Science Daily

The advent of agriculture was a significant turning point in the history of modern humans, beyond which humans started living a sedentary life and formed a so-called 'civilization.' However, the environmental factors responsible for this revolutionary change in human lifestyle have been unclear for quite long. A new study on finely layered mud at the bottom of a lake in Japan reveals that the answer to this puzzle lies in the stability of the climate.

Sunlight in, reflected and emitted energy out. That's the fundamental energy balance sheet for our planet -- and for decades, it has been out of balance. The extra energy manifests as higher temperatures, rising sea levels, floods, droughts, more powerful blizzards and hurricanes, and deadlier extreme events. Not only is the imbalance growing, but there's a 99% chance that the growth is due to human activity, calculated a team of researchers.

Scientists who study glacier ice have found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China. Most of those viruses, which survived because they had remained frozen, are unlike any viruses that have been cataloged to date.

Anthropologists, geographers and earth scientists look to the past to assess how different cultures have - and will - adapt to global warming.

The economic and environmental pros and cons of melting Arctic ice creating shorter shipping routes through the polar region are weighed up in ground-breaking research from experts in energy and transport. They conclude that policy makers must properly assess the environmental trade-offs and costs in addition to the commercial benefits and opportunities in Arctic shipping. The authors also want to see more incentives to drive technological developments that will accelerate the uptake of green fuels and technologies.

A new method for seeing through ice sheets using radio signals from the sun could enable cheap, low-power and widespread monitoring of ice sheet evolution and contribution to sea-level rise.

Seismic waves passing through the ground near Longyearbyen in the Adventdalen valley, Svalbard, Norway have been slowing down steadily over the past three years, most likely due to permafrost warming in the Arctic valley.

Evidence from an ancient eggshell has revealed important new information about the extreme climate change faced by human early ancestors.

Injecting sulphur into the stratosphere to reduce solar radiation and stop the Greenland ice cap from melting: An interesting scenario, but not without risks. Climatologists have looked into the matter and have tested one of the scenarios put forward using the MAR climate model. The results are mixed.

'Snowball Earth' is the most extreme climate event in Earth's history, when it was completely engulfed in ice. The theory of its existence has faced two challenges - how life survived and variations in rock formations from the time implying changes to the climate cycle. New study shows that changes to Earth's orbit caused the ice sheets to advance and retreat, providing ice-free 'oases' for animal life and explaining variations in rock formations.

As melting sea ice brings more ships through the Northwest Passage, new research shows that Canada must prepare for the costs and consequences of an Arctic oil spill.

A new study reports the first global assessment of the extent of snow and ice cover on Earth's surface -- a critical factor cooling the planet through reflected sunlight -- and its response to warming temperatures.

Last August, sea ice north of Greenland showed its vulnerability to the long-term effects of climate change. The region, part of what's known as the 'Last Ice Area' that could serve as a refuge for ice-dependent species, may be ice-free in summertime sooner than expected.

Elephants and their forebears were pushed into wipeout by waves of extreme global environmental change, rather than overhunting by early humans, according to new research.

Scientists show that an ocean-bottom seismometer deployed close to the calving front of a glacier in Greenland can detect continuous seismic radiation from a glacier sliding, reminiscent of a slow earthquake.

The eruption of the Laacher See volcano in the Eifel in Germany is one of Central Europe's largest eruptions over the past 100,000 years. Technical advances in combination with tree remains buried in the course of the eruption now enabled an international research team to accurately date the event. Accordingly, the eruption of the Laacher See volcano occurred 13,077 years ago and thus 126 years earlier than previously assumed.

A new study has shown that the size of the Maya population in the lowland city of Itzan (in present-day Guatemala) varied over time in response to climate change. The findings show that both droughts and very wet periods led to important population declines.

Pioneering research has revealed the erosion of ancient sediments found deep beneath Antarctic ice could be a vital and previously unknown source of nutrients and energy for abundant microbial life.

After centuries of human impact on the world's ecosystems, a new study details an example of how a common native bee species has flourished since the very first land clearances by humans on Fiji.

Mountaintop glacier ice in the tropics of all four hemispheres covers significantly less area -- in one case as much as 93% less -- than it did just 50 years ago, a new study has found.