A team around Nils Christiansen published a research paper about the impacts offshore wind farms have on the ocean dynamics. The moderation of the windspeed and associated changes in the physical conditions of the affected North Sea areas embody the main focus of the study. Just as the wind turbines create obstacles for water and air. The effects are vastly important regarding the schedule for further offshore wind farms. The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.

The 2022 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement – often regarded as the ‘Nobel Prize for the Environment’ – has been awarded to British physician Sir Andy Haines, one of the first scientists to sound the alarm that changes to the natural environment have dangerous implications for human health.

Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14% by 2030, 30% by the end of 2050 and 50% by the end of the century, warns a new UN report. It calls for radical change in government spending on wildfires, shifting from reaction and response to prevention and preparedness. The report precedes the opening of this year's UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), 28 Feb - 2 Mar, Nairobi.

Researchers simulated the warmer, wetter conditions predicted for northern Europe under climate change, by locally heating agricultural fields by 1.5 ºC and increasing irrigation by 40%. These conditions immediately lead to changes in the community of wildflowers and their associated insects. Most plant species were ‘losers’: they grew fewer flowers, secreted less nectar, and set fewer or lighter seeds. This reduced the food resources for pollinators, stimulating them to visit a wider range of plants.

Potential widespread effects of geoengineering on both climate and the carbon cycle