Science Daily

Researchers have unearthed the earliest definitive evidence of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in ancient Iraq, challenging our understanding of humanity's earliest agricultural practices.

Arctic coasts are characterized by sea ice, permafrost and ground ice. This makes them particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which is already accelerating rapid coastal erosion.

Researchers have new insight into the complicated puzzle of environmental conditions that characterized the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME), which killed about 85% of the species in the ocean.

Researchers show that the increase of sea ice surrounding Antarctica since 1979 is a unique feature of Antarctic climate since 1905 -- an observation that paints a dramatic first-ever picture for weather and climate implications on the world's southernmost continent.

Fundamental changes in the ocean, such as warming, acidification or oxygen depletion, may have significant consequences for the composition of fish stocks, including the displacement of individual species. Researchers have reconstructed environmental conditions of the warm period 125,000 years ago (Eemian interglacial) using sediment samples from the Humboldt Current System off Peru. They were able to show that, at warmer temperatures, mainly smaller, goby-like fish species became dominant and pushed back important food fish such as the anchovy (Engraulis ringens). The trend is independent of fishing pressure and fisheries management.

A new study casts doubt on drought as the driver of ancient Mayan civilization collapse.

New research revealing a major migration to the island of Great Britain offers fresh insights into the languages spoken at the time, the ancestry of present-day England and Wales, and even ancient habits of dairy consumption.

Scientists predict that continued global warming under current trends could lead to an elevation of the sea level by as much as five meters by the year 3000 CE.

Plants of the spoonweed group time-and-again quickly adapted to a changing climate during the Ice Ages of the last two million years. Evolutionary biologists and botanists used genomic analyses to study what factors favor adaptation to extreme climatic conditions. The evolutionary history of the Brassicaceae family provides insights into how plants may be able to cope with climate change in the future.

A new extinct reptile species has shed light on how our earliest ancestors became top predators by modifying their teeth in response to environmental instability around 300 million years ago.

An unknown culprit has been removing oxygen from our atmosphere for at least 800,000 years, and an analysis of air bubbles preserved in Antarctic ice for up to 1.5 million years has revealed the likely suspect.

Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected.

The accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers threatens the water supply of millions of people in Asia, new research warns. The study concludes that over recent decades the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly over the last few decades than on average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the Little Ice Age.

Researchers uncover the mechanics behind dwindling Arctic sea ice and its influence on wildfire weather in the western United States.

Researchers have investigated the genetic structure of the relic species, Acer miyabei, from three regions in Japan: Hokkaido Island and two southern groups in Northern and Central Honshu. There was significant genetic differentiation among the regions, with the northern group separated from the southern groups. Populations in the mountains of Central Honshu showed a high proportion of distinct alleles and the mountainous terrain in this area likely contributed to this genetic differentiation.

The noise created by the Earth's movements has been used to build up a detailed picture of the geological conditions beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet and the impact on ice flow, in new research.  The team studied Rayleigh waves -- seismic waves generated by movements such as earthquakes -- to produce high-resolution images of the rocks underneath the ice sheet, helping to identify which areas are most susceptible to faster ice flow.  It will give us a better understanding of the processes that contribute to accelerated ice discharge into the ocean and the consequent sea level rise.

New research provides a novel answer to one of the persistent questions in historical climatology, environmental history and the earth sciences: what caused the Little Ice Age? The answer, we now know, is a paradox: warming.

Scientists have discovered the availability of carbon in Greenland's waters is shifting poleward and appearing earlier than in previous decades. This finding will enhance understanding of carbon cycling and nutrient availability in this rapidly warming and changing environment.

Insights into how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to a warmer climate millions of years ago could improve predictions of its future.

In the summer months, sea ice from the Arctic drifts through Fram Strait into the Atlantic. Thanks to meltwater, a stable layer forms around the drifting ice atop the salty seawater, producing significant effects on biological processes and marine organisms.