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Daily Mail
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Dengue fever could head for Britain thanks to climate change
Experts from the University of Montpellier say that climate change could create the perfect conditions for the Asian tiger mosquito – the insect that transmits the virus – in Western Europe. Their models suggest that rising temperatures could spark outbreaks in cities including London, Vienna, Strasburg, and Frankfurt. Worryingly, this could happen within a matter of years, according to the team. The virus is transmitted by the Asian tiger mosquito, which lays its eggs in water where, with sufficient temperature, larvae develop and give rise to flying bloodsucking adults. While this species is usually found in the tropics and sub–tropics, it is slowly but surely making its way across Europe. The Asian tiger mosquito was first reported in Albania in 1979, and has since spread through Southwest Europe. Now, using modeling and observations of recent spread, the researchers have revealed where it could spread to next. According to their analysis, under the right climate change conditions, major cities like London, Vienna, Strasburg, and Frankfurt will soon be 'well suited' to the Asian tiger mosquito. Although the species is not in these cities yet, its rate or northward spread in France has been accelerating from about 6km (3.7 miles) per year in 2006 to 20km (12.4 miles) per year in 2024. This suggests that the mosquito could thrive in northern France by 2035 – and could reach London shortly after.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Dramatic slowdown in melting of Arctic sea ice surprises scientists
The melting of sea ice in the Arctic has slowed dramatically in the past 20 years, scientists have reported, with no statistically significant decline in its extent since 2005. The finding is surprising, the researchers say, given that carbon emissions from fossil fuel burning have continued to rise and trap ever more heat over that time. They said natural variations in ocean currents that limit ice melting had probably balanced out the continuing rise in global temperatures. However, they said this was only a temporary reprieve and melting was highly likely to start again at about double the long-term rate at some point in the next five to 10 years. The findings do not mean Arctic sea ice is rebounding. Sea ice area in September, when it reaches its annual minimum, has halved since 1979, when satellite measurements began. The climate crisis remains 'unequivocally real', the scientists said, and the need for urgent action to avoid the worst impacts remains unchanged. The natural variation causing the slowdown is probably the multi-decadal fluctuations in currents in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which change the amount of warmed water flowing into the Arctic. The Arctic is still expected to see ice-free conditions later in the century, harming people and wildlife in the region and boosting global heating by exposing the dark, heat-absorbing ocean. Dr Mark England, who led the study while at the University of Exeter, said: 'It is surprising, when there is a current debate about whether global warming is accelerating, that we're talking about a slowdown. 'The good news is that 10 to 15 years ago when sea ice loss was accelerating, some people were talking about an ice-free Arctic before 2020. But now the [natural] variability has switched to largely cancelling out sea ice loss. It has bought us a bit more time but it is a temporary reprieve – when it ends, it isn't good news.' The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, used two different datasets of Arctic sea ice levels from 1979 to the present day. The scientists analysed the sea ice area for every month of the year and the slowdown was seen in all cases. To see if such a slowdown could be a result of natural variation, they examined the results of thousands of climate model runs. 'This is not an extremely rare event – over a century, it should happen a couple of times,' said England, now at the University of California, Irvine. Furthermore, all the simulations showed sea ice loss accelerating again after the slowdown. Prof Julienne Stroeve, of University College London, said: 'We know climate records, be it in global temperatures or sea ice, can remain the same for several years in a row as a result of internal climate variability.' Stroeve's analysis of the long-term trend from 1979 to 2024 shows that about 2.5 sq metres of September ice is lost for every tonne of CO2 emitted. Sign up to Down to Earth The planet's most important stories. Get all the week's environment news - the good, the bad and the essential after newsletter promotion Prof Andrew Shepherd, of Northumbria University, said: 'We know that the Arctic sea ice pack is also thinning, and so even if the area was not reducing, the volume still is. Our data show that since 2010 the average October thickness has fallen by 0.6cm per year.' The rate of the rise in global surface temperature has also slowed down in the past, before resuming a rapid rise. A major El Niño event in 1998 was followed by a decade or so of similar global temperatures, which was nicknamed 'the pause'. However, the planet continued to accumulate heat throughout and global temperatures have since risen rapidly. England rejected any suggestion the sea ice slowdown suggested climate change was not real. 'Climate change is unequivocally real, human-driven, and continues to pose serious threats. The fundamental science and urgency for climate action remain unchanged,' he said. 'It is good to explain to people that [the slowdown] is happening, else they are going to hear it from someone who is trying to use it in bad faith as a way to undermine our very solid understanding of what's happening with climate change.'
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Scientists find carbon monoxide antidote that could treat poisoning within minutes
Scientists have engineered a molecule that shows promise as the world's first fast-acting antidote for carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning, accounting for nearly 30,000 deaths globally each year. It mainly occurs when the gas from generators or vehicles builds up in poorly ventilated spaces. The gas is also a common contributing factor to deaths from building and forest fires. Carbon monoxide binds strongly with haemoglobin in the blood, preventing the molecule from performing its role of transporting oxygen in the body. Currently, the only available treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning involves giving patients 100 per cent pure oxygen, sometimes under pressure in a hyperbaric chamber. But even with this treatment about half of survivors suffer long-term heart and brain damage, highlighting the need for faster, more effective therapies. Despite a high death rate and long-term complications among survivors there are currently no specific antidotes available to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, the researchers noted in their study published in the journal PNAS. In the study, scientists engineered a protein-based molecule called RcoM-HBD-CCC, which soaks up carbon monoxide from the blood like a sponge. The molecule uses a natural protein called RcoM, or regulator of metabolism, which the bacterium Paraburkholderia xenovorans produces to sense minute levels of carbon monoxide. It is known to bind to carbon monoxide without interfering with oxygen or other important molecules in the body. Researchers particularly focused on engineering carbon monoxide 'scavengers,' which are proteins with a similar structure to haemoglobin that bind even more strongly to carbon monoxide, and less so with oxygen. They found that their scavenger molecule RcoM-HBD-CCC bound strongly to carbon monoxide molecules, reducing the time it takes to clear half of the carbon monoxide in the blood to less than a minute, compared to pure oxygen therapy, which takes more than an hour. Scientists showed that the new therapy could quickly remove carbon monoxide from red blood cells in mice and was then safely flushed out of their bodies via urine. 'Unlike other protein-based treatments, we found the compound caused only minimal changes in blood pressure, which was an exciting finding and raised the potential for this new molecule to have clinical applications,' says Mark Gladwin, an author of the study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. 'This has the potential to become a rapid, intravenous antidote for carbon monoxide that could be given in the emergency department or even in the field by first-responders,' Dr Gladwin says. Scientists hope to conduct further pre-clinical research to determine the safe and effective dosage range for RcoM-HBD-CCC in treating carbon monoxide poisoning.
