenance of the planet’s ecological equilibrium. The oceans are thought to absorb roughly a third of all the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by humanity. Understanding the complex processes involved in this gas exchange is therefore extremely important, especially in the context of the global climate crisis. A new study discusses the processes that [...]

The study by researchers at the University of São Paulo also shows that genetic engineering techniques need to be improved in order to increase ethanol production without expanding crop acreage, a strategy considered crucial to the effort to cope with climate change. Publications on sugarcane have increased exponentially since 2006 worldwide, and Brazil has had more articles published on the topic than any other country in the period, according to a review in BioEnergy [...]

The lab of Rice University materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan and collaborators developed a way to wrest the carbon from carbon dioxide and affix it to hydrogen atoms, forming methane ⎯ a valuable fuel and industrial feedstock. According to the study published in Advanced Materials, the method relies on electrolysis and catalysts developed by grafting isolated copper atoms on two-dimensional polymer templates. “Electricity-driven carbon dioxide conversion can produce a large array [...]

The consequences of climate change in the Caatinga, the semi-arid shrubland and thorn forest biome in Brazil’s Northeast region, will include species loss, substitution of rare plants by more generalist vegetation, biotic homogenization (in which previously distinct plant communities become progressively more similar), increasing aridity, and even desertification in some areas. These are some of the findings of a study reported in the Journal of Ecology by Brazilian researchers [...]

A research project supported by FAPESP shows that the construction of new hydroelectric power plants in Brazil's South region could have an impact A research project supported by FAPESP shows that the construction of new hydroelectric power plants in Brazil’s South region could have an impact on more than 30% of the habitat of Phrynops williamsi, the Williams’ side-necked turtle. A research project supported by FAPESP shows that the construction of new hydroelectric [...]

Rutgers-led study indicates future changes, including a reduction to Earth’s ability to store carbon. A portion of Amazonian lowland rainforest – areas critical to absorbing carbon dioxide and buffering climate change – may morph over time into dry, grassy savannas, according to a Rutgers-led study. The report, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described a new understanding of how alternating flooding in the wet season [...]

Tropical mountain ecosystems, including montane forests, are relatively little studied, yet they are home to significant biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services, such as water supply and participation in regulation of temperature and regional and global climate. Tropical mountain ecosystems, including montane forests, are relatively little studied, yet they are home to significant biodiversity and provide important ecosystem services, such as water supply and participation in [...]

The Brazilian coast, especially in the South and Southeast regions, is already suffering from the impact of climate change, with increasingly extreme surface air temperatures and more frequent swings from heat to cold and back. This is one of the results of a study described in an article published in Scientific Reports, a journal of the Springer Nature group. On the coast of Espírito Santo, Rio Grande do Sul and São Paulo states, the frequency of temperature extremes and [...]