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Over the past 20 years, many ice shelves in Antarctica have shrunk and some have disappeared entirely. This has resulted in a significant acceleration of many Antarctic glaciers, contributing to rising sea levels. Researchers have used a complex model to show for the first time at what point the 'buttressing' role of ice shelves is impaired due to their decline.

Climate change projections that look ahead one or two centuries show a rapid rise in temperature and sea level, but say little about the longer picture. A new looks at the next 10,000 years, and finds that the catastrophic impact of another three centuries of carbon pollution will persist millennia after the carbon dioxide releases cease.

Climate change projections that look ahead one or two centuries show a rapid rise in temperature and sea level, but say little about the longer picture. A new looks at the next 10,000 years, and finds that the catastrophic impact of another three centuries of carbon pollution will persist millennia after the carbon dioxide releases cease.

A dendroclimatologist and his fellow researchers were able for the first time to precisely reconstruct the summer temperatures in central Asia for the past 2,000 years. This was made possible by new tree-ring measurements from the Altai mountains in Russia. The results complement the climatological history of the European Alps, stretching back 2,500 years, that the research team has published in the past.

A dendroclimatologist and his fellow researchers were able for the first time to precisely reconstruct the summer temperatures in central Asia for the past 2,000 years. This was made possible by new tree-ring measurements from the Altai mountains in Russia. The results complement the climatological history of the European Alps, stretching back 2,500 years, that the research team has published in the past.

Scientists have created the first map that shows how the Greenland Ice Sheet has moved over time, revealing that ice in the interior is moving more slowly toward the edges than it has, on average, during the past 9,000 years.

Scientists have created the first map that shows how the Greenland Ice Sheet has moved over time, revealing that ice in the interior is moving more slowly toward the edges than it has, on average, during the past 9,000 years.

DNA evidence lifted from the ancient bones and teeth of people who lived in Europe from the Late Pleistocene to the early Holocene -- spanning almost 30,000 years of European prehistory -- has offered some surprises, according to researchers. Perhaps most notably, the evidence shows a major shift in the population around 14,500 years ago, during a period of severe climatic instability.

DNA evidence lifted from the ancient bones and teeth of people who lived in Europe from the Late Pleistocene to the early Holocene -- spanning almost 30,000 years of European prehistory -- has offered some surprises, according to researchers. Perhaps most notably, the evidence shows a major shift in the population around 14,500 years ago, during a period of severe climatic instability.

Twenty thousand years ago, low concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere allowed the earth to fall into the grip of an ice age. But despite decades of research, the reasons why levels of the greenhouse gas were so low then have been difficult to piece together. New research shows that a big part of the answer lies at the bottom of the world.

Twenty thousand years ago, low concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere allowed the earth to fall into the grip of an ice age. But despite decades of research, the reasons why levels of the greenhouse gas were so low then have been difficult to piece together. New research shows that a big part of the answer lies at the bottom of the world.

Earth's magnetic field occasionally reverses its polarity -- the magnetic north and south poles swap places. When magnetic polarity remains stable in one orientation for more than 10 million years the interval is dubbed a 'superchron.' Within the last 540 million years there are three known superchron periods. New work identifies up to 10 additional superchrons over 1.3 billion years during the Proterozoic Eon, Earth's middle age, which occurred 2.5 to 0.54 billion years ago.

Earth's magnetic field occasionally reverses its polarity -- the magnetic north and south poles swap places. When magnetic polarity remains stable in one orientation for more than 10 million years the interval is dubbed a 'superchron.' Within the last 540 million years there are three known superchron periods. New work identifies up to 10 additional superchrons over 1.3 billion years during the Proterozoic Eon, Earth's middle age, which occurred 2.5 to 0.54 billion years ago.

Loss of ice in Antarctica caused by a warming ocean could raise global sea levels by three meters, research suggests.

Loss of ice in Antarctica caused by a warming ocean could raise global sea levels by three meters, research suggests.

Mathematicians and glaciologists have taken a first step toward understanding how glacier ice flowing off Greenland affects sea levels.

Mathematicians and glaciologists have taken a first step toward understanding how glacier ice flowing off Greenland affects sea levels.

Not only is Greenland's melting ice sheet adding huge amounts of water to the oceans, it could also be unleashing 400,000 metric tons of phosphorus every year -- as much as the mighty Mississippi River releases into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new study. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that feeds plankton at the base of the ocean food web.

Not only is Greenland's melting ice sheet adding huge amounts of water to the oceans, it could also be unleashing 400,000 metric tons of phosphorus every year -- as much as the mighty Mississippi River releases into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new study. Phosphorus is an essential nutrient that feeds plankton at the base of the ocean food web.

By examining how Earth restores equilibrium after periods of natural warming, a new study reinforces that long-term global temperature does not evolve chaotically but remains stable unless pushed by external factors. Large, sustained changes in global temperature, like those observed over the last century, cannot occur without drivers such as increased greenhouse gas concentrations. Estimates of natural climate cycles alone are insufficient to explain such changes.