The warmer, drier conditions expected under on-going climate change will reduce the rates at which soil fauna and microbes decompose plant litter, suggests new research from Germany. This may have important implications for agriculture and natural ecosystems worldwide, as litter decomposition is a key process in cycling and distributing nutrients throughout ecosystems.

Cereal fields provide a staple food, but are also home to a wide array of invertebrates. This study analysed over 40 years of data to investigate the effects of extreme weather, climate and pesticide use on invertebrates in cereal fields in southern England. As pesticide use had a greater effect on abundance than temperature or rainfall, the authors also recommend reducing pesticide use.

Oestrogens are ‘female’ hormones that can enter the aquatic environment after excretion by humans and animals, causing ‘feminisation’ of male fish. This study carried out a risk assessment for oestrogen-like endocrine disruption in the UK in the 2050s, based on likely changes to the human population, river flows and temperature. The authors found that risk is likely to increase under future conditions and recommend further research to assess whether improving sewage treatment could reduce oestrogen pollution.

Rare earth elements (REE) are used to make many low-carbon technologies, including electric vehicles and wind turbines. Mining and processing of REE, which mostly takes place in China, has a reputation for causing environmental damage. A new study presents a method for evaluating the environmental impacts of REE production based on life-cycle assessment (LCA: a way of determining a product's overall impact during some or all of its journey from extraction to end-of-life). The researchers applied the method to a prospective REE mine in Malawi, south-east Africa, to reveal the most environmentally impactful stages of production, and the greenest source of energy.

Methane gas emissions could have a larger warming effect on climate than has been previously thought. A recent study has found that the interactions between greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and aerosols in the atmosphere can change the impact of various emissions, and that mitigation policies should take these effects into account.

If the effects of air pollution on climate change are included in air quality strategies, efficiency gains of €2.5 billion can be achieved in the EU, according to recent research.

New research suggests potential benefits in integrating air quality and climate change policy. It predicts that accounting for the climate impact of certain air pollutants in the EU, USA and China could complement policies designed to reduce the air quality impacts of these pollutants.

A new study has assessed the potential of several “fast-action” climate change mitigation strategies. Key options are reducing use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), reducing emissions of black carbon and ozone-forming pollutants, and sequestering carbon through afforestation and biochar production.

Measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have the additional benefit of reducing air pollutants. However, these benefits are rarely included in the design and evaluation of climate change policies. A new study suggests that considering these benefits in climate change policy could reduce the cost of such policies, and engage stakeholders who are otherwise unmotivated to tackle climate change.

Policies based on cost-benefit analysis that tackle climate change, air pollution and energy security together produce far greater benefits than policies designed to address these issues separately, according to a new study. For example, current oil reserves would last until much longer than currently predicted and the number of premature deaths due to air pollution would be reduced by some 3 million per year globally, if all three policy areas were combined.

Climate change is likely to significantly affect future air quality over Europe. According to a recent European study, climate change alone is likely to significantly increase ozone pollution in Europe and by as much as 50 µg.m-3 (micrograms per cubic metre) over central France in July by the year 2100, compared with 1990 levels.

A recent assessment suggests that reducing black carbon emissions, produced by burning carbon-based materials, would prevent millions of premature deaths in developing countries as well as helping meet climate change mitigation targets.

A recent analysis suggests climate change policies may have to include a 'pollution safety margin' which accounts for the warming impact of many air pollutants. Available evidence suggests that policies to reduce the harmful effects of air pollutants could accelerate climate change over coming decades by cutting emissions that currently contribute to cooling the climate.

A study by Swedish scientists provides new insights into how climate change could affect future ozone concentrations in European countries. The findings of this study suggest that average ozone concentrations will increase more in Southern Europe than in more Northern and mountainous regions under the influence of climate change in the 21st century.

Evidence from modelling studies suggests that climate change is likely to increase concentrations of ozone, one of the most important urban air pollutants responsible for respiratory problems. Under this assumption, rapid reductions of emissions from fossil fuel burning are needed to protect the health of both current and future generations.

Combining policies that tackle local air pollution and global climate change will deliver enhanced benefits for climate change mitigation, according to researchers. Medium-term efforts to control air pollution will provide additional benefits to long-term strategies that aim to curb climate change.

The Earth is now absorbing more energy from the Sun than it is radiating into space. A recent analysis indicates that most models of this energy imbalance underestimate the impacts of human-made aerosols and overestimate time lags in response to the climate. As such, the energy imbalance and future impacts on climate may be greater than predicted.

Measures to control methane and black carbon (soot) emissions could improve air quality and public health, in addition to slowing the rate of climate change, according to recent research. By 2030, the reduced pollution could prevent between 700,000 and 4.7 million premature deaths each year, with 80% of the benefits occurring in Asia.

Integrating climate change policies with pollution control and energy security measures can deliver improved air quality, better public health and diversified energy supplies, and at a lower total energy cost than many previous studies have indicated, according to recent research.

A new study finds that meeting WHO Air Quality Guidelines (AQG) on particulate emissions by 2030, thereby improving global human health, will require a combination of stringent policies on air pollution, climate change and access to clean cooking fuels.

Climate change affects air pollution at a regional and local scale. A recent study has reassessed the latest findings and suggests that climate change will increase ozone concentrations by about 3 parts per billion (ppb) in central and western Europe in the year 2050 if emissions from human activities remain at present-day levels. However, if emissions increase, ozone concentrations could increase by 16 ppb for much of Europe.

Globally co-ordinated climate change policy to limit warming to 2°C could provide additional health, ecological and economic benefits. Using established methods, researchers estimated that the implementation of climate policy would also reduce global expenditures on air pollution control in 2050 by €250 billion.

Air pollution policy does not undermine the long-term goals of climate change policy, a new study concludes. Although reductions in the pollutant sulphur dioxide could have some warming effects on the Earth’s temperature, the impacts are only short term and will never outweigh climate policy’s cooling effects.

Greater amounts of air pollutants emitted in East Asia will move around the globe under climate change, a recent study predicts. Changes to wind speeds and air pressure will mean that movement of pollution from this region is enhanced under a changing climate. These results highlight the need for globally coordinated efforts to tackle air pollution and climate change.

Effective greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measures to stabilise global temperature change to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial temperatures would also substantially reduce air pollutant emissions, recent research predicts. A variety of mitigation options are available, including switching from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. To achieve the necessary GHG emission reductions, one key option is to impose carbon taxes. However, these would need to be high to help achieve this target, according to the study’s authors.

For economic and political reasons, freight shipping has begun to utilise shorter routes across Arctic waters. This study assessed the costs, emissions and climate impact of trade using the Northern Sea Route between the Northern Pacific and Europe. It concludes that there are no overall climate benefits to using this route, even though it reduces voyage distance, due to the additional impact of emissions in the Arctic region.

The health risks associated with climate-induced changes to indoor environments are explored in a new study. UK-based researchers synthesised findings of how climate change — and mitigation and adaptation measures — might affect the inside of buildings, through overheating, air quality, allergies and infections, flood risk and other exposure risks.

Pollutants emitted by human activities have caused declines in air quality and drastic changes to climate. Despite being inextricably linked, these two major environmental issues tend to be viewed separately by policy. However, in certain instances, considering these issues together could lead to strategies that benefit both, according to a newly published review.

Nitrification inhibitors are thought to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions of nitrous oxide — a potent greenhouse gas — from land. However, they may not be as effective as once thought, a new study suggests. The researchers found that, while inhibitors decrease emissions of nitrous oxide, they can increase emissions of ammonia — which is later converted to nitrous oxide. They recommend these effects are considered when evaluating inhibitors as a mitigation technology.

Prof Stephan Schuster, research director at NTU’s Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering, is working with Asst Prof Sanjay Chotirmall, from NTU’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, to understand the role of the air microbiome (which includes organisms such as bacteria and fungi) in relation to the lung....

Sarah Palin uses social media to get out her message: Drill, baby, drill, and don't worry about climate change because the planet can take care of itself.

The USDA has updated its planting-zones map for the first time in 22 years, reflecting a warmer U.S. where many southern crops are expanding north.

Wild geoengineering schemes may aim to reverse global warming by reflecting sunlight into space or storing excess carbon dioxide, but they won't spare humanity

Could the plight of one Kiribati family foreshadow a future inundated with climate-change castaways?

As if rising sea levels and more intense weather weren't bad enough. The newest negative effect of climate change? The rising dead.

One of the states most at risk from climate change has reportedly banned officials from using the phrase 'climate change.'

While rising sea levels ultimately influence the entire planet, they pose the greatest threat to the islands sitting at sea level.

A small island in Louisiana where peppers are grown for Tabasco sauce is losing land to rising sea levels.

Not only can coral reefs buffer humans from disasters, but protecting them is 15 times cheaper than building sea walls.

President Barack Obama challenged world leaders to join the United States in fighting global warming. Watch the entire 10-minute speech here.

Here is a sneak preview of what to expect when the AR5 report is issued next week, based on the leaks so far.

The IPCC report is expected to include summaries on melting glaciers, sea level rise and the impact of human activities on the global climate.

Climate change has already taken a serious toll on human well-being and world economies.

A young poet from the Marshall Islands reportedly 'brought world leaders to tears' at the U.N. Climate Summit.

With a Global Alliance dedicated to Climate-Smart Agriculture, you’ll be hearing more about this effort with a goal to improve agriculture and food security.

The pontiff's sweeping new encyclical is meant not just for Earth's 1.2 billion Catholics, but for 'every person living on this planet.'

Climate scientist James Hansen was arrested on Feb. 13 outside the White House while protesting the Keystone Pipeline.

Manchester's City of Trees scheme will plant one leafy specimen for every resident.

Some of the world's most prominent climate activists are headed to D.C. to protest against a proposed pipeline that would bring Alberta's unconventional oil to