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Quantum quirk explains why carbon dioxide causes global warming

13 February 2024

A phenomenon called the Fermi resonance, which affects how molecules vibrate, is responsible for a large part of carbon dioxide’s planet-warming effect


We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

We are finally closing in on the cosmic origins of the “OMG particle”

30 May 2023

Three decades ago, we spotted the single most energetic particle ever seen, nicknamed the 'Oh-My-God particle'. Since then, we have seen many more ultra-high-energy cosmic rays – and now we are unravelling the mystery of what produces them


Mysterious sounds in stratosphere can't be traced to any known source

11 May 2023

Solar-powered balloons floating 20 kilometres above ground have recorded inaudible low-frequency signals that have so far not been traced back to any known source


Ozone-destroying CFC chemicals are on the rise again despite ban

3 April 2023

The production of CFCs was banned globally in 2010, but researchers have detected rising levels of five CFC chemicals from unknown sources


Empty street in London

Puzzling methane rise in 2020 linked to pandemic lockdown effects

14 December 2022

A spike in the greenhouse gas methane in 2020 may be explained in part by a drop in nitrogen oxide emissions during the covid-19 pandemic


How do humans affect the nitrogen cycle?

How do humans affect the nitrogen cycle?

22 November 2021

How modern life is causing catastrophic changes to the delicate balance of nitrogen in the air


orange-colored troposphere

Lowest level of the atmosphere getting thicker due to climate change

5 November 2021

The lowest level of the atmosphere, called the troposphere, has been growing warmer and gaining thickness at a rate of 53 metres per decade since 2000


Aircraft contrails are a climate menace. Can we rid the sky of them?

Aircraft contrails are a climate menace. Can we rid the sky of them?

17 March 2021

The wispy cloud trails left by aircraft cause more warming than the carbon emissions from their fuel. Now there might be a simple way to stop them forming


Earth

Most life on Earth will be killed by lack of oxygen in a billion years

1 March 2021

One billion years from now, Earth’s atmosphere is projected to contain a million times less oxygen than today, making it uninhabitable to complex aerobic life


Sunlight could power micro-aircraft flying above the stratosphere

Sunlight could power micro-aircraft flying above the stratosphere

12 February 2021

The mesosphere – the atmospheric layer 50 to 80km above the ground – is out of bounds to normal aircraft, but millimetre-sized devices could fly there powered by sunlight


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