Study shows rising temperatures hurt rice yields
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA STUDY of the relationship between temperature and yields of various rice varieties conducted by a professor and extension specialist at North Carolina State University suggests that warming temperatures have negatively affected rice yields. Based on 50 years of weather and rice-yield data from farms in the Philippines, the study led by Dr. Roderick Rejesus examined rice yields and atmospheric conditions […]
‘PANAS! Climate Change Stories in Malaysia’ Project Launched
Reading Time: 2 minutesKUALA LUMPUR: Science Media Centre (SMC) Malaysia, in collaboration with British High Commission Kuala Lumpur and EcoKnights officially launched ‘PANAS! Climate Change Stories in Malaysia’ project aimed at promoting evidence-based and accurate reporting on climate change topics in the media. Through this initiative, Malaysian journalists, writers and content creators are invited to produce local Malaysian stories, […]
Study Shows Climate Change May Have Driven Emergence of SARS-CoV-2
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA STUDY conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge published in the journal Science of the Total Environment provides the first evidence of a mechanism by which climate change could have played a direct role in the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. The study revealed large-scale changes in the type of vegetation in the southern Chinese […]
Carnegie scientists uncover nutrient-sensing capabilities of plants as answer to climate change
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSCIENTISTS from the Carnegie Institute of Science discovers a method by which plants can switch their response based on their changing environment. The team of scientists discovered an evolutionarily conserved protein that plays a unique role in regulating stress responses and key developmental transitions such as seed germination and flowering. The scientists then applied sugar […]
Climate change may have driven the emergence of SARS-CoV-2
Reading Time: 3 minutesGLOBAL greenhouse gas emissions over the last century have made southern China a hotspot for bat-borne coronaviruses, by driving growth of forest habitat favoured by bats. A new study published today in the journal Science of the Total Environment provides the first evidence of a mechanism by which climate change could have played a direct role in […]
Nights warming faster than days across much of the planet
Reading Time: 2 minutesGLOBAL warming is affecting daytime and night-time temperatures differently – and greater night-time warming is more common than greater daytime warming worldwide – new research shows. University of Exeter scientists studied warming from 1983 to 2017 and found a difference in mean annual temperature of more than 0.25°C between daytime and night-time warming in over […]
Animal biotech offers potential in addressing food insecurity
Reading Time: 2 minutesANIMAL BIOTECHNOLOGY has been primed to contribute significantly towards addressing the challenge of food security, especially in the developing world. During a webinar organized by ISAAA AfriCenter, experts agreed that animal biotechnology is an inevitable part of the toolkit to address climate-related challenges. Prof Steve Kemp, an animal geneticist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), underscored the […]
Tropical forests can handle the heat, up to a point
Reading Time: 3 minutesTROPICAL FOREST face an uncertain future under climate change, but new research published in Science suggests they can continue to store large amounts of carbon in a warmer world, if countries limit greenhouse gas emissions. The world’s tropical forests store a quarter-century worth of fossil fuel emissions in their trees alone. There are fears that […]
NASA catches the extra-tropical ending of Mangga
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY SUNDAY, May 24, Tropical Cyclone Mangga had already transitioned to an extra-tropical storm and was affecting the southwestern coast of Australia. When a storm becomes extra-tropical, it means that a tropical cyclone has lost its “tropical” characteristics. The National Hurricane Center defines “extra-tropical” as a transition that implies both poleward displacement (meaning it moves […]
Climate change, COVID-19 and future pandemics
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY TAN SU LIN Like COVID-19, around 75% of new infectious diseases are zoonotic. Some experts believe climate change may be putting humans in closer contact with animals. While COVID-19 and climate change are real but different health emergencies, both are of environmental origin and they point to a common denominator – destructive environmental practices ultimately […]