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Melting of the Antarctic ice sheet could cause multi-meter rise in sea levels by the end of the millennium

Science Daily - Wed, 12/22/2021 - 09:08
Scientists predict that continued global warming under current trends could lead to an elevation of the sea level by as much as five meters by the year 3000 CE.

Plants as cold specialists from the ice age

Science Daily - Tue, 12/21/2021 - 09:27
Plants of the spoonweed group time-and-again quickly adapted to a changing climate during the Ice Ages of the last two million years. Evolutionary biologists and botanists used genomic analyses to study what factors favor adaptation to extreme climatic conditions. The evolutionary history of the Brassicaceae family provides insights into how plants may be able to cope with climate change in the future.

Extinct reptile discovery reveals earliest origins of human teeth, study finds

Science Daily - Tue, 12/21/2021 - 09:27
A new extinct reptile species has shed light on how our earliest ancestors became top predators by modifying their teeth in response to environmental instability around 300 million years ago.

Air bubbles in Antarctic ice point to cause of oxygen decline

Science Daily - Mon, 12/20/2021 - 18:06
An unknown culprit has been removing oxygen from our atmosphere for at least 800,000 years, and an analysis of air bubbles preserved in Antarctic ice for up to 1.5 million years has revealed the likely suspect.

Abundance of life discovered beneath an Antarctic ice shelf

Science Daily - Mon, 12/20/2021 - 11:00
Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected.

Himalayan glaciers melting at 'exceptional rate'

Science Daily - Mon, 12/20/2021 - 07:31
The accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers threatens the water supply of millions of people in Asia, new research warns. The study concludes that over recent decades the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly over the last few decades than on average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the Little Ice Age.

Fire and ice: The puzzling link between western wildfires and Arctic sea ice

Science Daily - Fri, 12/17/2021 - 09:28
Researchers uncover the mechanics behind dwindling Arctic sea ice and its influence on wildfire weather in the western United States.

Maples in the mountains provide clues to past distribution

Science Daily - Thu, 12/16/2021 - 13:45
Researchers have investigated the genetic structure of the relic species, Acer miyabei, from three regions in Japan: Hokkaido Island and two southern groups in Northern and Central Honshu. There was significant genetic differentiation among the regions, with the northern group separated from the southern groups. Populations in the mountains of Central Honshu showed a high proportion of distinct alleles and the mountainous terrain in this area likely contributed to this genetic differentiation.

Using the Earth’s noise to see beneath the Greenland ice sheet

Science Daily - Wed, 12/15/2021 - 13:21
The noise created by the Earth's movements has been used to build up a detailed picture of the geological conditions beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet and the impact on ice flow, in new research.  The team studied Rayleigh waves -- seismic waves generated by movements such as earthquakes -- to produce high-resolution images of the rocks underneath the ice sheet, helping to identify which areas are most susceptible to faster ice flow.  It will give us a better understanding of the processes that contribute to accelerated ice discharge into the ocean and the consequent sea level rise.

Winter is coming: Researchers uncover the surprising cause of the little ice age

Science Daily - Wed, 12/15/2021 - 13:20
New research provides a novel answer to one of the persistent questions in historical climatology, environmental history and the earth sciences: what caused the Little Ice Age? The answer, we now know, is a paradox: warming.

Greenland’s nutrients changing, with global impact

Science Daily - Wed, 12/15/2021 - 12:27
Scientists have discovered the availability of carbon in Greenland's waters is shifting poleward and appearing earlier than in previous decades. This finding will enhance understanding of carbon cycling and nutrient availability in this rapidly warming and changing environment.

Study of Antarctic ice’s deep past shows it could be more vulnerable to warming

Science Daily - Wed, 12/15/2021 - 10:33
Insights into how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet responded to a warmer climate millions of years ago could improve predictions of its future.

Meltwater influences ecosystems in the Arctic Ocean

Science Daily - Wed, 12/15/2021 - 07:20
In the summer months, sea ice from the Arctic drifts through Fram Strait into the Atlantic. Thanks to meltwater, a stable layer forms around the drifting ice atop the salty seawater, producing significant effects on biological processes and marine organisms.

Melting sea ice forces polar bears to travel farther for food

Science Daily - Tue, 12/14/2021 - 07:45
In recent years, polar bears in the Beaufort Sea have had to travel far outside of their traditional arctic hunting grounds which has contributed to an almost 30% decrease in their population. The bears' home range, or the amount of space they need for food and other resources, was around 64% larger from 1999-2016 than it was in 1986-1998, according to a recent study.

Climate change record in clam shells

Science Daily - Mon, 12/13/2021 - 11:19
The tiny, pale surf clam about the size of a fingernail that most people have seen and collected on beaches around the world holds clues in its shell to Earth's past. For the first time, researchers have been able to identify the monthly, and even weekly, ocean temperatures recorded in these smooth clam shells. Because ancient civilizations consumed these ubiquitous clams and left the shells at archeological sites, researchers now have a new way to reconstruct climate and its fluctuations from nearly 3,000 years ago.

Size doesn’t matter: Rock composition determines how deadly a meteorite impact is

Science Daily - Mon, 12/13/2021 - 11:18
A new study has found that the minerology of the rocks that a meteorite hits, rather than the size of the impact, determines how deadly an impact it will have.

River animals just go with the flow

Science Daily - Fri, 12/10/2021 - 09:31
Interesting floodplain dynamics were observed during and after seasonal flooding in northern Japan. The combination of the natural flow patterns of rivers and the complex geomorphology of the floodplain supported diverse aquatic biota there. Intensive fieldwork and a 2019 flood-recession survey yielded data in flow dynamics, water chemistry, and animal responses in the floodplain.The team's findings reveal that seasonal changes cause extensive floods as well as the expansion and contraction of river channels. The observed spatial and temporal changes to aquatic habitats give rise to distinct responses and adaptations by a diverse range of animals.

Study shows critical need to reduce use of road salt in winter, suggests best practices

Science Daily - Thu, 12/09/2021 - 11:45
Across the U.S. road crews dump around 25 million metric tons of sodium chloride -- much like table salt -- to unfreeze roads each year and make them safe for travel.

Fire hastens permafrost collapse in Arctic Alaska

Science Daily - Thu, 12/09/2021 - 11:42
While climate change is the primary driver of permafrost degradation in Arctic Alaska, a new analysis of 70 years of data reveals that tundra fires are accelerating that decline, contributing disproportionately to a phenomenon known as 'thermokarst,' the abrupt collapse of ice-rich permafrost as a result of thawing.

Reduced ocean circulation during the ice age caused anoxic conditions and increased carbon storage in the deep sea

Science Daily - Wed, 12/08/2021 - 11:34
The movement of water masses in the ocean, its circulation, is an essential component of the global climate system. Researchers have now been able to show that circulation in the deep ocean was significantly slowed down during the last glacial period. Analyses of sediment samples show that the decomposition of organic carbon in the water masses of the deep sea consumed the oxygen available there.

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