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Precise data for improved coastline protection
Researchers working under the leadership of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have conducted the first precise and comprehensive measurements of sea level rises in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. A new method now makes it possible to determine sea level changes with millimeter accuracy even in coastal areas and in case of sea ice coverage. This is of vital importance for planning protective measures.
For the billions of people who live in coastal areas, rising sea levels driven by climate change can pose an existential threat. “To protect people and infrastructure – for example by building flood protection structures, securing ports or making dikes higher – we need reliable forecasts on sea level trends,” explains Prof. Florian Seitz, the Director of the German Geodetic Research Institute (DGFI-TUM) at TUM. “However, this requires precise data with high spatial resolution. And until now, the required wide
Oceans play a vital role in taking the heat out of climate change, but at a cost. New research supported by ESA and using different satellite measurements of various aspects of seawater along with measurements from ships has revealed how our ocean waters have become more acidic over the last three decades – and this is having a detrimental effect on marine life.
ESA - Satellites highlight a 30-year rise in ocean acidification esa.int - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from esa.int Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Out of this world: U of I bioenergy researchers accurately measure photosynthesis from space
As most of us learned in school, plants use sunlight to synthesize carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates in a process called photosynthesis.
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Out of this world: U of I bioenergy researchers accurately measure photosynthesis from space
As most of us learned in school, plants use sunlight to synthesize carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates in a process called photosynthesis.
Check out this story on FarmersAdvance.com: https://www.farmersadvance.com/story/news/2021/03/03/researchers-accurately-measure-photosynthesis-space/6837389002/
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Humans flush away vast amounts of water every day. When managed correctly, this wastewater is collected and undergoes treatment to remove pollutants that can otherwise threaten human and environmental health. In my latest research I estimated that more than 50% of the world’s domestic and manufacturing wastewater now follows this pathway, rather than the previous estimates of just 20%.
While this sounds like good news, it comes with a caveat. Treatment rates vary drastically across the world, and are especially low in many developing countries. An estimated 4.2 billion people lack access to safe sanitation and there are around 829,000 deaths from diarrhoea attributed to unsafe water and sanitation every year, so there is clearly still a long way to go. This challenge will be further compounded by rapid population growth and industrialisation. These factors threaten to increase the production of wastewater much faster than infrastructure can be developed.