Richard Schiffman

Oct 23, 2024 | e360.yale.edu | Richard Schiffman

In the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, meteorologists have faced an unprecedented wave of threats and harassment, according to James Marshall Shepherd, a former NASA weather scientist who is currently director of the University of Georgia’s atmospheric sciences program. Some have received messages stating that scientists should be killed; others have been cursed and told to shut up.

Oct 2, 2024 | e360.yale.edu | Richard Schiffman

When marine biologist Richard Thompson and his students analyzed samples of beach sand over 20 years ago, they were surprised to find countless small multicolored pieces of plastic mixed in. Thompson, a professor at the University of Plymouth, dubbed the fragments “microplastics” and published the first-ever paper on the subject in Science magazine in 2004.

Sep 23, 2024 | wired.jp | Richard Schiffman

地球温暖化は、ほかの地域以上に熱帯の農業をいっそう難しくしている。熱波とかんばつ、雨季でもないのに降る雨といった複合災害に打ちのめされ、カリブ海や太平洋の島国の食料生産は危機に瀕している。しかも、これからの10年、熱帯地域が受ける気候変動の影響はさらに大きくなると予測されている。とりわけ、トウモロコシや小麦、大豆など主要な主食穀物を育てる農家への影響が大きい。 だが、暑さを愛し、不順な天候を苦にしない作物がひとつある。パンノキだ。この作物はいま太平洋とカリブ海の島々で、静かな復活を遂げつつある。気候が変わる未来でもパンノキの実が収穫できることを人々は願っている。 暑い気候でもよく育つパンノキ 「パンノキにとって暑すぎるということはありません」と語るのは、コースタル・カロライナ大学の地理学者ラッセル・フィールディングだ。世界で最も高収穫の食用植物であるパンノキは、大きな葉を持つ常緑樹のクワ科植物で、ぶつぶつした果実を大量に実らせる。そしてその実はあらゆる料理に使うことができる。...

Sep 19, 2024 | undark.org | Richard Schiffman

Peter Godfrey-Smith does not use the word miracle in the title of his ambitious new book, “Living on Earth: Forest, Corals, Consciousness and the Making of the World,” but there is scarcely a page that does not recount one. His subject is the astounding creativity of life, not just to evolve ever-new forms, but to continually remake the planet that hosts it.

Sep 18, 2024 | geneticliteracyproject.org | Richard Schiffman

Richard Schiffman | Wired | September 19, 2024 Food systems across island nations in the Caribbean and Pacific are particularly vulnerable, being hit hard by a combination of heat waves, droughts, and unseasonal rain. And the impact of climate change in these areas is likely to increase significantly in the next decade, especially for farmers of the most common staples like corn, wheat, and soy. But there is one crop that loves the heat and is not easily discouraged by swings in the weather....