Bits of Climate

Rapid krill decline: 80% over 35 years

Antarctica does not escape the Holocene Mass Extinction. Krill numbers have dropped sharply since the mid-70s and as a consequence penguins too are in decline, says new study in Monday’s edition of PNAS, that blames the ecological disturbances on climate … Continue reading →

New cloud geoengineering research casts doubts: 70x less effective & smallest salt aerosols increase warming

Marine cloud seeding is one of the best documented geoengineering proposals. It is centred around the idea that some forms of clouds tend to have a net cooling effect on the Earth’s climate, by increasing albedo or reflectivity. Our regular … Continue reading →

Today’s paradox: current Arctic ozone depletion sign of global warming

The WMO today reports rapid and record-breaking thinning of the ozone layer over the Arctic region over the course of this winter and early spring – with now 40 percent of it gone. Unusually low temperatures in the stratosphere, even … Continue reading →

Plants have 34% less breathing pores due to 150 years of rising CO2

According to new research by Utrecht University in the Netherlands that will be published in two separate papers in the upcoming edition of PNAS, plants react strongly to rising CO2 levels. This may in turn have strong climate implications, as … Continue reading →