Open access notables
Back in April of 2020 Chi Xu et al. captivated some public attention with their paper Future of the human climate niche, which explained a reasonable case for its startling conclusion about routine habitability of large parts of our planet now supporting dense populations. Now come the same researchers along with added talent to refine and extend those results, and the news isn t getting better. Quantifying the human cost of global warming paints a grim picture. Here are our stakes in play, as reflected in the abstract:
Open access notables
Multiple studies indicate changes in the properties of Antarctic bottom water (AABW) over the past half century. These changes involve density and hence will affect both local and distant circulation of the oceans, not least overturning effects that are vital for marine biology but also climate and weather far distant from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. While we can see what s happening, our understanding of what s driving change is incomplete. By synthesizing multiple observational channels in a uniquely suitable region, Kathryn Gunn et al. produce an important increment in our understanding of what s perturbing this system in Recent reduced abyssal overturning and ventilation in the Australian Antarctic Basin, just published in Nature Climate Change. It looks as though glacial meltwater is an growingly important factor. The paper confirms and extends prior indication that substantial change is occurring in Antarctic bottom waters. This a
Open access notables
Visiting online haunts of climate science rejectionists reveals a nexus of anxieties in some sections of the public: climate change and population migration. Judging from connections formed in headlines and article texts, one could easily conclude that readers fears are being exploited; it s not hard to find content implying that the concept of climate change is a subterfuge to justify opening borders to foreigners. Given what we know of developing physical effects of climate change, it may seem intuitively obvious that growing pressures on populations can lead affected people to upping stakes and trying to escape increasingly poor living conditions. What s the reality of the situation? It s not entirely clear, according to Tabitha Watson et al., publishing in Climate Resileince and Sustainability and offering their literature survey The climate change, conflict and migration nexus: A holistic view. The authors find a picture that is larg