Air pollution exposure linked to higher COVID-19 cases and deaths – new study

Jul 14, 2020 09:51 am UTC| Nature

The global death toll from COVID-19 has now passed half a million. To slow the spread of the disease, we need to better understand why some places have higher numbers of cases and deaths than others. One factor that...

Gold mining leaves deforested Amazon land barren for years, find scientists

Jul 02, 2020 15:52 pm UTC| Nature

Travel through the rainforest in Guyana, in northern South America, and youll often hear the indigenous adage: a forest has no end and no beginning to explain their natural cycle of disturbance and recovery. For the people...

Our laws failed these endangered flying-foxes at every turn. On Saturday, Cairns council will put another nail in the coffin

Jul 02, 2020 15:39 pm UTC| Nature

On Saturday, Cairns Regional Council will disperse up to 8,000 endangered spectacled flying-foxes from their nationally important camp in central Cairns. The camp is one of the last major strongholds of the species,...

Days with both extreme heat and extreme air pollution are becoming more common – which can't be a good thing for global health

Jun 26, 2020 07:13 am UTC| Nature

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work. The big idea Days of extreme high heat and extreme air pollution are both increasing worldwide. Last November, New Delhi experienced a week of the...

How deforestation helps deadly viruses jump from animals to humans

Jun 26, 2020 07:13 am UTC| Nature

The coronavirus pandemic, suspected of originating in bats and pangolins, has brought the risk of viruses that jump from wildlife to humans into stark focus. These leaps often happens at the edges of the worlds tropical...

Can Asia end its uncontrolled consumption of wildlife? Here's how North America did it a century ago

Jun 21, 2020 12:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

It was a dark time for animals. Poaching was rampant. Wild birds and mammals were being slaughtered by the thousands. An out-of-control wildlife trade was making once-common animals hard to find and pushing rare species...

Huge locust swarms are threatening food security, but drones could help stop them

Jun 21, 2020 11:24 am UTC| Nature

In recent months, food security concerns have emerged for nations across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, as swarms of desert locusts wreak havoc on crops. While the same level of damage isnt currently being felt in...