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Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming.
Updated: 2 hours 34 min ago

Satellites observe speed-up of Glaciers on the Antarctic Peninsula

Mon, 02/27/2023 - 12:24
Glaciers -- giant blocks of moving ice -- along Antarctica's coastline are flowing faster in the summer because of a combination of melting snow and warmer ocean waters, say researchers. On average, the glaciers travel at around one kilometre a year. But a new study has found a seasonal variation to the speed of the ice flow, which speeded up by up to 22 % in summer when temperatures are warmer. This gives an insight into the way climate change could affect the behaviour of glaciers and the role they could play in raising sea levels.

Clues about the Northeast's past and future climate from plant fossils

Fri, 02/24/2023 - 15:51
A team of researchers is working to understand the details of the climate for the eastern portion of the United States from the Miocene, which unfortunately is a blank spot on paleo-climate maps. New findings suggest the future climate will be very close to the warmer, wetter, and more homogeneous climate similar to conditions experienced 5 million years ago.

A labyrinth lake provides surprising benefits for an endangered seal

Thu, 02/23/2023 - 12:29
The endangered Saimaa ringed seal is an Ice Age relict living in the highly labyrinthine Lake Saimaa, Finland. The newly published work shows that although individual seals have greatly reduced genetic variation, the loss of variation has been complementary, preserving the adaptive potential of the whole population.

Early Cretaceous shift in the global carbon cycle affected both land and sea

Wed, 02/22/2023 - 13:11
Geologists doing fieldwork in southeastern Utah's Cedar Mountain Formation found carbon isotope evidence that the site, though on land, experienced the same early Cretaceous carbon-cycle change recorded in marine sedimentary rocks in Europe. This ancient carbon-cycle phenomenon, known as the 'Weissert Event' was driven by large, sustained volcanic eruptions in the Southern Hemisphere that greatly increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and produced significant greenhouse climate effects over a prolonged time.

As sea ice declines in the Arctic, bowhead whales are adjusting their migration patterns

Wed, 02/22/2023 - 13:11
As sea ice declines in the Arctic, bowhead whales are staying north of the Bering Strait more frequently, a shift that could affect the long-term health of the bowhead population and impact the Indigenous communities that rely on the whales, a new study shows.

Sinking tundra surface unlikely to trigger runaway permafrost thaw

Tue, 02/21/2023 - 17:01
Scientists set out to address one of the biggest uncertainties about how carbon-rich permafrost will respond to gradual sinking of the land surface as temperatures rise. Using a high-performance computer simulation, the research team found that soil subsidence is unlikely to cause rampant thawing in the future.

New knowledge about ice sheet movement can shed light on when sea levels will rise

Tue, 02/21/2023 - 10:30
The trawling of thousands of satellite measurements using artificial intelligence has shown researchers that meltwater in tunnels beneath Greenland's ice sheet causes it to change speed, and in some places, accelerate greatly towards the ocean. This can increase melting, especially in a warming climate, which is why the study's researchers think that it is important to keep an eye on.

Micro- and nanoplastic from the atmosphere is polluting the ocean

Tue, 05/10/2022 - 09:29
According to estimates, by 2040 the level of plastic pollution could reach 80 million metric tons per year. Plastic particles have now been detected in virtually all spheres of the environment, e.g. in water bodies, the soil and the air. Via ocean currents and rivers, the tiny plastic particles can even reach the Arctic, Antarctic or ocean depths. A new overview study has now shown that wind, too, can transport these particles great distances -- and much faster than water can: in the atmosphere, they can travel from their point of origin to the most remote corners of the planet in a matter of days.

More difficult than expected for glaciers to recover from climate warming

Mon, 05/09/2022 - 15:28
Ice shelves are floating extensions of glaciers. If Greenland's second largest ice shelf breaks up, it may not recover unless Earth's future climate cools considerably.

Newly discovered lake may hold secret to Antarctic ice sheet's rise and fall

Mon, 05/09/2022 - 15:28
Scientists investigating the underside of the world's largest ice sheet in East Antarctica have discovered a city-size lake whose sediments might answer questions about what Antarctica was like before it froze, how climate change has affected it over its history, and how the ice sheet might behave as the world warms.

Ice-capped volcanoes slower to erupt, study finds

Mon, 05/09/2022 - 15:24
The Westdahl Peak volcano in Alaska last erupted in 1992, and continued expansion hints at another eruption soon. Experts previously forecasted the next blast to occur by 2010, but the volcano -- located under about 1 kilometer of glacial ice -- has yet to erupt again. Using the Westdahl Peak volcano as inspiration, a new volcanic modeling study examined how glaciers affect the stability and short-term eruption cycles of high-latitude volcanic systems -- some of which exist along major air transportation routes.

In sediments below Antarctic ice, scientists discover a giant groundwater system

Thu, 05/05/2022 - 13:32
A team has mapped a huge, actively circulating groundwater system in deep sediments in West Antarctica. They say such systems, probably common in Antarctica, may have as-yet unknown implications for how the frozen continent reacts to, or possibly even contributes to, climate change.

Landslides can have a major impact on glacier melt and movement

Wed, 05/04/2022 - 08:29
Using satellite imagery to study the effects of a 2019 landslide on the Amalia Glacier in Patagonia, a research team found the landslide helped stabilize the glacier and caused it to grow by about 1,000 meters over the last three years.

Precipitation helped drive distribution of Alaska dinosaurs

Mon, 05/02/2022 - 16:09
Precipitation more than temperature influenced the distribution of herbivorous dinosaurs in what is now Alaska, according to new research. The finding discusses the distribution of hadrosaurids and ceratopsids -- the megaherbivores of the Late Cretaceous Period, 100.5 million to 66 million years ago.

Carbon, climate change and ocean anoxia in an ancient icehouse world

Mon, 05/02/2022 - 16:08
A new study describes a period of rapid global climate change in an ice-capped world much like the present -- but 304 million years ago. Within about 300,000 years, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels doubled, oceans became anoxic, and biodiversity dropped on land and at sea.

Researchers home in on Thera volcano eruption date

Mon, 05/02/2022 - 13:26
Tree-ring, ice core and volcano experts teamed up to identify one of the most climatically impactful volcanic eruptions in 4,000 years -- Aniakchak II. In the process, they narrowed down potential dates for the Thera volcano eruption.

Study supports stronger conservation efforts Appalachians and the Gulf Coast, US

Mon, 05/02/2022 - 11:04
Study of Campanula americana supports strengthening conservation efforts in glacial refugia areas because of their high genetic diversity. Conservation of those areas in the southern Appalachians and the Gulf Coast has implications for other areas of the country.

Model pinpoints glaciers at risk of collapse due to climate change

Thu, 04/28/2022 - 11:54
Glaciologists focus on what happens at the front of glaciers that terminate in the ocean as the key to whether a glacier will speed up or slow down. Yet with global warming, meltwater is becoming increasingly important, seeping underneath and lubricating flow. A statistician included this effect in glacier flow models, concluding that the thickest and fastest moving glaciers will respond most rapidly to basal lubrication and are most vulnerable to sudden collapse.

Earth's atmosphere may be source of some lunar water

Wed, 04/27/2022 - 20:13
Hydrogen and oxygen ions escaping from Earth's upper atmosphere and combining on the moon could be one of the sources of the known lunar water and ice, according to new research.

Before Stonehenge monuments, hunter-gatherers made use of open habitats

Wed, 04/27/2022 - 13:06
Hunter-gatherers made use of open woodland conditions in the millennia before Stonehenge monuments were built, according to a new study.

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