The buzz on bees has long been a topic of interest, but recent research is shedding new light on how environmental change affects their communication and pollination abilities. Scientists have found that high temperatures and exposure to heavy metals can reduce the frequency and pitch of non-flight wing vibrations in bees, which could have significant consequences for their role as pollinators.

Dr. Charlie Woodrow, a postdoctoral researcher at Uppsala University, has been studying the effect of environmental change on bee buzzes. He notes that people often don’t realize that bees use their flight muscles for functions other than flight, such as communication and defense. One important function is buzz-pollination, which involves a bee curling its body around the pollen-concealing anthers of flowers and contracting its flight muscles up to 400 times per second to produce vibrations that shake loose the pollen.

Dr. Woodrow’s experiments involved using accelerometers to measure the frequency of the buzz, which corresponds to the audible pitch. He also used thermal imaging to show how bees deal with the extra heat generated by their buzzing. The research has found that temperature plays a vital role in determining the properties of a bee’s buzz, and exposure to heavy metals can reduce the contraction frequencies of the flight muscles during non-flight buzzing.

The benefits of understanding the impact of environmental change on a bee’s buzz include unique insights into bee ecology and behavior, helping to identify species or regions most at risk, and improving AI-based species detection based on sound recordings. Dr. Woodrow suggests that buzzes could even be used as a marker of stress or environmental change.

The research also has implications for robotics and the future safeguarding of pollination services. Dr. Woodrow is working towards understanding bee vibrations through micro-robotics, so their results are also going towards developing micro-robots to understand pollen release.

Overall, the buzz on bees is more than just a curiosity; it’s an important aspect of their ecology that can provide valuable insights into environmental change and its impact on pollination services.

As glaciers around the world melt at an alarming rate due to climate change, scientists are warning that this may lead to a surge in volcanic eruptions. Research presented at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague suggests that hundreds of dormant volcanoes could become more active as glacier retreat accelerates. The findings have significant implications for understanding and predicting volcanic activity, particularly in regions with extensive glacial coverage like Antarctica.

The study, led by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, examined six volcanoes in the Chilean Andes, including the dormant Mocho-Choshuenco volcano. By precisely dating previous eruptions and analyzing crystals in erupted rocks, the team found that thick ice cover suppresses the volume of eruptions but allows a large reservoir of silica-rich magma to accumulate beneath the surface. As glaciers melt rapidly at the end of an ice age, this buildup of pressure triggers explosive volcanic eruptions.

Pablo Moreno-Yaeger from the University of Wisconsin-Madison emphasized that “glaciers tend to suppress the volume of eruptions from the volcanoes beneath them. But as glaciers retreat due to climate change, our findings suggest these volcanoes go on to erupt more frequently and more explosively.” This phenomenon is not limited to Iceland, where increased volcanicity has been observed, but could also occur in Antarctica and other continental regions.

While the volcanic response to glacial melting is almost instant in geological terms, the process of changes in the magma system is gradual and occurs over centuries. This gives some time for monitoring and early warning. However, increased volcanic activity could have global climate impacts. In the short term, eruptions release aerosol that can temporarily cool the planet. But with multiple eruptions, the effects reverse.

“Over time the cumulative effect of multiple eruptions can contribute to long-term global warming because of a buildup of greenhouse gases,” said Moreno-Yaeger. “This creates a positive feedback loop, where melting glaciers trigger eruptions, and the eruptions in turn could contribute to further warming and melting.”

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation as part of a grant led by Professor Brad Singer at UW-Madison, and is due to be published in a peer-reviewed journal later this year. The findings have significant implications for understanding and predicting volcanic activity in regions with extensive glacial coverage and could contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change on our planet.

In recent years, climate change has been at the forefront of global concerns, and one of the most critical regions affected by this phenomenon is Antarctica. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have made a groundbreaking discovery that sheds new light on the mechanisms behind the collapse of Antarctic ice shelves, which are crucial for predicting sea level rise in the Northern Hemisphere.

On November 28, 1966, an American aeroplane flew over the Antarctic Peninsula, capturing an aerial photo of the Wordie Ice Shelf. This image, taken just south of the southernmost tip of Chile, marked the beginning of a unique dataset that would provide unparalleled insights into the collapse of ice shelves. The researcher’s analysis of historical aerial photos and satellite data has revealed that melting under the ice where the sea and ice meet is the primary driver of Wordie’s collapse.

The study’s findings have already altered the foundation of scientists’ knowledge about ice shelf collapse, suggesting that these events may be slower than previously thought. However, this longer process will make it even harder to reverse the trend once it has started, highlighting the urgent need to prioritize halting greenhouse gas emissions now rather than sometime in the future.

The consequences of ice shelf collapse are far-reaching and have significant implications for global sea level rise. As the glaciers lose their support, they can begin to float and melt more rapidly, contributing to rising ocean levels. Although Antarctica is far away, areas like Denmark are being affected significantly by sea level rise caused by gravitational forces.

In conclusion, the study’s findings mark a new era of climate adaptation, emphasizing the need for urgent action to address the consequences of ice shelf collapse. By prioritizing halting greenhouse gas emissions now rather than sometime in the future, we can reduce the risk of violent sea level rise and mitigate its impact on global communities.