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As temperatures rise with climate change, mosquito season extends past the summer months in many parts of the world. The question has been how this lengthened season influences the risk of being infected with mosquito-born diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika.

Now, in a paper published on April 27 in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Stanford researchers modeled how rising temperatures might influence mosquito behavior and disease risk around the world. The researchers also calibrated their model with field data on human infections of mosquito-borne diseases.

By 2050, we will need to feed 2 billion more people on less land. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide levels are predicted to hit 600 parts per million—a 50% increase over today’s levels—and 2050 temperatures are expected to frequently match the top 5% hottest days from 1950-1979. In a three-year field study, researchers proved engineered soybeans yield more than conventional soybeans in 2050’s predicted climatic conditions.

The tropical low pressure area previously known as System 99P organized and developed into tropical cyclone Donna in the South Pacific and now threatens Vanuatu. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided visible and infrared data on the newly developed storm.

Donna developed into a tropical storm on May 2 at 2100 UTC (5 p.m. EDT) about 484 nautical miles northwest of Suva, Fiji.    

On May 3 at 0224 UTC (May 2 at 10:24 p.m. EDT) the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard the NASA-NOAA Suomi NPP satellite captured a visible image of the newly developed tropical storm. The VIIRS image showed strong thunderstorms around the center of circulation and extending to the north in a large thick band.

When summer temperatures rise and people turn to their air conditioners to stay cool, something else also increases: air pollution.

A new study published Wednesday (May 3, 2017) in the journal Environmental Science & Technology shows that the electricity production associated with air conditioning causes emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide to increase by hundreds to thousands of metric tons, or 3 to 4 percent per degree Celsius (or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Washington State University marine biologists for the first time have documented a wealth of fish in the “vastly underexplored” deep coral reefs off Hawaii Island.

The study gives fishery managers a more complete picture of fish species and habitat around the Big Island, home to a thriving aquarium fish trade, as well as other deep waters around the globe, said Cori Kane, a doctoral student at WSU Vancouver.