Research briefs

Around five and half millenia ago, northern Africa went through a dramatic transformation. The Sahara desert expanded and grasslands, forests and lakes favoured by humans disappeared.

Researchers describe how they used several climate models and various factors that allowed them to find patterns that might be linked to the reduction of aerosols emitted into the atmosphere by China.

As climate-driven flooding becomes more common, policymakers and the public are more frequently confronted with whether to rebuild in flood-prone areas and who should be responsible for the cost repairing or replacing damaged homes and infrastructure.

In analyzing the possible causes, the research team discovered the issue was with the conversion equations used in comparing hazard maps predicting future earthquakes with actual shaking data, rather than systemic problems with the hazard modeling itself.

Climate change will cause an increase in extreme winter storms combining strong winds and heavy rainfall over the UK and Ireland, new research has shown.

For this new study, the researchers focused on the history of atmospheric rivers dumping rain on California. Leonard Lake in northern California was chosen due to its relatively stable history going back thousands of years and its geographical features.

New work finds hurricanes are intensifying faster close to the coast—a trend that’s likely to ramp up in a warmer world

Climate change is transforming dust storms—a natural phenomenon in the Middle East—into a more frequent and widespread threat to health and economies throughout the region, a new study shows.