Climate-ready crop

A team from the RIPE project has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions. This adaptation may provide greater food security for families dependent on potatoes, as these are often the same areas where the changing climate has already affected multiple crop seasons. Their work was recently published in Global Change Biology

How to Solve the US Homeowners Insurance Crisis

Clifford Rossi, formerly a senior risk executive for the likes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Citigroup and Washington Mutual, proposes a Federal Natural Hazard Insurance Corporation – a private-public approach to providing homeowners insurance across all natural hazards and states that would address myriad failures in today’s insurance market.

Tulane researcher available to talk about the climate-saving power of mangrove forests

Tulane University researcher Daniel Friess and his team work to unveil the critical role that mangrove forests play in the fight against climate change. Mangroves are shrubs or trees that grow mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves have…

Scientists Help Fish Harvesters Implement Adaptive Strategies to Climate Change

For hundreds of years, business owners engaged in New Jersey’s commercial fisheries industry have weathered adversity, from coastal storms to species shifts. Recognizing this resilience, and acknowledging the challenges posed by global climate change, Rutgers scientists have come to their assistance. One of the results of recent efforts is a guide that researchers have developed for marine businesses, A Resilience Checklist for New Jersey’s Commercial Fishing Industry.

New research highlights risks of selective adaptation in extreme coral habitats

Resilient corals, often referred to as ‘super corals’, have recently been seen as potential saviours in the face of climate change and its detrimental effects on coral reefs. Now, a team of scientists is working to better understand these corals in order to develop strategies to protect fragile ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.

Addressing adaptation inequalities in climate research

A new study proposes ways to better incorporate adaptation in climate change research, addressing the uneven distribution of adaptation capacities and needs worldwide.

Human-wildlife conflicts rising worldwide with climate change

New research shows that a warming world is increasing human-wildlife conflicts globally: Climate shifts can drive conflicts by altering animal habitats, the timing of events, wildlife behaviors and resource availability. It also showed that people are changing their behaviors and locations in response to climate change in ways that increase conflicts.

Revelation and Resilience After Superstorm Sandy: Experts Discuss Extreme Weather, Hurricane Ida and Impact on Climate Change

Rutgers has resources, experts and stories on the impacts for any of your Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Ida and climate-related coverage. Please let me know if you’d like to speak with an expert or discuss work and research related to climate…

Evolving to outpace climate change, tiny marine animal provides new evidence of long-theorized genetic mechanism

Some copepods, diminutive crustaceans with an outsized place in the aquatic food web, can evolve fast enough to survive in the face of rapid climate change, according to new research that addresses a longstanding question in the field of genetics. Barely more than a millimeter long, the copepod Eurytemora affinis paddles its way through the coastal waters of oceans and estuaries around the world in large numbers — mostly getting eaten by juvenile fish, like salmon, herring and anchovy.

Male dragonflies lose their ‘bling’ in hotter climates

A study led by Michael Moore at Washington University in St. Louis finds that dragonfly males have consistently evolved less breeding coloration in regions with hotter climates. The work reveals that mating-related traits can be just as important to how organisms adapt to their climates as survival-related traits.

UNH Research: More Than One Way for Animals to Survive Climate Change

Researchers at the University of New Hampshire found that to live in hotter more desert-like surroundings, and exist without water, there is more than one genetic mechanism allowing animals to adapt. This is important not only for their survival but may also provide important biomedical groundwork to develop gene therapies to treat human dehydration related illnesses, like kidney disease.

Climate change cut farming productivity growth 21% since 1960s

Despite important agricultural advancements to feed the world in the last 60 years, a Cornell University-led study shows that global farming productivity is 21% lower than it could have been without climate change. This is the equivalent of losing about seven years of farm productivity increases since the 1960s.

Under climate stress, human innovation set stage for population surge

Instead of a collapse amid dry conditions, development of agriculture and increasingly complex human social structures set the stage for a dramatic increase in human population in central plains of China around 3,900 to 3,500 years ago.

Coronavirus: a wake-up call to strengthen the global food system

A new commentary in the journal One Earth highlights not only climate-related risks to the global food system, such as drought and floods, but also exposes the coronavirus pandemic as a shock to the system that has led to food crises in many parts of the world. To address the challenges of a globally interconnected food system, a systems approach is required.

Humanity’s best hope for confronting the looming climate crisis rests with the new science of complexity. Roland Kupers offers insights in his new book, A Climate Policy Revolution: What the Science of Complexity Reveals about Saving Our Planet

Roland Kupers offers insights in his new book, A Climate Policy Revolution: What the Science of Complexity Reveals about Saving Our Planet Humanity’s best hope for confronting the looming climate crisis rests with the new science of complexity. The sheer…