Tag: environment

These small bacteria eat huge amounts of methane. How will they respond to climate change?

When the bacteria are thriving, they eat less.

Half of the world's glaciers may be gone by 2100

Even if the 1.5°C target in the Paris Agreement is reached, half of the world's glaciers could be history by the end of the century, new research shows.

For a long time people thought fossils were animals and dragons drowned in Noah’s flood. Then scientists discovered the Ice Age

In a new book, Reidar Müller describes the history of the climate and the people who pieced it together.

Will the geologists of the future see that something dramatic happened on Earth starting in 1950?

Scientists are considering whether we are entering a new epoch in the Earth's history: the Anthropocene — the age of humans.

People don't want plastic around their food. Here’s how researchers can solve this problem.

Several approaches are being studied. Fish scales can be made into plastic, or we can go back to paper and cardboard.

Animal populations saw average declines of 69 per cent, but what does that actually mean?

The figure from the new WWF report can easily be misinterpreted.

Is there any hope of reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change?

OPINION: Believing that we can achieve the Paris Agreement is not naïve, idealistic, or utopian, according to professor Karen O'Brien.

What’s happening with the ‘doomsday glacier’ in Antarctica?

The Thwaites Glacier is a wild card when it comes to sea level rise, researchers say. A new study describes the glacier’s movements in the past.

When does autumn actually begin?

If you ask a meteorologist, autumn sets in when the average temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius.

These were the first plants to appear in northern Norway after the last ice age

A large DNA study tells us how nature reacted when the climate changed. The knowledge gained will be used to create better models of what could happen in the future.

Thin ozone layer is recovering

The ozone layer in the Northern Hemisphere will be back to the 1980 level sometime in the 2030s, new measurements show.

Record numbers of Norwegian sea eagles are exported to Europe

Norwegian authorities exported a record number of white-tailed sea eagle chicks this summer. They are hatching new, viable populations in Ireland, Spain and Scotland.

A Viking queen was buried with a bucket of these wild apples. Now researchers worry that their special genetic makeup will disappear

Most people who have tasted crab apples think they are inedible, but researchers still think they are important.

Cars pollute much less than before

Emissions of the toxic gases NOx from local traffic in Norway has decreased by as much as 53 per cent from 1990 to 2020.

Here’s how to make old houses climate-friendly

Workers hoisted new walls over the old ones, and saved both money and the climate. Now the research project will show more people how to renovate their homes in a climate-friendly way.

Hit them where it hurts: Producers of fast fashion should pay the most

OPINION: How best to deal with the negative environmental impact of the clothing industry? The writers behind this opinion suggest a system in which those who sell large volumes of clothes that don't last pay the most.

Farmed salmon need zinc to avoid getting sick. But zinc in the ocean harms the environment

Either farmed fish health or the environment suffers.

Your clothes cause water pollution — but now both the water and the pollutants can be reused

The clothing industry uses and pollutes large amounts of water. Now water from textile manufacturers will be treated, cleaned and reused.

This is how climate change is impacting our nature right now

“This is a very strong signal to take better care of nature,” says one researcher.

European study found abrupt increase in logging in the Nordic countries. Norwegian researchers beg to differ

They believe the results are due to the fact that satellite-based maps have improved.

The Nansen Legacy Winter Gaps Cruise

In the Barents Sea

From burial urns to surfboards – wool can be used to make just about anything

OPINION: There’s no such thing as bad wool, only bad use.

These rodents may be the reason Norway has one of the world's most radioactive glaciers

Traces of radioactivity from Chernobyl and nuclear explosions from the Soviet era coat the surface of the glacier. Researchers are surprised by the high radioactive levels they’ve found.

Norwegian glaciers are shrinking all over the country

A new mapping of the country’s glaciers finds that they have shrunk by 14 per cent.

Beijing Olympics 2022: The controversies posing hidden risks for China and the IOC

OPINION: The International Olympic Committee risks alienating democracies who expect the organization to live up to its values instead of serving modern autocracies’ economic and nationalistic interests.

Hunting moorings in the dark

– fieldwork in the polar night

Have Russian climate scientists convinced Vladimir Putin that climate change is real?

The Russian president recently stated that the country will become carbon neutral by the year 2060, but there’s a big gap between words and deeds in Russian climate policy, researchers say.

Deadly heat and extreme rainfall: This is what the world will be like if the temperature rises by 3 degrees, according to researchers

“It is very likely that we will reach three degrees. I consider 1.5 and 2 degrees to be almost unattainable. Now the question is how close to three we will get,” says one Norwegian researcher.

A strong breeze and chance of storms: How we used pollen to create a wind forecast from 10,000 years ago

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Pollen can travel far through the air, allowing scientists who find them to trace the winds of the past. Maaike Zwier writes about her new study from South Georgia, where ancient pollen may reveal shifts in the dominating westerlies.

Is green growth possible?

OPINION: Increases in economic growth contribute to one-for-one increases in carbon emissions. Energy system decarbonization and economic productivity gains are the most effective carbon emissions mitigation mechanisms for sustainable economic development.

A new round of hunting for instruments in the dark polar night

It is november, polar night, and almost winter – must be time for a cruise to the Arctic Ocean to collect instruments and equipment for our project!

Small pieces and large pictures in Arctic marine science

Arctic marine research is really exciting, and one could make blockbuster movies, or a tv-series based on research expeditions, such as those within the Nansen Legacy project.

Microplastic research needs a common language

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: With increased knowledge about microplastics in the environment comes new challenges. Researchers see significant challenges in maintaining the quality of knowledge that is shared, and how it is used further.

Fifty years of plastic trash hidden beneath the sod

“We had to remove a lot of vegetation to get rid of the plastic,” said one of the researchers behind a new Norwegian study.

The COP26 plastic uniforms are a disaster for the environment

OPINION: Recycled plastic clothing will never save the climate.

Rare earths: Norwegian fertilizer against a Chinese near-monopoly

Electric cars, mobile phones, wind turbines — modern technology needs metals that are almost exclusively found in China. Residues from Norwegian fertilizer production can help Europe become less dependent on a country that wants to produce more itself.

Making useful products from greenhouse gases

A new plant will use CO2 to both replace oil and be transformed into useful chemicals.

What’s best for the climate, buying a new electric car or driving your old petrol car into the ground?

The answer depends on how the emissions are calculated, it turns out. And here the experts disagree.

The summer of 2020 lured out many first-time hikers

Fewer and fewer Norwegians are interested in hiking off the marked mountain trails, according to researchers from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research.

Could Isaac Newton show us the way into the Green Shift?

Climate change, loss of biodiversity, and degraded ecosystems: we're in trouble and something needs to be done. We need to change, and we know what to do. But we probably need some help on how to proceed. Maybe we can be inspired by Isaac Newton’s three laws?

Hardcore science

On the JC2-2 cruise we are visiting the deep basins of the Arctic Ocean. The goal of my team is to conduct experiments with animals from the bottom of those basins, which means keeping deep, Arctic animals alive. If deep-sea diving is an extreme sport, then this is definitely extreme science.

Ephemeral landscapes

Have you ever watched the colors of the sunset over the sea – then suddenly the beautiful moment is gone, and darkness surrounds you. Arctic sea ice is like that - a temporary and beautiful landscape constantly presenting moments that are suddenly gone, if you dare to blink.

The Transpolar Drift current

The largest Arctic river - transports materials into the central Arctic Ocean from Siberian Shelf across the North Pole

The tiniest do the heavy lifting

– Who are they and what do microbes do in the Arctic Ocean?

Here’s what the latest climate models say about what will happen to Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets

More warming doesn’t necessarily mean that meltwater from Antarctica will contribute to even more sea level rise in 2100, but there’s still a great deal of uncertainty about the future.

Norwegians have built a half-million cabins as holiday homes. Is that too many?

There’s roughly one cabin for every tenth Norwegian, and more will be built.

The Arctic Ocean blender system

The Arctic Ocean is composed of different layers organized on the vertical, and these layers have different temperature and salinity properties. A cold and fresh surface layer caps a warm and salty layer of Atlantic Water. The heat contained at depth (about 300m) in the warm and salty Atlantic Water could melt the entire Arctic sea ice cover if it reached the surface. It does not happen because the cold surface layer caps this Atlantic layer quite well and keeps it at depth. However, in some regions, such as north of Svalbard, sea ice melts in summer even though it is -30 outside. How is that possible?

The Central Arctic Ocean: No longer the once forgotten no man’s land

Large trawlers are pulling tons of fish out of the deep Central Arctic Ocean. Our cell phones are powered with rare earth elements from the seafloor underneath the North Pole. The ice-free Arctic allows much shorter delivery time of shipped goods from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Coast guard ships dot the vast Arctic coastline and fleets of submarines survey the chilly waters. Will these scenarios soon be a reality? To some extent some of them already are.

What kind of climate measures work in villages and towns?

What works in the city doesn’t always work in a village. Or vice versa. But are some climate measures suitable for both environments?

Why are young climate activists being harassed online?

How does this kind of abuse impact young people’s political engagement?

Will the future Arctic Ocean become greener?

On land grass and other plants provide ecosystems with food and play an essential role in binding CO2 from the atmosphere. Microscopically small plants called algae fulfill this role in the world’s oceans.

Cracks in the cooking pot lid

The point of putting a lid on a cooking pot is to prevent the transfer of heat and moisture between the boiling contents and the air above. When you remove the lid from a boiling pot, heat and water vapour flow upward into the air, along with chemical compounds filling your kitchen with the (hopefully) promising smells of an upcoming meal.

Arguing over road tolls can be good for the climate, researcher says

The debate over road tolls has helped Norwegians to talk about the politics of wealth distribution in the climate debate, researcher Tarje Wanvik says.

Where food is delivered only once a year

Imagine living at a place where food is available for only a few short weeks each year. What sounds impossible is reality for hundreds of different animal species thousands of meters beneath the ocean surface.

Healthcare workers are raising the alarm: We need zero-carbon healthcare

OPINION: Last year, England launched a zero-carbon health system strategy, inspiring a global movement. With an election on the horizon, it is time for Norway to decide whether we are in or out.

From your home to the lab: Household items in the life of a marine scientist

What do a spoon, colander, garbage bag and stocking have in common?

Is it possible to live a climate-friendly life?

Seen in a global context, Norwegian emissions are small. Is there any point in expensive, demanding measures? Researcher Torvald Tangeland responds.

Researchers surprised by sky-high greenhouse gas emissions from biogas residues

The residues from biogas production emit twelve times as much methane gas as other decayed organic material.

Reduced Norwegian oil exports will reduce global emissions according to researchers

Other countries will not follow suit and produce enough oil to close the gap, the researchers say. Some Norwegian politicians and the oil industry however beg to differ.

Into the deep unknown central Arctic Basin

Our scientific crew of 35 people for the Nansen Legacy cruise JC2-2-Arctic Basin will spend five weeks onboard the Norwegian icebreaker and research vessel Kronprins Haakon, with departure on Thursday 24th August 2021. Cruise leaders are Agneta Fransson (NPI) and Bodil Bluhm (UiT).

Why are climate scientists so much more confident in their predictions now?

It's not just about the increase in extreme weather and higher temperatures.

Three good reasons to visit the Arctic Basin in 2021

125 years since the return of Nansen’s Fram expedition

Are you going on a road trip? It may harm the environment

In Norway, the government is planning to expand and improve roads for a staggering 120 billion Euros. How does it affect the environment?

Older people are less worried about climate change than before the pandemic

Are we more concerned about coronavirus than the climate?

Aliens in the Arctic?

The outer-worldly life that resides within sea ice

Is the summer in the Barents Sea hot this year?

A blog from the northern Barents Sea on a July day in 2021.

Longyearbyen with 2400 residents releases as much microfiber into the ocean as Vancouver

Synthetic outdoor clothes and poor wastewater management cause the emissions.

Microplastic comes from car tyres, but people would rather say no to plastic packaging

The strong opinions that consumers have about plastic packaging are misplaced, one researcher says.

Seabed methane release follows the rhythm of the tides

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Methane is constantly being released from the seabed into the ocean. A recent study in the Arctic Ocean shows that this release follows pressure changes in the sea level related to daily lunar cycles.

How do we get people to eat less meat? We need a voice for ignored consumers

OPINION: Without a clear blueprint to engage consumers, addressing the challenges associated with high meat consumption will continue to be a dream that is discussed between the experts with little to no impact.

A handful of suitcases teach us how waves and sea ice interact, and improve weather and climate models

Waves marching through the sea ice is an amazing view. It is as if a white, snow-covered landscape suddenly starts gently undulating, the solid ground dancing rhythmically. The waves’ wildness from the open sea is tamed and dampened by the ice. Yet, the waves’ energy can break solid sea ice, greatly affecting sea ice drift, formation and melt. Hence, waves in ice are an important - yet not well understood - factor in the arctic physical environment.

Company plans to fully charge electric cars in 17.5 minutes

The technology company Beyonder has been given millions of euros in support from the EU to lead a European research project that will provide faster charging of electric cars, and take pressure off the power grid.

Truckers can help save money and the environment at the same time

Drivers who received initial eco-driving training and active follow-ups cut their diesel consumption by five to nine percent.

The benefits of probiotics could change the impact of dangerous bacteria in oceans

SHARE YOUR SCIENCE: Bacteria are everywhere. In a world hidden from our eyes, they are the major influencers in the environment and our body. Let’s dive deeper into bacteria roles and benefits.

Algae sinking into the abyss of the Arctic Ocean

Primary producers: ice algae and phytoplankton

Fish in the Arctic deformed by tiny amounts of oil contamination

Polar cod are very sensitive to crude oil contamination, a new study shows.

Where the Atlantic heat meets the Arctic cold

The ocean is not as endless as we often think it is. It is actually divided into different domains and regions, ranging from the freezing cold polar waters to the hot tropical regions. Within each of the domains, species have evolved to deal with the challenging conditions within their home domain.