Rice feeds billions of people—but its role in fueling climate change is growing
Rice feeds more than half the world. From terraced paddies in Southeast Asia to irrigated fields in China and India, it underpins daily meals for billions of people.
Carbon flux, in the context of biogeochemical topics, denotes the rate at which carbon in its various chemical forms (e.g., CO₂, CH₄, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon, particulate organic carbon) is transferred per unit area and time between reservoirs such as the atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere, oceans, and lithosphere. It encompasses processes including photosynthetic uptake, respiration, decomposition, combustion, weathering, ocean–atmosphere gas exchange, and sedimentation. Quantification of carbon fluxes, typically in units like g C m⁻² yr⁻¹, is central to constraining carbon budgets, modeling the global carbon cycle, and assessing feedbacks in climate system research.
Rice feeds more than half the world. From terraced paddies in Southeast Asia to irrigated fields in China and India, it underpins daily meals for billions of people.
Earth Sciences
May 22, 2026
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Old oil and gas wells may continue to affect the environment long after they have stopped producing, with new field evidence showing that their leakage footprint can be broader and more persistent than surface methane measurements ...
Earth Sciences
May 20, 2026
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The world's forests form a vast network of carbon reservoirs, keeping carbon sequestered from the atmosphere where its presence is disrupting Earth's climate systems. Many corporate, national and state climate policies rely ...
Environment
May 20, 2026
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Can "snow" fall in the ocean and influence the climate of the entire planet? It turns out that it can. Research conducted by scientists from the Faculty of Physics at University of Warsaw, published in the Journal of Fluid ...
Earth Sciences
May 14, 2026
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Tropical forests store more than 60% of the world's vegetation biomass and are among the most important ecosystems for regulating the global carbon cycle and climate. However, their regulatory role is greatly influenced by ...
Earth Sciences
May 13, 2026
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Photosynthesis is the oldest carbon-capture technology on Earth. For eons, plants have pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locked carbon—the building block of life on our planet—into their bodies and roots.
Environment
May 11, 2026
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We replaced the stove with plywood, turning the kitchen of the dive boat into an impromptu research lab. Plugging in wires and connecting tubing, we assembled a scientific instrument within the cramped cabin. Then we cast ...
Earth Sciences
May 9, 2026
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The biological productivity of the Southern Ocean in the summertime is substantially greater than many previous estimates have suggested, according to new airborne research by the U.S. National Science Foundation National ...
Earth Sciences
May 6, 2026
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For generations, the mild and temperate climate of northwestern Europe has been credited to one legendary force: the Gulf Stream. This idea is so deeply entrenched in our cultural identity that in James Joyce's Ulysses, the ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2026
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Rising sea levels could do more than flood coastlines. Research from Missouri University of Science and Technology shows they may also trigger the release of large amounts of carbon stored in coastal ecosystems into the atmosphere.
Earth Sciences
May 4, 2026
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