Science Daily

A study details the changes that occurred in the Arctic in September of 2018, a year when nearly 10 million kilometers of sea ice were lost throughout the summer. Its findings give an overview of how sea ice has receded over the 40 years of the satellite era and show how the summer's extensive decline is linked to global atmospheric processes as far south as the tropics.

Global ice ages may have been triggered by sharp declines in incoming sunlight, research finds.

Researchers reveal that given the right food in the right laboratory conditions, microbes collected from subseafloor sediment as old as 100 million years can revive and multiply, even after laying dormant since large dinosaurs prowled the planet.

A new study uses satellite data over the Southern Hemisphere to understand global cloud composition during the industrial revolution. This research tackles one of the largest uncertainties in today's climate models -- the long-term effect of tiny atmospheric particles on climate change.

An endangered aquatic insect that lives in icy streams fed by glaciers might not mind if the water grows warmer due to climate. A new study found that mountain stoneflies can tolerate warmer water temperatures at least temporarily. In fact, they might even be stressed in their current extremely cold environments.

The discovery of the first active methane seep in Antarctica is providing scientists new understanding of the methane cycle and the role methane found in this region may play in warming the planet.

Ancient climate records from Leviathan Cave, located in the southern Great Basin, show that Nevada was even hotter and drier in the past than it is today, and that one 4,000-year period in particular may represent a true, ''worst-case'' scenario picture for the Southwest and the Colorado River Basin -- and the millions of people who rely on its water supply.

In five years, will the winter be mild, and will the following summer be rainy? Unfortunately, reliable answers to such questions are not possible. Nevertheless, there are quantities like the sea surface temperature of the North Atlantic, that are known to promote trends in the weather over Europe. To that, North Atlantic sea surface temperatures are predictable several years into the future - as suggested by a new study.

Questions about the stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet are a major source of uncertainty in estimates of how much sea level will rise as the Earth continues to warm. For decades, scientists thought the East Antarctic Ice Sheet had remained stable for millions of years, but recent studies have begun to cast doubt on this idea. Now, researchers report new evidence of substantial ice loss from East Antarctica during an interglacial warm period about 400,000 years ago.

Using cosmogenic nuclide burial dating methods and optically stimulated luminescence dating, geoscientists establish ages for river deposits from the Yukon River basin that span key time periods of global climate change.

Foraminifera, an ancient and ecologically highly successful group of marine organisms, are found on and below the seafloor. Geobiologists report that several species not only survive, but thrive, in these oxygen-free sediments.

A rock core from Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona, has given scientists a powerful new tool to understand how catastrophic events shaped Earth's ecosystems before the rise of the dinosaurs. The core offers scientists a foundation to explain the changes in the fossil record and determine how these events may have shaped life on Earth.

According to paleoclimatic reconstructions analyzing stalagmites sampled in some caves in the Murge plateau (Apulia, Italy), Neanderthals might have become extinct because Homo sapiens employed more sophisticated hunting technologies.

Scientists have found the interstellar organic matter could produce an abundant supply of water by heating, suggesting that organic matter could be the source of terrestrial water.

Using a data set of 2.7 million human activity records, the team showed just how extensive human use of Antarctica has been over the last 200 years.

The known timeline of the Aboriginal occupation of South Australia's Riverland region has been vastly extended by new research. Radiocarbon dating of shell middens - remnants of meals eaten long ago - capture a record of Aboriginal occupation that extends to around 29,000 years, confirming the location as one of the oldest sites along the 2500km river to become the oldest River Murray Indigenous site in South Australia.

New research explores how lower-latitude oceans drive complex changes in the Arctic Ocean, pushing the region into a new reality distinct from the 20th-century norm.

Evolutionary biologists have shown that resilience or vulnerability to future climates is influenced by the thermal conditions of the climatic regions where species evolved.

Scientists find the growth of phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean has increased 57 percent over just two decades, enhancing its ability to soak up carbon dioxide. While once linked to melting sea ice, the increase is now propelled by rising concentrations of tiny algae.

Texas' future climate will feature drier summers and decreasing water supplies for much of the state for the remainder of the 21st century -- likely resulting in the driest conditions the state has endured in the last 1,000 years, according to a team of researchers.