Analysis of Arctic lake suggests viruses and bacteria locked in ice could reawaken and infect wildlife
The next pandemic may come not from bats or birds but from matter in melting ice, according to new data.
Genetic analysis of soil and lake sediments from Lake Hazen, the largest high Arctic freshwater lake in the world, suggests the risk of viral spillover – where a virus infects a new host for the first time – may be higher close to melting glaciers.
"The study effectively warns that the planet already left a safe climate state when it passed 1 C of global warming." . . ." But current policies are actually set to result in about 2.6 C of warming. "
Sept. 11, 2022
2 of the tipping points at highest risk are in Canada
Current rates of global warming have already moved the world perilously close to several tipping points that could send key global weather systems into irreversible collapse, a significant study from Europe has found.
As climate change causes the pace of warming to accelerate, scientists are concerned about the potential consequences for marine ecosystems, sea-level rise and extreme weather.
It's not just land seeing record heat waves.
Ocean waters in the Northern Hemisphere have been unusually warm in recent weeks, with parts of the North Atlantic and northern Pacific undergoing particularly intense marine heat waves.
"Just a small kick to Thwaites could lead to a big response," warned the lead author of an alarming new analysis.
New research unveiled Monday suggests that the West Antarctic Thwaites Glacier—an enormous ice mass with the potential to trigger catastrophic sea level rise—could retreat far more quickly in the coming years than scientists previously anticipated as fossil fuel-driven planetary warming continues to accelerate.
An article in the Nature Climate Change journal argues that non-violent direct action taken by experts is effective
Scientists should commit acts of civil disobedience to show the public how seriously they regard the threat posed by the climate crisis, a group of leading scientists has argued.
“Civil disobedience by scientists has the potential to cut through the myriad complexities and confusion surrounding the climate crisis,” the researchers wrote in an article, published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change on Monday.
