Julie Swatson

Waterloo

Writer at Environmental News Network

Featured in: Favicon

enn.com

Articles

When Earth Iced Over, Early Life May Have Sheltered in Meltwater Ponds

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 20 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode Modern-day analogs in Antarctica reveal ponds teeming with life similar to early multicellular organisms. Modern-day analogs in Antarctica reveal ponds teeming with life similar to early multicellular organisms. When the Earth froze over, where did life shelter? MIT scientists say one refuge may have been pools of melted ice that dotted the planet’s icy surface. In a study appearing today in Nature Communications, the researchers...
Steering Magnetic Textures With Electric Fields

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 20 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode Researchers at the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source SINQ at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have demonstrated an innovative method to control magnetism in materials using an energy-efficient electric field. Researchers at the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source SINQ at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have demonstrated an innovative method to control magnetism in materials using an energy-efficient electric field. The discovery focuses...
Little Researched Current Impacting on Winter Sea Ice in the Arctic

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 20 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode A research team from the Alfred Wegener Institute has for the first time gained insights into a current in the Barents Sea which affects Arctic sea ice. A research team from the Alfred Wegener Institute has for the first time gained insights into a current in the Barents Sea which affects Arctic sea ice. In the last few decades, the Arctic sea ice has receded ever further, including increasingly in winter when the extent of sea...
Some of Your AI Prompts Could Cause 50 Times More CO2 Emissions Than Others

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 19 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode Every query typed into a large language model (LLM), such as ChatGPT, requires energy and produces CO2 emissions. Every query typed into a large language model (LLM), such as ChatGPT, requires energy and produces CO2 emissions. Emissions, however, depend on the model, the subject matter, and the user. Researchers have now compared 14 models and found that complex answers cause more emissions than simple answers, and that models...
AI Paves the Way Towards Green Cement

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 19 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode The cement industry produces around eight percent of global CO₂ emissions – more than the entire aviation sector worldwide. The cement industry produces around eight percent of global CO₂ emissions – more than the entire aviation sector worldwide. Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI have developed an AI-based model that helps to accelerate the discovery of new cement formulations that could yield the same material...
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North?

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 19 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode A warmer world is expected to bring more thunderstorms, especially at higher latitudes. A warmer world is expected to bring more thunderstorms, especially at higher latitudes. Scientists are now reporting a dramatic surge in lightning in the Far North and are scrambling to parse how this could affect wildfires, the chemistry of the atmosphere, and Arctic ecosystems. In August 2019, something bizarre happened in the Far North: A...
Earth’s Clouds on the Move

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 17 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode For much of his career, George Tselioudis, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has analyzed decades of satellite observations to understand where clouds occur, whether their distribution has changed, and how changes might affect Earth’s energy budget and climate. For much of his career, George Tselioudis, a researcher at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has analyzed decades of satellite...
Seasonal Breakup in the Amundsen Gulf

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 17 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode In the early 1900s, polar explorer Roald Amundsen led the first successful expedition across the Northwest Passage. In the early 1900s, polar explorer Roald Amundsen led the first successful expedition across the Northwest Passage. The sinuous seaway winds through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and can dramatically shorten the journey between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Amundsen’s ship and crew emerged from the archipelago...
Scientists’ New Blueprint Integrates Rewilding and Agriculture to Tackle Biodiversity Crisis

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 17 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode Setting aside at least 20% of agricultural landscapes for rewilding and adopting wildlife friendly practices on remaining farmland could reverse biodiversity declines while maintaining food production. Setting aside at least 20% of agricultural landscapes for rewilding and adopting wildlife friendly practices on remaining farmland could reverse biodiversity declines while maintaining food production. That is according to...
Fire and Agriculture Drive Soil Degradation in the Southern Brazilian Amazon

1 week ago | enn.com | Julie Swatson

Details 17 June 2025 Typography Font Size Default Reading Mode Study shows that carbon and nitrogen losses from the soil persist for nearly a decade after burning, and conversion to agriculture causes even more severe impacts. Study shows that carbon and nitrogen losses from the soil persist for nearly a decade after burning, and conversion to agriculture causes even more severe impacts. Frequent forest fires and agricultural expansion are degrading soil health in the southern Brazilian...