Research briefs

In the future, in a changing climate, will we be able to continue eating safe vegetables and fruit or will this come under pressure? This is the question asked by the Ghent and Wageningen researchers who have brought together the latest information and scientific findings on the impact of climate change on food safety in a special issue...

According to a new study, the results 'are extremely unfavorable for the continuation of agricultural and water resource management as they are currently practiced in the Great Plains and southwestern United States,' said David Stahle, of the University of Arkansas...

Characterising flood behaviour for any river in the world is now becoming a possibility, according to new research from the University of Bristol. The study, which deals with the difficulty of estimating flooding risk in data-poor areas, finds that it is now possible to make accurate predictions using only remotely sensed data...

Research finds that climate adaptation programs that ignore the social and political context could be even worse than no adaptation at all… in fragile and vulnerable states facing the dual threat of climate change and insecurity, effective and well-targeted aid can play a key role in building resilience and shielding vulnerable households and communities from acute humanitarian crises...

Such research could transform the way policymakers look at markets when trying to boost people’s ability to adapt to climate change. Development specialists usually look at markets from the outside and seek to help communities generate livelihoods from them—for example, by helping them organize in cooperatives, etc...

Colorado could see more infectious disease, negative impacts on the elderly and people living in poverty, as well as stresses to water, cattle and crops as byproducts of future climate change, according to a comprehensive new report commissioned by the Colorado Energy Office...

Scientists at NASA and the University of California, Irvine have found that canyons under Greenland's ocean-feeding glaciers are deeper and longer than previously thought, increasing the amount of Greenland's estimated contribution to future sea level rise...