Flux continu

Several studies in recent years have suggested the crucial system — the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC — could be on course for collapse, weakened by warmer ocean temperatures and disrupted saltiness caused by human-induced climate change. But the new research, which is being peer-reviewed and hasn’t yet been published in a journal, uses a state-of-the-art model to estimate when it could collapse, suggesting a shutdown could happen between 2037 and 2064.

Freshwater availability is changing worldwide. Here we quantify 34 trends in terrestrial water storage observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites during 2002–2016 and categorize their drivers as natural interannual variability, unsustainable groundwater consumption, climate change or combinations thereof. Several of these trends had been lacking thorough investigation and attribution, including massive changes in northwestern China and the Okavango Delta. Others are consistent with climate model predictions. This observation-based assessment of how the world’s water landscape is responding to human impacts and climate variations provides a blueprint for evaluating and predicting emerging threats to water and food security. Analysis of 2002–2016 GRACE satellite observations of terrestrial water storage reveals substantial changes in freshwater resources globally, which are driven by natural and anthropogenic climate variability and human activities.

Le géologue de l’Ifremer Ewan Pelleter embarquera en juillet pour sa seconde mission d’exploration des grands fonds marins dans l’Atlantique Nord. A l’aide du petit sous-marin le «Nautile», le même utilisé en 1987 pour explorer le «Titanic», son équipe va identifier des ressources minières potentielles et observer la biodiversité.

MO* bracht recent goed nieuws: tropische bossen blijken opvallend snel te herstellen na ontbossing. Of toch niet? Het onderzoek dat tot die conclusie kwam beperkte zich vooral tot het Amazonewoud en hield geen rekening met ‘s werelds tweede grootste tropisch bosgebied: het Congolese regenwoud. Dat schrijven onderzoekers van de UGent en hun collega’s uit Congo.

The ferries that once shuttled tourists to and from the little islets in Iran's Lake Urmia sit rusty, unable to move, on what is rapidly becoming a salt plain. Just two decades ago, Urmia was the Middle East's biggest lake, its local economy a thriving tourist center of hotels and restaurants.