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On a tropical island, fossils reveal past -- and possible future -- of polar ice

Science Daily - Thu, 01/08/2015 - 15:24
The balmy islands of Seychelles couldn't feel farther from Antarctica, but their fossil corals could reveal much about the fate of polar ice sheets. About 125,000 years ago, the average global temperature was only slightly warmer, but sea levels rose high enough to submerge the locations of many of today's coastal cities. Understanding what caused seas to rise then could shed light on how to protect those cities today.
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Why is Greenland covered in ice? Processes in deep Earth interior created conditions for glaciation

Science Daily - Mon, 01/05/2015 - 10:25
The ice on Greenland could only form due to processes in the deep Earth interior. Scientists now explain why the conditions for the glaciation of Greenland developed only so recently on a geological time scale.
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Underwater drones map ice algae in Antarctica

Science Daily - Mon, 01/05/2015 - 09:14
New robot technology leads Antarctic exploration into a new epoch. It is now possible to study the underside of sea ice across large distances and explore a world previously restricted to specially trained divers only.
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Methane is leaking from permafrost offshore Siberia

Science Daily - Mon, 12/22/2014 - 10:15
Images of craters on Yamal Peninsula, caused by collapsing permafrost, have become world famous. But did you know that this permafrost extends to the ocean floor? And it is thawing.
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Average temperature in Finland has risen by more than two degrees

Science Daily - Mon, 12/22/2014 - 07:43
Over the past 166 years, the average temperature in Finland has risen by more than two degrees. During the observation period, the average increase was 0.14 degrees per decade, which is nearly twice as much as the global average, experts report.
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The Greenland Ice Sheet: Now in HD

Science Daily - Thu, 12/18/2014 - 08:09
The highest-resolution maps of the Greenland Ice Sheet are debuting. Starting with Worldview satellite imagery, The maps are already revealing previously unknown features on the ice sheet.
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Satellites measure increase of Sun's energy absorbed in the Arctic

Science Daily - Wed, 12/17/2014 - 14:41
NASA satellite instruments have observed a marked increase in solar radiation absorbed in the Arctic since the year 2000 -- a trend that aligns with the steady decrease in Arctic sea ice during the same period.
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North Atlantic signaled Ice Age thaw 1,000 years before it happened, reveals new research

Science Daily - Wed, 12/17/2014 - 06:44
The Atlantic Ocean at mid-depths may have given out early warning signals – 1,000 years in advance - that the last Ice Age was going to end, scientists report.
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Glacier beds can get slipperier at higher sliding speeds

Science Daily - Tue, 12/16/2014 - 13:07
Scientists have found that as a glacier's sliding speed increases, the bed beneath the glacier can grow slipperier. That laboratory finding could help researchers make better predictions of glacier response to climate change and the corresponding sea-level rise.
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Massive study provides first detailed look at how Greenland's ice is vanishing

Science Daily - Mon, 12/15/2014 - 14:45
Scientists used NASA satellite and aerial data to reconstruct how the ice sheet changed at nearly 100,000 locations over many years.
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Scientists observe the Earth grow a new layer under an Icelandic volcano

Science Daily - Mon, 12/15/2014 - 10:41
New research into an Icelandic eruption has shed light on how the Earth’s crust forms, according to a new article.
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Migrating 'supraglacial' lakes could trigger future Greenland ice loss

Science Daily - Mon, 12/15/2014 - 10:40
Predictions of Greenland ice loss and its impact on rising sea levels may have been greatly underestimated. Supraglacial lakes are darker than ice, so they absorb more of the Sun's heat, which leads to increased melting. When the lakes reach a critical size, they drain through ice fractures, allowing water to reach the ice sheet base which causes it to slide more quickly into the oceans. These changes can also trigger further melting.
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No laughing matter: Nitrous oxide rose at end of last ice age

Science Daily - Wed, 12/10/2014 - 12:13
Nitrous oxide is an important greenhouse gas that doesn't receive as much notoriety as carbon dioxide or methane, but a new study confirms that atmospheric levels of N2O rose significantly as the Earth came out of the last ice age and addresses the cause.
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Ancient creature discovered in the depths of the Arctic Ocean

Science Daily - Wed, 12/10/2014 - 10:43
An extraordinary animal has been discovered more than 1.5 miles (2.5 km) below the ocean surface off the coast of northern Alaska, USA. The new species is a type of bivalve mollusk (clams, mussels, oysters etc.). Age estimates place the new clam as living more than 1.8 million years ago to the near present, but scientists can't discount that it might still be alive today.
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Looking at El Niño's past to predict its future

Science Daily - Fri, 12/05/2014 - 10:40
Scientists see a large amount of variability in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) when looking back at climate records from thousands of years ago. Without a clear understanding of what caused past changes in ENSO variability, predicting the climate phenomenon's future is a difficult task. A new study shows how this climate system responds to various pressures, such as changes in carbon dioxide and ice cover, in one of the best models used to project future climate change.
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Greenhouse gases linked to African rainfall

Science Daily - Thu, 12/04/2014 - 13:31
Scientists may have solved a long-standing enigma known as the African Humid Period -- an intense increase in cumulative rainfall in parts of Africa that began after a long dry spell following the end of the last ice age and lasting nearly 10,000 years. It has been linked to greenhouse gas concentrations.
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Antarctica: Heat comes from the deep

Science Daily - Thu, 12/04/2014 - 13:26
The water temperatures on the West Antarctic shelf are rising. The reason for this is predominantly warm water from greater depths, which as a result of global change now increasingly reaches the shallow shelf. There it has the potential to accelerate the glacier melt from below and trigger the sliding of big glaciers.
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Carbon dioxide warming effects felt just a decade after being emitted

Science Daily - Wed, 12/03/2014 - 07:43
It takes just 10 years for a single emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) to have its maximum warming effects on the Earth. This is according to researchers who have dispelled a common misconception that the main warming effects from a CO2 emission will not be felt for several decades.
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West Antarctic melt rate has tripled in last decade

Science Daily - Tue, 12/02/2014 - 17:33
A comprehensive, 21-year analysis of the fastest-melting region of Antarctica has found that the melt rate of glaciers there has tripled during the last decade.
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Meteorology meets metrology: Climate research high up in the clouds

Science Daily - Tue, 12/02/2014 - 07:23
Barely has the research aircraft HALO entered the kilometer-high clouds towering above the Brazilian rainforest than the researchers find themselves in a complete haze, but they can rely on the measuring instruments that are working at full capacity. HAI – a new, highly accurate hygrometer – is aboard. The shooting star among hygrometers has been developed only recently by metrologists (metrology = the science of measurement) especially for use on board aircraft and in the clouds, but it has already been used in four research campaigns and has already clocked up more than 300 hours of active use. It is the only device worldwide that can determine precisely and simultaneously how much of the water present in the atmosphere is in the form of vapour, condensation, droplets or ice.
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