Canvi climàtic

Part of Earth is always frozen and acts as a giant refrigerator for carbon

The price of homes is falling sharply in some northern regions of the planet. Why? Because the seemingly permanently frozen ground they were built on is now thawing. This has much more far-reaching implications for the climate, and could even spell defeat in the battle against global warming.

Alaska @en Climate change Expedition Fieldwork Global warming Mine Peat Peatlands Permafrost @en Sweden

The greening of the earth is approaching its limit

A new study published in Science reveals that the fertilizing effect of excess CO2 on vegetation is decreasing worldwide. The lack of water and nutrients limit the greening observed in recent years and can cause CO2 levels in the atmosphere to rise rapidly, temperatures to increase and there to be increasingly severe changes in the climate.

Climate change Co2 greening effect Fertilizing effect of co2 Greening of the earth Jordi sardans @en Josep peñuelas @en Songhan wang @en Yongguang zhang

The future of the Amazon rainforest, in the hands of the smallest trees

A new study, led by the University of Exeter with the participation of Maurizio Mencuccini, ICREA research professor in CREAF, suggests small trees adapt better to droughts and could grow into a new generation to help the rainforest survive.

Amazons Climate change Drought Ecophysiology Exester @en Functional ecology Functional traits Hydraulics Jungle Maurizio mencuccini @en Plant physiology Water stress

Climate change and population growth: key factors in the decline of Easter Island’s civilization

The collapse of civilizations has always attracted our attention: entire books, films and thousands of legends have been dedicated to it. What makes some human populations disappear and others not? Is it related to climate crises and pandemics like the current ones?

Climate change and civilization Climate change and easter islands Easter island’s civilization Olga margalef @en Rapa nui @en Sergi pla-rabes @en

New proposals to understand how the planet's vegetation works

An international team -where Josep Peñuelas has participated- explores the factors that most affect plant behavior and how they can be included in predictive models to improve them. The result, published in Nature Plants wants to improve understanding of the global carbon cycle and ecosystem services and their future if forests change due to climate change.

Climate change Forests Global carbon cicle Global change Plants Predictive models Vegetation Vegetation dynamics