Semiconductors are the basic building blocks of microchips. These technological marvels are in everything from lightbulbs and toothbrushes to cars, trains and planes, not to mention the vast array of electronics that have become integral to many people’s daily lives. The 21st century chip manufacturing industry has been described as “at least as significant geopolitically as...
Humanity’s impact on the polar ice sheets is slowing Earth’s rotation, posing a challenge for how it matches up with the official timekeeping. Humanity is rapidly waking up to the fact that time is running out to take action to mitigate the effects of climate change. Ironically, climate change itself, primarily caused by the release...
Climate change is affecting grape yield, composition and wine quality. As a result, the geography of wine production is changing. In this Review, we discuss the consequences of changing temperature, precipitation, humidity, radiation and CO2 on global wine production and explore adaptation strategies. Current winegrowing regions are primarily located at mid-latitudes (California, USA; southern France; northern...
Climate Change Is Worsening Inflation And Pushing Food Prices Even Higher, Researchers Warn. Rising global temperatures are accelerating inflation and will likely push the cost of food, goods and services higher for years to come, researchers warned Thursday, the latest example of how the climate crisis is affecting human health and the economy as the...
Brewer’s yeast helps recover metals from e-waste. Austrian researchers have found a way to selectively capture metals from a waste stream using spent brewer’s yeast, the same beer byproduct that goes into the food spread Marmite. In a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, the scientists explain that electronic waste is notoriously difficult to recycle because it’s...
Only seven countries in the world breathe safe air. Three of them are in Europe. Scientists say that air pollution is a ‘global health catastrophe’. Only seven countries in the world met safe air pollution levels in 2023, a new report by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir reveals. The World Air Quality Report, released...
Cherry Trees From Japan to Washington D.C. Are Blooming Earlier Due to Climate Change. Iconic cherry trees in Japan and the U.S. are blossoming earlier as climate change brings warmer temperatures, upending a fixture of the spring calendar in major cities. No country is more associated with blossoming cherry trees, or sakura, than Japan, and tourists from overseas often...
Easter eggs costs rise as climate change hits crops. You may have noticed that Easter eggs are more expensive this year. But did you know that climate change is one of the reasons? Most chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa, but a humid heatwave has blasted the crops and massively cut yields....
In a country especially vulnerable to climate change, a drought has displaced entire villages and left millions of children malnourished. They awake in the mornings to find another family has left. Half of one village, the entirety of the next have departed in the years since the water dried up — in search of jobs,...
Climate change is threatening to turn sublime summer stone fruits disgusting, or rob us of their pleasures entirely. Summer, to me, is all about stone fruit: dark-purple plums, peaches you can smell from three feet away. But last summer, I struggled to find peaches at the farmers’ markets in New York City. A freak deep...