Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 19, 2024 An international research team has revealed that sea surface temperatures in the southwestern Pacific, particularly around the Fijian archipelago, are currently the highest they have been in over 600 years. The findings stem from a study of coral records, which show that the year 2022 marked the warmest in the region since the year 1370. The research utilized the … Continue reading Fijian coral study reveals over 600 years of rising sea temps across Southwestern Pacific

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 19, 2024 As populations grow in mountainous regions, more people are building on unstable slopes, which are prone to slow-moving landslides, according to a recent study. Although these types of landslides are often overlooked in risk estimates, they pose a potential danger to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, the researchers warned. These landslides, which can move between one millimeter ahttp://dlvr.it/TDc7b9 Continue reading Slow-moving landslides increasing risk to expanding mountain communities

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 22, 2024 The global ocean, a major heat reservoir in the climate system, absorbs over 90% of the excess energy caused by ongoing anthropogenic warming. Over the past century, ocean warming has been most significant in the upper 500 meters, with weaker warming in deeper waters, resulting in a modest ocean heat storage efficiency of approximately 0.1. However, paleoceanographic observations suggest … Continue reading Study highlights greater ocean heat storage efficiency during last deglaciation

United Nations, United States (AFP) Sept 23, 2024 As one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, Colombia is determined to lead by example when it hosts an upcoming UN summit to save nature, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad told AFP on Monday. Set to run from October 21 to November 1 in the western city of Cali, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the … Continue reading At COP16, Colombia seeks to lead by example on biodiversity

Lagos (AFP) Sept 18, 2024 Nigerian authorities have warned that at least 11 states along one of its main rivers are at risk of flooding as neighbouring Cameroon begins releasing water from one of its dams. Umar Ibrahim Mohammed, director general of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), a federal body managing water resources, said Cameroonian authorities plan “regulated water releases” from the Lagdo damhttp://dlvr.it/TDc7Z8 Continue reading Nigeria issues flood warning as Cameroon opens dam

Flint, United States (AFP) Sept 21, 2024 Lead contamination of the drinking water in the US Rust Belt city of Flint, Michigan began 10 years ago. In one of the worst public health scandals in the country’s history, the 100,000 residents of this former automaking hub were exposed to the toxic contaminant, with consequences that will last decades. The tragedy began in April 2014 when … Continue reading Water crisis in Flint, Michigan: an American scandal

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 20, 2024 BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has been awarded a seven-figure contract by HEO to advance its automated low-latency capabilities for non-Earth imaging (NEI) services, catering to defense, intelligence, and commercial sectors. The agreement will integrate BlackSky’s satellite constellation into HEO’s NEI sensor network. After successfully completing an initial proof of concept, the partnerhttp://dlvr.it/TDXVYR Continue reading BlackSky secures HEO contract for Space Domain Awareness and Non-Earth Imaging

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 16, 2024 The Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has successfully launched its first operational satellite-ground laser communication system. The 500mm aperture laser communication ground system began its regular operation on Sunday from the Pamir Plateau. According to Wang Jianping, director of the Kashgar Ground Station, this system marks a major milestonehttp://dlvr.it/TDXVWt Continue reading China activates first satellite-ground laser communication system

Copenhagen (AFP) Sept 20, 2024 Firefighters scrambled Friday to contain a diesel fuel spill from a ship that sunk off Greenland’s coast, police said, potentially damaging the fragile Arctic environment. After the ship hit a reef and ran aground overnight Wednesday to Thursday, “films of hydrocarbons are visible on the surface of the water in the Nanortalik fjords” in the south, police said. Up to … Continue reading Fuel slick from sunk ship spreads to Greenland fjord

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 15, 2024 A newly discovered Neanderthal skeleton found in a French cave has provided further evidence supporting the theory that Neanderthals became extinct due to their isolated and inbred communities, according to researchers from the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute. Over the past few years, scientists have debated the reasons behind the extinction of Neanderthals, while modern humanshttp://dlvr.it/TDXVW2 Continue reading Neanderthals’ isolated lifestyle may have contributed to their extinction