Science Daily

Subscribe to Science Daily feed Science Daily
Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming.
Updated: 2 hours 24 min ago

Alert system shows potential for reducing deforestation, mitigating climate change

Mon, 01/04/2021 - 10:40
Forest loss declined 18% in African nations where a new satellite-based program provides free alerts when it detects deforestation activities.

Evidence for a massive paleo-tsunami at ancient Tel Dor

Wed, 12/23/2020 - 13:24
Underwater excavation, borehole drilling, and modelling suggests a massive paleo-tsunami struck near the ancient settlement of Tel Dor between 9,910 to 9,290 years ago, according to a new study.

Ancient DNA sheds light on the peopling of the Mariana Islands

Tue, 12/22/2020 - 12:20
Compared to the first peopling of Polynesia, the settlement of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, which happened around 3,500 years ago, has received little attention. Researchers have now obtained answers to long debated questions regarding the origin of the first colonizers of the Marianas and their relationship to the people who initially settled in Polynesia.

Climate change: Threshold for dangerous warming will likely be crossed between 2027-2042

Mon, 12/21/2020 - 15:04
The threshold for dangerous global warming will likely be crossed between 2027 and 2042 - a much narrower window than the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's estimate of between now and 2052. Researchers introduce a new and more precise way to project the Earth's temperature. Based on historical data, it considerably reduces uncertainties compared to previous approaches.

Volcanic eruptions directly triggered ocean acidification during Early Cretaceous

Mon, 12/21/2020 - 15:04
New study supports hypothesis that Ontong Java Plateau large igneous province eruptions led to oceanic anoxic event 1a, 127 to 100 million years ago.

Ice sheet uncertainties could mean sea level will rise more than predicted

Fri, 12/18/2020 - 10:25
Sea level could rise higher than current estimates by 2100 if climate change is unchallenged, according to a new assessment.

Taking the chill off icy build-up on planes and wind turbines

Thu, 12/17/2020 - 13:52
New research is changing the way aircraft and wind turbine operators are addressing the risks related to ice build-up. A team has broadened the scope and functionality of their ice sensors.

Weddell sea: Whale song reveals behavioral patterns

Thu, 12/17/2020 - 12:53
Scientists have now used permanently installed underwater microphones, which have been recording for the past nine years, to successfully gather and analyze whale observation data from the Weddell Sea. The AWI's underwater recordings confirm: Minke whales prefer the shelter of sea ice, while humpback whales avoid it.

Greenland 'knickpoints' could stall spread of glacial thinning

Thu, 12/17/2020 - 10:28
The jagged terrain of Greenland's mountains is protecting some of the island's outlet glaciers from warm coastal waters, according to a team of researchers. However, in regions where the flat bedrock offers no such protection, runaway thinning can reach far into the ice sheet and eat away at previously unaffected ice and contribute to sea level rise.

Colorado river mystery solved: Ancient shallow sea with strong tides

Thu, 12/17/2020 - 08:23
Researchers have provided new evidence that today's desert landscape of the Colorado River's lower valley was submerged roughly 5 million to 6 million years ago under shallow seas with strong, fluctuating tidal currents.

Oceanographers have an explanation for the Arctic's puzzling ocean turbulence

Tue, 12/15/2020 - 13:08
Oceanographers have an explanation for the Arctic's puzzling ocean turbulence: Their study suggests waters will become more turbulent as Arctic loses summertime ice.

The melting of the Greenland ice sheet could lead to a sea level rise of 18 cm in 2100

Tue, 12/15/2020 - 10:20
A new study, applying the latest climate models, of which the MAR predicts a 60% greater melting of the Greenland ice sheet than previously predicted. Data that will be included in the next IPCC report.

Delayed Arctic ice advance tracked back to atmospheric conditions near Alaska months prior

Tue, 12/15/2020 - 08:59
Experts recently discovered that atmospheric conditions near Alaska can affect sea ice conditions in the Arctic Ocean months later. The team used various data, including ship-based data from 2018, to uncover how a single atmospheric event over the northern Pacific Ocean caused significantly delayed sea ice formation in the Pacific Arctic region.

What caused the ice ages? Tiny ocean fossils offer key evidence

Thu, 12/10/2020 - 13:57
Since the discovery that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations were lower during past ice ages, the cause has been a mystery. Now, fossils of ocean algae reveal that a weakening in upwelling in the Antarctic Ocean kept more CO2 in the deep ocean during the ice ages. This brings scientists closer to a complete explanation for the glacial cycle and suggests that upwelling will strengthen under anthropogenic global warming, altering global climate and ocean ecosystems.

Artificial intelligence finds surprising patterns in Earth's biological mass extinctions

Thu, 12/10/2020 - 06:47
The idea that mass extinctions allow many new types of species to evolve is a central concept in evolution. But a new study using artificial intelligence to examine the fossil record finds this is rarely true, and there must be another explanation.

Southern Hemisphere westerly winds likely to intensify as climate warms

Wed, 12/09/2020 - 08:42
Polar climate scientists have created the most high resolution past record of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds. The results describe how the winds are likely to intensify and migrate poleward as the climate warms. The study highlights the urgent need for better models to predict the future.

New geological findings from eastern Fennoscandia add new dimensions to the history of European ice

Mon, 12/07/2020 - 11:41
In Finland, the majority of the glacial and warm interval records have been interpreted to represent only the last, Weichselian, glacial cycle that took place 11,700-119,000 years ago. Researchers have now revised the crucial part of the existing stratigraphic documentation in southern Finland. The new findings show that a considerable part of the warm interval records extends further back in time than earlier thought. The new results change the established conceptions about glacial history in the area.

Newly discovered Greenland plume drives thermal activities in the Arctic

Mon, 12/07/2020 - 09:21
A team of researchers understands more about the melting of the Greenland ice sheet. They discovered a flow of hot rocks, known as a mantle plume, rising from the core-mantle boundary beneath central Greenland that melts the ice from below.

The climate changed rapidly alongside sea ice decline in the north

Fri, 12/04/2020 - 12:13
Researchers have shown that abrupt climate change occurred as a result of widespread decrease of sea ice. This scientific breakthrough concludes a long-lasting debate on the mechanisms causing abrupt climate change during the glacial period. It also documents that the cause of the swiftness and extent of sudden climate change must be found in the oceans.

Greenland ice sheet faces irreversible melting

Wed, 12/02/2020 - 10:44
Scientists predict Greenland ice sheet will pass a threshold beyond which it will never fully regrow and sea levels will be permanently higher in as little as 600 years under current climate change projections, as Greenland's climate would be permanently altered as the ice sheet shrinks.

Pages