James Dinneen
New Scientist
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by James:
Gold hydrogen: Is there a huge reserve of clean fuel in Earth's crust?
Geologists think there may be vast natural stores of hidden hydrogen gas within Earth, but no one is sure how much there is or how much could be recovered for energy → Read More
Adding wild fungi to soil could make trees store more carbon
A loblolly pine plantation in the state of Georgia is the test site for a start-up company trying to see if improving the fungi and other microbes in soil can help trees grow bigger and faster → Read More
Artificial seed casing made from wood buries itself when wet
A seed carrier made from wood screws itself into the ground when exposed to water. It could be useful for projects to replant forests from the air using drones → Read More
Ohio train derailment: What we know about the toxic chemical spill
A train derailed and caught fire in eastern Ohio, releasing hazardous chemicals into the air, soil and water – and raising concerns about health effects for residents → Read More
Massive tick-killing effort fails to reduce Lyme disease cases
Killing ticks in an area reduces the number carrying the main bacterium that causes Lyme disease, but a large study found it does not lead to fewer reports of people getting sick → Read More
Wildfires burning in Chile are among the deadliest in country's record
Fires in central and southern Chile, exacerbated by extreme temperatures and megadrought, have led to at least 26 deaths and burned more than 2700 square kilometres → Read More
The truth behind how to reduce your energy use and still live well
In theory, it’s possible to live well while using energy at a rate of just 2000 watts – a quarter of the average for people in the US. Our environment reporter took on the challenge. Here’s what he discovered → Read More
US megadrought has led to more air pollution from power plants
The ongoing drought in the western US depleted reservoirs and reduced hydropower generation. Fossil fuel power plants filled the gap but that has led to increased air pollution → Read More
Male and female gibbons sing duets in time with each other
Lar gibbons call out sounds that are synchronised and occur at regular intervals, musical qualities only previously seen in lemurs and humans → Read More
How California can capture stormwater to fight off the drought
With atmospheric rivers drenching the US west coast, researchers are testing methods to capture as much stormwater as possible to replenish depleted aquifers → Read More
US action on climate change will start to get serious in 2023
The Inflation Reduction Act will accelerate US progress on boosting renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions in 2023 as a decade of funding starts → Read More
COP15 biodiversity deal is ‘new era’ for Indigenous-led conservation
The agreement made at the COP15 biodiversity summit balanced a recognition of the importance of Indigenous peoples and territories for conserving biodiversity without imposing on Indigenous sovereignty over those lands → Read More
COP15: How much money do we need to stop biodiversity loss?
Several high-income countries have made pledges at COP15 to fund programmes to protect biodiversity but so far they amount to a small fraction of what’s needed → Read More
COP15: Countries debate how to share profits from Earth’s genetic data
The question of how best to share revenues from products developed using genetic data from plants and animals has emerged as a make or break issue at COP15 → Read More
COP15: China calls for action as biodiversity talks break down
Negotiations at the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal broke down over how to fund new agreements to safeguard nature → Read More
Yellowstone supervolcano contains twice as much melted rock as thought
There is more melted rock under Yellowstone Caldera – a volcano in Wyoming – than was previously estimated, but that doesn’t change the likelihood of an eruption → Read More
Mauna Loa eruption interrupts key record of atmospheric CO2
The Mauna Loa Observatory has kept a nearly uninterrupted record of atmospheric carbon dioxide for more than 60 years, but a volcanic eruption has cut off power → Read More
COP27: Forecasting overhaul may reduce extreme weather hazards
A UN program to revamp weather forecasting in lower-income countries could improve global climate models and help people prepare for extreme weather events → Read More
Rare triple dip La Niña expected to occur for first time this century
The eastern Pacific is expected to be unusually cold for the third winter in a row, contributing along with climate change to extreme precipitation and drought → Read More
US megadrought could upend life as we know it – just look to history
We don't know exactly how the current megadrought in south-western North America will end, but there are examples to learn from throughout history → Read More