Scientists

January 1, 2021

The science stories likely to make headlines in 2021

Science News Staff

PATRICK T. FALLON/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

Climate Narratives, Climate Change, COVID-19, Future, Scientists, uncertainty

As biomedical scientists continue to battle the deadly pandemic this year to help the world return to normalcy, researchers across the disciplines still aim to hit big milestones or launch new projects despite the challenges brought by COVID-19. European scientists will also have to contend with the aftermath of Brexit. Many U.S. scientists, in contrast, have a more hopeful political outlook, with some likely to play an invigorated role in tackling another global crisis, climate change, after President-elect Joe Biden, who has vowed to make it a top priority, is sworn in this month. In this article, Science’s news staff forecasts areas of research and policy we expect to make headlines this year, from protecting the high seas’ biodiversity to probing how ancient humans interacted.

December 10, 2020

Shift to a Not-So-Frozen North Is Well Underway, Scientists Warn

Henry Fountain

Video by Trent L. Schindler/NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio

Arctic, Climate Change, Ice melt, Ice-mass Loss, Impacts, risk factor, Scientists

“There is no reason to think that in 30 years much of anything will be as it is today,” one of the editors of a new report on the Arctic climate said.

December 6, 2020

A warning on climate and the risk of societal collapse

Climate Scientists

EPA

Climate Change, risk, Scenarios, Scientists, Societal Collapse, Worst-case Scenario

As scientists and scholars from around the world, we call on policymakers to engage with the risk of disruption and even collapse of societies. After five years failing to reduce emissions in line with the Paris climate accord, we must now face the consequences. While bold and fair efforts to cut emissions and naturally drawdown carbon are essential, researchers in many areas consider societal collapse a credible scenario this century. Different views exist on the location, extent, timing, permanence and cause of disruptions, but the way modern societies exploit people and nature is a common concern.

November 20, 2020

NASA has a mind-blowing plan to map rising sea levels from space

Susan Karlin

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Climate Change, Future, Scientists, Sea-level Rise, Technology

The Sentinel-6 will see details that previous sea level missions couldn’t. Existing satellites can track large phenomena stretching thousands of miles, such as the Gulf Stream and weather patterns like El Niño and La Niña. But smaller sea-level fluctuations near coastlines exceed their abilities. Sentinel-6’s higher resolution measurements will enable researchers to see finer, more complicated ocean features, especially near shorelines. It will also offer faster data turnarounds—collecting, processing, and releasing data within three hours, down from months and years. The data can be used to more quickly and accurately predict, map, and 3D model coastline changes; weather, such as hurricane intensity; ocean current fluctuations, which dissipate climate energy; and ocean topography and circulation, as movement of heat, salt, pollution, and nutrients impacts marine ecosystems.

November 17, 2020

An oath for climate scientists: speak truth to power, and take personal action for climate change

Elizabeth Perry

NASA Goddard Flight Space Centre

Climate Narratives, Scientists

Scientists for Global Responsibility, a U.K.-based organization, has launched a new initiative with an Open Letter in The Guardian on November 7, stating: “Science has no higher purpose than to understand and help maintain the conditions for life to thrive on Earth. We may look beyond our planet with wonder and learn, but this is our only viable home.” The online campaign asks the world’s climate scientists to sign an Oath, modelled on the Hippocratic Oath for physicians, by which they “pledge to act in whatever ways we are able, in our lives and work, to prevent catastrophic climate disruption.”

Categories

The science stories likely to make headlines in 2021

Shift to a Not-So-Frozen North Is Well Underway, Scientists Warn

A warning on climate and the risk of societal collapse

NASA has a mind-blowing plan to map rising sea levels from space

An oath for climate scientists: speak truth to power, and take personal action for climate change

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