Monthly focus

Into the forest

14 November 2017

This month, Horizon looks at how the natural ability of trees to absorb carbon dioxide impacts on climate change. Image credit – Shutterstock/ Pakhnyushchy

Forests cover around 30 % of the Earth’s surface, are home to millions of species, capture and store carbon dioxide (CO2), influence the local climate and provide us with water. This month, Horizon examines how the health of the world’s forests impacts on climate change. We explore the link between deforestation, forest degradation and CO2 emissions, examine the push to combine farming and forestry for better land management, and find out how scientists are using tree rings and DNA to combat illegal logging.

Europe's managed forests have not offset carbon emissions, according to Prof. Sebastiaan Luyssaert. Image credit — by Jurgen Van Hal

environment | interview

24 November 2017

Europe's forest management has not helped to fight climate change – Prof. Sebastiaan Luyssaert

While it seems common sense that planting more trees should help remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and thereby cool the planet, Europe's forest management strategies have actually not helped to fight climate change, according to Professor Sebastiaan Luyssaert, from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Growing coffee under the forest canopy can help preserve biodiversity. Credit – ‘Coffee Plant near the Quilalí - San Juan del Río Coco border’ by Elizabeth Sampson is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

agriculture | environment

22 November 2017

Forest plantations are a potent blend for coffee production

Climate change is threatening Europe’s coffee supplies, but the impacts could be diluted by planting the crops amongst trees - a technique known as agroforestry, which is also being revived in European farming.

The world's forests shrank by 3 % between 1990 and 2015. Credit — Pixabay/ Free-Photos

environment

16 November 2017

Counting the carbon cost of forest destruction

The world is losing its trees, but at what cost? Better estimates of deforestation and degradation could shed light on the amount of CO2 emitted, refine climate models and help developing countries better manage their forests.

DNA analysis and near-infrared scanners could help customs officers identify illegally traded wood. Image credit - Pixabay/ Kytalpa

environment

14 November 2017

Tree rings used to counter smugglers’ rings

Analysing regional differences in the DNA of wood and has allowed scientists to determine the location of the original tree within 15km, and the work could help fight the billion-euro trade in illegal timber.

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Image credit - anncapictures/Pixabay, licenced under Pixabay licence

Clouds: a climate uncertainty

In November, Horizon takes a deep dive into the captivating, diverse world of clouds to understand what they mean for climate change. We speak to atmospheric physicist Prof. Pier Siebesma about why clouds are still one of the biggest sources of uncertainty when it comes to climate change and how new field studies are helping to reduce some of the unknowns. We speak to a researcher about flying through tropical clouds to collect particles at high altitudes to paint a full picture of the role of clouds and aerosols in our planet’s climate. And we also delve into research investigating how global warming is changing clouds and why this could bring about extreme weather and rain, and we look at how aerosols – crucial for cloud formation - are changing due to anthropogenic pollution.

Image credit - Yasunori Takeda et al/Wikimedia, licenced under CC BY 4.0

Organic electronics

In October, Horizon discovers a futuristic world of transparent e-books, plastic solar cells and electronic skin with a look at some of the applications of organic electronics. We speak to organic chemist Prof. Andreas Hirsch about how using carbon rather than silicon in electronics can make them flexible, lightweight and biocompatible and could lead to a new generation of human-looking robots and ‘chemical’ computing. We take a look at work to create electronic skin – self-healing, stretchable material that can mimic some of the functions of human skin – and its potential uses. We discover how thin, flexible, plastic solar cells could turn surfaces such as cars and fabric into sources of renewable energy, and we uncover some novel approaches to charging wearable electronics.

Vaccines can train our innate immune system. Scientists are now studying whether a TB vaccine confers protection against Covid-19. Image credit - Agência Brasília/Flickr, licenced under CC BY 2.0

Q&A: How vaccines can strengthen immune response beyond a specific disease

Live vaccines can give health effects beyond just protecting us from a specific disease and may even help us combat other infections such as Covid-19, according to Christine Stabell Benn, a professor in global health at the University of Southern Denmark.

The structure of coral polyps provide an ideal habitat for colonies of Symbiodinium sp. algae to grow. Image credit - Dr Wangpraseurt

3-D printed corals, new bioreactors to boost microalgae production for biofuels

Using light as an energy source, photosynthetic microalgae can be used to produce products like biofuels and cosmetics. But algae grown in a reactor block out the light on which they feed. New reactor designs could solve this problem and help the industry move forward.

Into the forest

Republish this content

Europe's forest management has not helped to fight climate change – Prof. Sebastiaan Luyssaert

Forest plantations are a potent blend for coffee production

Counting the carbon cost of forest destruction