Scientific news in small doses

A few milligrams of all the scientific news of the week

Eric-Pierre Champagne
The Press

More and more frequent heat records

The extreme temperatures that have plagued India and Pakistan recently are attributable to climate change, concluded a study carried out by the Met Office, the equivalent of Environment Canada in the United Kingdom. Without climate change, such a heat wave could occur once every 312 years. Taking into account global warming, the probabilities increase to once every 3.1 years. Such an event could occur once a year (1.15) by the end of the century. In parts of India, the temperature has exceeded 50°C in recent weeks. In Pakistan, the mercury even reached 51°C recently.

Quiz

Is it true that rain prefers circular cities to square cities?

The question may seem trivial, but it is nevertheless important, especially in a context where the climate is warming. Researchers at the University of Texas looked into this and found that circular cities receive more rain than square ones. Triangular cities are the ones that receive the least rainfall. According to the study published in the journal Earth’s Future, circular cities receive 22% more rain than triangular cities. The explanation lies in the fact that in circular cities, the different air masses converge towards the center, favoring precipitation.

The number

9 million

Pollution kills, it is well known. But how many people die each year due to the different sources of pollution on the planet? Nine million, according to a study just published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health. Air pollution alone is responsible for 75% of these deaths. Almost all (90%) of these deaths occur in low-income countries.

Corn cultivation will be more and more difficult

The cultivation of corn is so important in the United States that much of the American Midwest is nicknamed the corn belt, or Corn Belt. However, climate change is likely to affect this industry by the end of the century. These regions are increasingly prone to a chain of disasters, such as drought followed by fires or violent floods. A recent NASA study found that the probability of a cluster of such events causing corn crop failure will increase from 29% to 57% by 2100. The Corn Belt will be one of the most affected regions in the world, concludes the study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.

Let’s talk ppm

No, it’s not about the new index offered by the Quebec government, the number of bridges per million (ppm), but rather the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, measured in parts per million (ppm). Atmospheric carbon concentration set a new record in the week of May 8-14, clocking in at 421.13 ppm. At the same time, a year earlier, the carbon level measured at the Mauna Loa observatory indicated 418.34 ppm. Ten earlier, in 2012? It clocked in at 397.38 ppm. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it will be difficult, if not impossible, to limit warming to 1.5°C by the end of the century if the concentration of carbon in the atmosphere exceeds 400 ppm.