A new study with ETH Zurich, finds that if global warming exceeds the Paris Climate Agreement targets, the non-polar glacier mass will diminish significantly. However, if warming is limited to 1.5°C, at least 54 per cent could be preserved—more than twice as much ice as in a 2.7°C scenario.
Organic particles that settle on the seabed ensure CO2 stays locked. However, natural gel-like substances slow down this process. Such microscale mechanisms play a crucial role in enhancing climate predictions.
Marine bacteria control how much CO2 is stored in the oceans, by swimming after and degrading sinking particles that would otherwise remain stored in the ocean for millennia. Researchers have discovered that some bacteria can swim for several days without food while searching for these particles, losing body weight in the process. Understanding how marine bacteria do this may lead to a better prediction of marine carbon storage capacity and climate mitigation.
If you want to make a contribution to solving the increasingly urgent challenges in the environmental and climate field, the IfU is the right place for you. Research and practice are brought together in our Environmental Engineering course.
