global warming
Global warming describes the current rise in the average temperature of Earth’s air and oceans. Global warming is often described as the most recent example of climate change. Earth’s climate has changed many times. Our planet has gone through multiple ice ages, in which ice sheets and glaciers covered large portions of the Earth. It has also gone through warm periods when temperatures were higher than they are today. Past changes in Earth’s temperature happened very slowly, over hundreds of thousands of years.
Soaring ocean temperature is 'greatest hidden challenge of our generation'
The soaring temperature of the oceans is the “greatest hidden challenge of our generation” that is altering the make-up of marine species, shrinking fishing areas and starting to spread disease to humans, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of ocean warming. The oceans have already sucked up an enormous amount of heat due to escalating greenhouse gas emissions, affecting marine species from microbes to whales, according to an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report involving the work of 80 scientists from a dozen countries. The profound changes underway in the oceans are starting to impact people, the report states.
How to set up your own Raspberry Pi powered VPN
Eyes are everywhere online. The websites you visit often track where you came from and watch where you head off to next. A VPN - or virtual private network - helps you browse the internet more anonymously by routing your traffic through a server that is not your point of origin. It is a bit like switching cars to shake off someone who is tailing you. There are plenty of companies offering services with varying degrees of security and varying degrees of cost, but if you are willing to roll your sleeves up and get technical with some basic coding and a £30 Raspberry Pi computer, you can build your own VPN server at home. It won't give you the option of appearing to be from somewhere else but you can use it to connect external devices like a smartphone to browse the internet more securely through your home network, and access shared files and media on your home computer.
How Northern European waters soak up carbon dioxide
Image copyright AFP The seas around the UK and the rest of northern Europe take up a staggering 24 million tonnes of carbon each year. It is a mass equivalent to two million double-decker buses or 72,000 747 jets. The number was produced by scientists studying the movement of carbon dioxide into and out of the oceans.
Tsunami simulator recreates devastating waves for first time in a lab
The full and devastating power of tsunamis has been recreated in lab for the first time, revealing valuable secrets about the little-understood waves. The work will lead to vital improvements to sea defences, coastal buildings and evacuation plans, ultimately saving lives. Five major tsunamis have struck coasts around the world since 2004, killing 300,000 people, and the risks are rising as coastal cities expand. But the terrible violence of the giant waves means any scientific instruments present are almost always destroyed. The result is little knowledge of the huge forces with which tsunamis hit coasts. Now researchers have created the world’s most realistic tsunami simulator at the HR Wallingford research centre in Oxfordshire.
7 Geoengineering Solutions That Promise To Save Humans from Climate Change
Water scarcity is only one of the issues associated with rising global temperatures... photo: Mark N via flickr In case you missed the past years of debate, here's global climate change in a nutshell: Since human's began burning fossil fuels some 150 or so years ago atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased precipitously. As it stands now, unless these levels are kept at about where they are today (at a maximum) or decreased, by the end of the 21st century global temperatures could rise to levels that would make vast areas of the planet far less habitable for life (human, other animal, and plant alike) than they are today. Enter geoengineering.
This Robot Could Make Exploring Oceans Deeper, Faster, and Cheaper
Wendy Schmidt couldn't contain her grin as she watched the robot rise from the bottom of the saltwater tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, California. It was the first test run of SuBastian, her custom-built remotely operated vehicle (ROV). The underwater robot belonged to the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), a nonprofit organization that Schmidt co-founded with her husband, Eric, executive chairman of Alphabet, Inc.
How can we store more energy from the sun and the wind?
Image copyright Solar Reserve It could be a scene from a science fiction movie. Deep in the Nevada desert, thousands of mirrors arrayed in concentric circles face the sky, lit up by the sun.
