New study highlights expansion of drylands amidst impact of climate change
Nearly half of the world's land surface is now classified as drylands and these areas are accelerating their own proliferation, according to new research.
Nearly half of the world's land surface is now classified as drylands and these areas are accelerating their own proliferation, according to new research.
Environment
Aug 30, 2024
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A new chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that dominate the waste stream today and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics.
Polymers
Aug 29, 2024
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A new study sheds light on the vital role that the mixing of Atlantic and Arctic waters plays in sustaining the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is crucial for regulating Earth's climate.
Environment
Aug 29, 2024
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49
Crowds flocking to rivers and streams over Labor Day weekend are doing more than cooling off and having fun. They're temporarily introducing chemicals and microscopic organisms into their local waterways, according to new ...
Environment
Aug 29, 2024
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Testing for levels of microplastic contamination in marine plankton aims to help develop new ways to assess and manage the rising global pollution problem, Flinders University experts say.
Environment
Aug 28, 2024
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A new applied mathematical theory could enhance our understanding of how sea ice affects global climate, potentially improving the accuracy of climate predictions.
Mathematics
Aug 27, 2024
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233
Researchers have made a discovery in the field of water pollution control. They have developed a new technique using single-atom catalysts (SACs) within a Fenton-like catalytic system that significantly improves the efficiency ...
Analytical Chemistry
Aug 27, 2024
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121
A new study finds more than half of adults surveyed worldwide expect to be seriously harmed by their water within the next two years. Led by global health experts at Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina ...
Environment
Aug 26, 2024
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Manganese ferrite nanoparticles could lead to a substantial surge in the availability of drinking water globally when used to modify the filtering sheets currently used in water treatment plants, according to scientists.
Nanomaterials
Aug 26, 2024
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39
A new species of Antarctic dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or Banded Dragonfish, has been discovered in waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula by researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). ...
Ecology
Aug 31, 2024
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3
Water is a ubiquitous chemical substance, composed of hydrogen and oxygen, that is essential for the survival of many known forms of life. In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Saltwater oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes and ponds 0.6%. A very small amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products. Other water is trapped in ice caps, glaciers, aquifers, or in lakes, sometimes providing fresh water for life on land.
Water moves continually through a cycle of evaporation or transpiration (evapotranspiration), precipitation, and runoff, usually reaching the sea. Winds carry water vapor over land at the same rate as runoff into the sea. Over land, evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land.
Clean, fresh drinking water is essential to human and other lifeforms. Access to safe drinking water has improved steadily and substantially over the last decades in almost every part of the world. There is a clear correlation between access to safe water and GDP per capita. However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability. Water plays an important role in the world economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling and transportation. Approximately 70 percent of freshwater is consumed by agriculture.
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