All posts tagged: atmospheric

A violent volcanic eruption triggered a rare atmospheric cleanup

A violent volcanic eruption triggered a rare atmospheric cleanup

Published by Jenni Sidey

A towering plume from the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption did more than blast ash, seawater and gases deep into the atmosphere. It also appears to have triggered an unexpected burst of methane destruction. This offers scientists a rare look at how one of the planet’s most powerful greenhouse gases can be broken down in open air. That surprise emerged from satellite observations of formaldehyde, a short-lived chemical that forms as methane oxidizes. In the days after the South Pacific volcano erupted on Jan. 15, 2022, researchers spotted unusually high formaldehyde levels inside the plume. They tracked the cloud for 10 days as it drifted toward South America. “When we analysed the satellite images, we were surprised to see a cloud with a record-high concentration of formaldehyde. We were able to track the cloud for 10 days, all the way to South America. Because formaldehyde only exists for a few hours, this showed that the cloud must have been destroying methane continuously for more than a week,” said Dr. Maarten van Herpen of Acacia Impact …

Atmospheric CO2 Getting So High That It’s Weakening Human Skeletons

Atmospheric CO2 Getting So High That It’s Weakening Human Skeletons

Published by José Betancourt

Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Though talks of climate change typically conjure up images of dripping glaciers and rising tides, it turns out the rapid destruction of our planet is also affecting our bodies in profound ways. According to new research published in the journal Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, the rising concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is weakening human skeletons at an alarming rate. Australian researchers Alexander Larcombe of The Kids Research Institute Australia and Phil Bierwirth of the Australian National University analyzed the level of HCO3 — bicarbonate, a byproduct of CO2 found in human blood — in the blood of US adults between 1999 and 2020. Since the last year of the 20th century, they found, the amount of HCO3 in human blood rose about 7 percent, which corresponded to a similar rise in CO2 concentrated in the atmosphere. At the same time, Larcombe and Bierwirth examined calcium and phosphorus levels in US adults, both of which fell over …

Atmospheric pollution caused by space junk could be a huge problem

Atmospheric pollution caused by space junk could be a huge problem

Published by skeptic

A 30-second exposure showing a Falcon 9 upper stage re-entering the atmosphere above Berlin, Germany, on 19 February 2025 Gerd Baumgarten A SpaceX rocket that burned up after re-entering the atmosphere unleashed a plume of vaporised metals over Europe, a type of pollution that is expected to increase as spacecraft and satellites multiply. The upper stage of a Falcon 9, which is designed to splash down in the Pacific Ocean for possible re-use, lost control due to engine failure and fell from orbit over the north Atlantic in February 2025. People across Europe saw fiery debris streaking through the sky, some of which crashed behind a warehouse in Poland. Seeing the news, Robin Wing at the Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Germany and his colleagues turned on their lidar, an instrument for atmospheric sensing. Twenty hours later, it detected a 10-fold spike in lithium, a key component of rocket hulls, in the upper atmosphere as the plume of vaporised metal drifted over it. Atmospheric modelling suggested this plume had drifted 1600 kilometres from the …

You’ve Read WUTHERING HEIGHTS, Now Check Out These Atmospheric, Gothic Novels Out This Year!

You’ve Read WUTHERING HEIGHTS, Now Check Out These Atmospheric, Gothic Novels Out This Year!

Published by José Betancourt

Innamorata by Ava Reid (Del Ray, March 17) Ava Reid’s latest novel is a dark, gothic romantasy about an all-consuming love. Several noble houses versed in the art of necromancy once lived together on an island. But then one day, a conqueror destroyed it all: the families, their libraries and sources of knowledge, and the magic that they held so dear. Now the only house remaining is the House of Teeth. Marozia is the heiress to the house, and her cousin, Lady Agnes, has been tasked with uncovering the secrets of the death magic and arranging a betrothal for her cousin to restore their family’s honor. But Lady Agnes’s heart seeks out other things: revenge and love. Source link

Atmospheric re-entry data for reducing risks of space debris

Atmospheric re-entry data for reducing risks of space debris

Published by skeptic

Scientific data on the atmospheric re-entry process of satellites is urgently needed to ensure a quick, safe, and sustainable demise at the end of their mission, reducing risks on the ground and in space. The European Space Agency (ESA) has now successfully manoeuvred its remaining two Cluster satellites to ensure that its atmospheric re-entry data can be recorded from a plane as they return to Earth orbit later this year. “Moving two satellites to meet a plane sounds extreme, but the unique re-entry data we’ll collect is worth orchestrating the challenging encounter over a remote stretch of ocean,” explained Beatriz Jilete, space debris systems engineer at ESA. Why atmospheric re-entry data is urgently needed Understanding how satellites fall through the atmosphere is crucial to helping build safer, more sustainable spacecraft and reduce the risk of falling debris from space. “With better data on exactly when and how they heat up, break up, and which materials survive, engineers can design satellites that burn up completely, so-called design-for-demise satellites,” said Stijn Lemmens, Draco project manager at ESA. …

Amazon is getting drier as deforestation shuts down atmospheric rivers

Amazon is getting drier as deforestation shuts down atmospheric rivers

Published by skeptic

Vast areas of the Amazon rainforest have been burned for cattle ranching MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty Images Deforestation has reduced rainfall over the Amazon, suggesting the rainforest could reach a catastrophic tipping point sooner than expected. Satellite observations and rain gauge measurements show that the amount of rain falling in the southern Amazon basin declined by 8 to 11 per cent between 1980 and 2019. Tree cover in that part of the Amazon shrank by 16 per cent in roughly the same period, mainly because the forest was slashed and burned for beef cattle ranching. The northern Amazon basin has suffered far less deforestation and saw only a slight increase in precipitation, which was not statistically significant. While a recent study linked deforestation to drier weather within 300 kilometres, the new research found this connection across a basin more than 3000 kilometres wide. That shows destroying rainforest can also hurt nearby ranches and soy farms, says Dominick Spracklen at the University of Leeds, UK, who worked on the new study. “Some people in agribusiness might …

Some Arctic warming ‘irreversible’ even if we cut atmospheric CO2

Some Arctic warming ‘irreversible’ even if we cut atmospheric CO2

Published by skeptic

A glacier meets the sea in Dickson Fjord, Greenland Jane Rix/Alamy The Arctic will retain about 1.5°C of warming even if the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere returns to pre-industrial levels and the planet as a whole cools. The region is also predicted to retain about 0.1 millimetres per day of excess precipitation, regardless of whether we deploy large-scale carbon dioxide removal (CDR) projects. “These findings highlight the irreversible nature of Arctic climate change even under aggressive CDR scenarios,” the researchers wrote in the study. Atmospheric CO2 levels are currently about 1.5 times as high as they were in the pre-industrial era, and the Arctic has warmed by more than 3°C. A study published in March found that average sea ice extent would remain 1 million square kilometres smaller even if excess CO2 was removed. In the new study, Xiao Dong at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Beijing and his colleagues predicted the Arctic’s potential to retain warming using 11 independent climate models. In a first, it suggests that precipitation will also stay elevated, …

The Last of Us star features in first look at “unmissable, atmospheric” thriller series

The Last of Us star features in first look at “unmissable, atmospheric” thriller series

Published by Daniella Wilson

First-look images have been released as filming wraps for the upcoming Channel 4 dark comedy drama Maya, featuring The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey alongside Daisy Haggard, best known for Breeders and Boat Story. The series, which was created and written by Haggard, also marking her directorial debut as she co-directs alongside Jamie Donoughue, follows devoted single-mum Anna and her headstrong teenage daughter Maya as they are forced into a witness escape programme. They have no choice but to flee their life in London, leaving behind Anna’s parents, played Harriet Walter and Tom Courteney, and relocate to a sleepy rural town in Scotland. As they try to adjust to their new home, two hitmen, Benji (Ben Chaplin) and Ted (Raphel Famotibe), and the seemingly charming Bobby, played by Tobias Menzie, close in and prove they are very much in harm’s way. Bella Ramsey and Daisy Haggard in Maya. Some of the four new images released by Channel 4 show Anna and Maya in seemingly domestic bliss – one of them sharing a double bed, …