Month: September 2026

Low-Carbon Concrete in a Changing Climate: Why Local Weather Can Determine Durability Concrete is central to modern infrastructure. It is also a major focus of construction-sector decarbonisation because producing the cement used in concrete releases substantial quantities of carbon dioxide. One response is to develop concretes that use lower-carbon cement systems. But reducing the carbon…

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Underwater Drones Reveal Hidden Coral Habitat: Why Marine Baseline Surveys Need to Look Deeper For more than half a century, coral structures reported off the coast of Benin remained largely unresolved. Marine surveys conducted in the 1960s had identified what appeared to be a deep reef barrier more than 50 metres below the surface. But…

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Extreme Heat Is Spreading Beyond Traditional Heat Seasons: Why Monitoring Calendars Need to Change Extreme heat is becoming more frequent. But a new global study asks a different question: Is extreme heat also arriving at different times of the year? The answer appears to be yes. Researchers examining 45 years of climate data found that…

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Peatland Water Levels and Warming: Why Hydrology Controls Carbon Loss Water level is often treated as a hydrological measurement. In peatlands, it is much more than that. A new international study led by researchers at the University of Münster shows that the depth of the water table helps determine not only how much carbon dioxide…

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Volcanic Eruptions, Ocean Climate Connections and Why Environmental Baselines Cannot Be Treated as Permanent Environmental monitoring depends heavily on the concept of a baseline. Before an industrial project begins, a development is approved or an environmental intervention is undertaken, scientists attempt to understand what conditions normally look like. But what happens when “normal” itself changes?…

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Wildfire Smoke and Bird Diversity: Why Environmental Impacts Can Extend Beyond the Burn Area The environmental impact of a wildfire does not necessarily stop where the flames end. Smoke can travel tens, hundreds or sometimes thousands of kilometres from a fire, carrying fine particulate matter into places that never burn. A 2026 study examining bird…

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Can Irrigation Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Why a New U.S. Study Calls for Full-System Accounting Irrigation requires water and energy, and pumping that water can generate greenhouse gas emissions. So it may seem intuitive that reducing irrigation would also reduce agricultural emissions. A new study led by researchers at Colorado State University shows why environmental…

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Fishing Gear in Stranded Pilot Whales: What a Hawaiʻi Study Reveals About Marine-Debris Monitoring Plastic pollution is often discussed in terms of bottles, packaging, microplastics or litter visible along shorelines. A 2026 study from Hawaiʻi highlights another dimension of the problem: large masses of discarded fishing line, rope, netting and sheet plastic can also reach…

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