Weatherology

"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates #nature #knowledge #life

Industrial waste gases have long been vilified as climate change culprits, but a?recent study led by Professor Jhuma Sadhukhan?at the University of Surrey offers a twist in the tale. In a first-of-its-kind investigation under the Flue2Chem initiative, researchers traced the entire life cycle of converting CO? emissions from steel and paper mills into chemical components for everyday products like shampoo, detergent, and even fuel. The study, published in the Journal of CO? Utilization, reveals that repurposing #waste #carbondioxide cuts global warming potential dramatically—by around 82% for paper mill #emissions and nearly 50% for the steel #industry when compared with traditional fossil-based surfactant production. This innovative process offers a promising route toward achieving net zero carbon emission targets. Professor Jin Xuan, Associate Dean of Research and Innovation at Surrey and co-author of the study, sums it up: “For decades, fossil fuels have been the backbone of manufacturing, not just as an energy source but as a key component in the products we use daily... Our findings show that waste CO? can be part of the solution rather than the problem.” Despite the positive environmental impact, the journey isn’t without challenges. Life cycle assessments underline significant hurdles, such as high costs and limited hydrogen supply—an essential ingredient in converting CO? into surfactants.?Another University of Surrey-led study?found that CO?-derived products currently cost around $8/kg, compared to $3.75/kg for their fossil-based counterparts. This price gap is attributed to the energy-intensive nature of the process, emphasizing the need for further investment in #renewable energy infrastructure. Nonetheless, with the global #consumer products industries?valued at $7.5 trillion in 2024, the transition to sustainable chemical manufacturing holds enormous potential. By transforming industrial waste into building blocks for everyday essentials, this research not only cuts emissions but also offers a blueprint for a more circular, sustainable economy. #chemistry

Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised. #nature #mindset #entrepreneur #life

Exactly 100 years ago America's #deadliest tornado, the Tri-State #Tornado of March 1925 raced its way through the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.?The 695 lives lost in the #storm is still the highest fatality count from any single tornado in the U.S. The Tri-State Tornado also holds the record for the highest forward speed of any major tornado, 73 miles per hour, and longest duration, 3.5 hours. In recent years, another Tri-State Tornado superlative has received extensive further study from a group led by Dr. Charles A. Doswell III. Investigating the tornado’s 219-mile-long damage path was one of the main focuses of this study. In the intervening decades since 1925, knowledge about tornadoes has vastly increased. One behavior that some tornado-producing #supercell #thunderstorms display is the ability to produce a “family” of tornadoes with a gap of only a few miles between successive tornadoes. To find out whether the Tri-State Tornado was a single tornado or family of tornadoes, the #research team conducted interviews with living eyewitnesses of the storm, scoured through local newspaper and magazine accounts from the era, as well as analyzing plat maps, photographs, and films of its aftermath. They found that there were no significant gaps in the damage reports for a path of at least 151 miles. Near the two ends of a 235-mile long path in Missouri and Indiana, there are gaps and changes in damage path direction that suggest a separate tornado had done the damage in these locations. Even so, the bare minimum 151-mile-long path still puts the Tri-State Tornado in first place for the longest damage path, and even though there were some gaps, the original figure of a 219-mile long path is not out of the question either. Additionally, the study determined that the Tri-State storm started as a classic supercell, with the heaviest precipitation to the north of the tornado. However, once it entered southern Illinois, the storm transitioned into a HP (high precipitation) supercell with heavy rain and hail nearly wrapping around the tornado, largely obscuring it from view. This is similar to other deadly tornadoes like the 2011 EF5 Joplin, MO tornado. #wxhistory #severeweather

Travel before you run out of time. #nature #purpose #travel #life

Humankind doesn't have a monopoly on shaping the world around us, #animals also are master architects of the #natural world. A recent study led by Professor Gemma Harvey of Queen Mary University of London, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that over 600 species actively shape the landscapes we depend on. From vast termite mounds visible from space to hippos carving drainage systems and beavers creating entire wetlands, nature’s engineers are hard at work. The study identified 603 #species, genera, or families that drive Earth’s surface processes. Tiny ants shift soil, while salmon reshape riverbeds—together, these animals contribute an estimated 76,000 gigajoules of energy annually, a force comparable to hundreds of thousands of extreme floods. Though impressive, this figure is likely conservative given significant research gaps in biodiverse tropical regions. Surprisingly, #freshwater ecosystems—covering just 2.4% of the planet’s surface—host over one-third of these influential species. Beyond the more well-known examples, the research spotlights a diverse array of insects, mammals, fish, birds, and reptiles that subtly and powerfully mold our #environment. “This research shows that the role of animals in shaping Earth's landscapes is much more significant than previously recognized,” explains Professor Harvey. As almost 30% of the identified species are rare, endemic, or threatened, their essential landscape changing contributions could vanish before their full impact is understood. These insights not only highlight nature’s #engineering feats but also offer promising pathways for #conservation and #ecosystem restoration. Rewilding and species reintroduction projects—such as the reintroduction of beavers to restore wetlands—could harness these natural processes to combat erosion and flooding, ultimately promoting healthier, more resilient landscapes. #Ecology

The mind is like water. When it's turbulent, it's difficult to see. When it's calm, everything becomes clear. #nature #mindset #emotionalintelligence #life

A century of #fire suppression, coupled with global warming and drought, has paved the way for increasingly destructive #wildfires across the Western United States. #Forest managers have long employed methods such as prescribed burns, thinning, mastication, and piling and burning to reduce the accumulation of fuels—everything from live and dead trees to needles, leaves, and branches. These techniques aim to lower fuel levels, reduce crown density, and protect fire-resistant trees, ultimately fostering healthier, more resilient forests. Yet, despite these efforts, prescribed burns have not kept pace with the rapid buildup of surface fuels, creating a “fire deficit” that heightens the risk of severe wildfires. Moreover, while controlled burns are essential for fuel management, they can sometimes escape control, degrade #airquality, and pose serious health risks—issues that have already contributed to respiratory illnesses and even fatalities in regions like the Pacific Northwest. Adding to these challenges, human activities such as deforestation and logging—combined with pests, drought, and high-severity wildfires—diminish forests’ natural ability to absorb and store #carbon, a critical factor in mitigating #climatechange. Indigenous peoples have long managed these landscapes through controlled, low-severity burns and sustainable harvesting practices. Building on this legacy, researchers are now exploring the physical harvesting of dead wood without combustion as a dual strategy to reduce wildfire risks and lower carbon emissions. Scientists from Florida Atlantic University simulated?eight forest management treatments in the Sierra Nevada, including thinning, physical removal of surface fuels, and prescribed burning—alone and in combination. Their findings indicate that coupling physical harvesting with thinning significantly reduces wildfire risks and tree mortality while lowering carbon emissions through the production of biochar, a stable carbon-storing product which has a wide array of applications from agriculture, to building materials, to water filtration. This approach could restore resilient forests and generate valuable carbon credits, offering a promising pathway for future wildfire management. #forestry

"Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience." #nature #patience #goals #mindset #life

In a breakthrough study published in Science Advances, #climate scientists from Utrecht University and the University of Manchester have brought fresh clarity to a long-standing debate: What truly ended the reign of the dinosaurs? While massive volcanic eruptions on the Indian peninsula once seemed a likely culprit, the new evidence points squarely to the Chicxulub #meteorite impact as the ultimate cause. Researchers analyzed fossilized molecules preserved in ancient peat deposits from the United States. These bacterial #biomarkers, whose structures shift with temperature, allowed the team to reconstruct a detailed “temperature timeline” of Earth’s climate around 66 million years ago. Their findings show that a significant #volcanic eruption occurred about 30,000 years before the meteorite impact, cooling the climate by nearly 5° Celsius as volcanic sulfur emissions blocked sunlight. However, the cooling was only temporary. By roughly 20,000 years before the impact, temperatures had rebounded to levels similar to those before the volcanic events began. The meteorite impact near the Yucatan Peninsula triggered a cascade of disasters—wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and a prolonged “impact winter” that devastated ecosystems. In contrast to the earlier volcanic phase, this singular, cataclysmic event appears to have been the primary driver behind the mass #extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. This study not only tilts the scales in favor of the meteorite impact theory but also highlights the power of molecular #fossils in decoding Earth’s climatic past. As scientists continue to refine these techniques, new insights into other pivotal moments in our planet’s history are sure to emerge. #paleoclimate