Dense evergreen forests in Canada’s snow-covered boreal regions can absorb enough sunlight to offset 6 to 20 percent of their reported carbon benefit, according to a new publication by the UN University. Researchers warn that Canada’s carbon accounting largely overlooks this warming effect, potentially overstating the climate value of reforestation and carbon credits. They call for a new Net Cooling Standard that accounts for surface reflectivity, wildfire risk and long-term carbon storage, while prioritizing mixed-species forests that deliver more durable climate cooling.

Over the past 230,000 years, the growth and retreat of the Icelandic ice sheet have led to major changes in the seawater chemistry of the North Atlantic, caused by the interaction between volcanism and ice in Iceland. Scientists at the Institute of Environmental Physics at Heidelberg University have demonstrated this using sediment cores from the northeastern Atlantic – the Rockall Plateau. The researchers analyzed the isotopic composition of the rare-earth element neodymium in these drill cores. According to their findings, the isotopic signal fluctuated significantly over the course of glacial and interglacial periods, following the “rhythm” of the ice ages, as shown by the studies led by Prof. Dr. Norbert Frank.