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Carbon emission from permafrost soils underestimated by 14%

Science Daily - Mon, 06/15/2020 - 13:08
Picture 500 million cars stacked in rows. That's how much carbon -- about 1,000 petagrams, or one billion metric tons - -is locked away in Arctic permafrost.

Antarctic sea-ice models improve for the next IPCC report

Science Daily - Wed, 06/10/2020 - 09:27
All the new coupled climate models project that the area of sea ice around Antarctica will decline by 2100, but the amount of loss varies considerably between the emissions scenarios.

New explanation for neutrino anomalies in Antarctica

Science Daily - Tue, 06/09/2020 - 18:07
A new article provides a new explanation for two recent strange events that occurred in Antarctica -- high-energy neutrinos appearing to come up out of the Earth on their own accord and head skyward.

Ancient micrometeoroids carried specks of stardust, water to asteroid 4 Vesta

Science Daily - Tue, 06/09/2020 - 15:19
Researchers have studied presolar materials that landed on a planet-like body. Their findings may help solve the mystery: where did all the water on Earth come from?

New study reveals cracks beneath giant, methane gushing craters

Science Daily - Thu, 06/04/2020 - 10:16
250-million-year-old cracks in the seafloor feed greenhouse gas methane into giant craters in the Barents Sea. More than 100 craters, presently expelling enormous amounts of the greenhouse gas into the ocean, are found in the area.

Today's atmospheric carbon dioxide levels greater than 23 million-year record

Science Daily - Mon, 06/01/2020 - 18:41
A common message in use to convey the seriousness of climate change to the public is: 'Carbon dioxide levels are higher today than they have been for the past one million years!' This new study used a novel method to conclude that today's carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are actually higher than they have been for the past 23 million years.

Atmospheric scientists identify cleanest air on Earth in first-of-its-kind study

Science Daily - Mon, 06/01/2020 - 18:41
A research group has identified an atmospheric region unchanged by human-related activities in the first study to measure bioaerosol composition of the Southern Ocean south of 40 degrees south latitude.

Antarctic ice sheets capable of retreating up to 50 meters per day

Science Daily - Thu, 05/28/2020 - 15:05
The ice shelves surrounding the Antarctic coastline retreated at speeds of up to 50 meters per day at the end of the last Ice Age, far more rapid than the satellite-derived retreat rates observed today, new research has found.

Erosion of ozone layer responsible for mass extinction event

Science Daily - Wed, 05/27/2020 - 14:01
Researchers have shown that an extinction event 360 million years ago, that killed much of the Earth's plant and freshwater aquatic life, was caused by a brief breakdown of the ozone layer that shields the Earth from damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This is a newly discovered extinction mechanism with profound implications for our warming world today.

Volcanic eruptions reduce global rainfall

Science Daily - Wed, 05/27/2020 - 09:50
Scientists have identified the mechanism behind the reduction in precipitation after volcanic eruptions. Volcano-induced El Niño amplifies the reduction in precipitation. Safety of geoengineering that mimic volcanoes is not guaranteed.

Rarely heard narwhal vocalizations

Science Daily - Tue, 05/26/2020 - 11:40
With the help of Inuit hunters, geophysicists recently recorded the various calls, buzzes, clicks and whistles of narwhals as they summered in a Greenland fjord. The recordings help scientists better understand the soundscape of Arctic glacial fjords and provide valuable insight into the behavior of these shy and mysterious creatures, according to the researchers.

Ancient ocean oxygen levels associated with changing atmospheric carbon dioxide

Science Daily - Wed, 05/20/2020 - 18:14
Why do carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere wax and wane in conjunction with the warm and cold periods of Earth's past? Scientists have been trying to answer this question for many years, and thanks to chemical clues left in sediment cores extracted from deep in the ocean floor, they are starting to put together the pieces of that puzzle.

Modern sea-level rise linked to human activities

Science Daily - Fri, 05/15/2020 - 13:46
New research reaffirms that modern sea-level rise is linked to human activities and not to changes in Earth's orbit. Surprisingly, the Earth had nearly ice-free conditions with carbon dioxide levels not much higher than today and had glacial periods in times previously believed to be ice-free over the last 66 million years, according to a new article.

Early humans thrived in this drowned South African landscape

Science Daily - Fri, 05/15/2020 - 12:19
Scientists have reconstructed the paleoecology the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, a now-drowned landscape on the southern tip of Africa that was high and dry during glacial phases of the last 2 million years and may have been instrumental in shaping the evolution of early modern humans.

NASA's ICESat-2 measures Arctic Ocean's sea ice thickness, snow cover

Science Daily - Thu, 05/14/2020 - 12:17
Arctic sea ice helps keep Earth cool, as its bright surface reflects the Sun's energy back into space.

CFC replacements are a source of persistent organic pollution in the Arctic

Science Daily - Thu, 05/14/2020 - 12:17
Substances used to replace ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) may be just as problematic as their predecessors, a new study shows.

Remnants of human migration paths exist underwater at 'choke points'

Science Daily - Tue, 05/12/2020 - 12:35
A study shows evidence vital to understanding human prehistory beneath the seas in places that were dry during the Last Glacial Maximum. This paper informs one of the 'hottest mysteries' in science: the debate over when the first Asians peopled North America.

New technique uses radar to gauge methane release from Arctic lakes

Science Daily - Mon, 05/11/2020 - 10:25
A research team has developed a way to use satellite images to determine the amount of methane being released from northern lakes, a technique that could help climate change modelers better account for this potent greenhouse gas. By using synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, researchers were able to find a correlation between 'brighter' satellite images of frozen lakes and the amount of methane they produce.

Sea level could rise by more than 1 meter by 2100 if emission targets are not met

Science Daily - Fri, 05/08/2020 - 07:35
Scientists found that the global mean sea-level rise could exceed 1 meter by 2100 and 5 meters by 2300 if global targets on emissions are not achieved.

Benthos in the Antarctic Weddell Sea in decline

Science Daily - Thu, 05/07/2020 - 12:07
Over the past quarter-century, changes in Antarctic sea-ice cover have had profound impacts on life on the ocean floor.

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