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Precise data for improved coastline protection

Science Daily - Tue, 06/01/2021 - 12:58
Researchers have conducted the first precise and comprehensive measurements of sea level rises in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. A new method now makes it possible to determine sea level changes with millimeter accuracy even in coastal areas and in case of sea ice coverage. This is of vital importance for planning protective measures.

Extreme CO2 greenhouse effect heated up the young Earth

Science Daily - Mon, 05/31/2021 - 14:32
Although sun radiation was relatively low, the temperature on the young Earth was warm. An international team of geoscientists has found important clues that high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were responsible for these high temperatures. It only got cooler with the beginning of plate tectonics, as the CO2 was gradually captured and stored on the emerging continents.

Newly discovered African 'climate seesaw' drove human evolution

Science Daily - Mon, 05/31/2021 - 14:32
A scientific consortium has found that ancient El Niño-like weather patterns were the primary drivers of environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa over the last 620 thousand years - the critical time-frame for the evolution of our species. The group found that these ancient weather patterns had more profound impacts in sub-Saharan Africa than glacial-interglacial cycles more commonly linked to human evolution.

A fiery past sheds new light on the future of global climate change

Science Daily - Fri, 05/28/2021 - 14:25
Centuries-old smoke particles preserved in the ice reveal a fiery past in the Southern Hemisphere and shed new light on the future impacts of global climate change.

How New Zealand's cheeky kea and kaka will fare with climate change

Science Daily - Thu, 05/27/2021 - 10:25
With global warming decreasing the size of New Zealand's alpine zone, a new study found out what this means for our altitude-loving kea.

Slushy iceberg aggregates control calving timing on Greenland's Jakobshavn Isbræ

Science Daily - Thu, 05/27/2021 - 10:25
shows that a relaxation in the thick aggregate of icebergs floating at the glacier-ocean boundary of the Jakobshavn Isbræ occurs up to an hour before calving events. This finding may help scientists better understand future sea-level rise scenarios and could also help them predict when major episodes of calving are about to occur.

People prefer 'natural' strategies to reduce atmospheric carbon

Science Daily - Wed, 05/26/2021 - 17:58
A cross-disciplinary collaboration found that a majority of the U.S. public is supportive of soil carbon storage as a climate change mitigation strategy, particularly when that and similar approaches are seen as 'natural' strategies.

Aquaculture turns biodiversity into uniformity along the coast of China

Science Daily - Wed, 05/26/2021 - 10:55
Fishery and aquaculture have given rise to an enormous uniformity in the diversity of bivalves along the more than 18,000 kilometer long Chinese coast, biologists report.

Warm ice may fracture differently than cold ice

Science Daily - Wed, 05/26/2021 - 10:55
Researchers have found strong evidence that warm ice - that is, ice very close in temperature to zero degrees Celsius - may fracture differently than the kinds of ice typically studied in laboratories or nature. A new study takes a closer look at the phenomenon.

Egyptian fossil surprise: Fishes thrived in tropics in ancient warm period, despite high ocean temps

Science Daily - Tue, 05/25/2021 - 09:17
The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, or PETM, was a short interval of highly elevated global temperatures 56 million years ago that is frequently described as the best ancient analog for present-day climate warming.

Greenland glacial meltwaters rich in mercury

Science Daily - Mon, 05/24/2021 - 15:18
New research shows that concentrations of the toxic element mercury in rivers and fjords connected to the Greenland Ice Sheet are comparable to rivers in industrial China, an unexpected finding that is raising questions about the effects of glacial melting in an area that is a major exporter of seafood. 

Earth's vegetation is changing faster today than it has over the last 18,000 years

Science Daily - Thu, 05/20/2021 - 13:53
A global survey of fossil pollen has discovered that the planet's vegetation is changing at least as quickly today as it did when the last ice sheets retreated around 10,000 years ago.

Airborne radar reveals groundwater beneath glacier

Science Daily - Thu, 05/20/2021 - 12:37
Researchers have detected groundwater beneath a glacier in Greenland for the first time using airborne radar data. If applicable to other glaciers and ice sheets, the technique could allow for more accurate predictions of future sea-level rise.

Global study of glacier debris shows impact on melt rate

Science Daily - Thu, 05/20/2021 - 12:37
The work is a global assessment of Earth's 92,033 debris-covered glaciers and shows that debris, taken as a whole, substantially reduces glacier mass loss.

Declining biodiversity in Tibet's mountainous regions in response to climate change

Science Daily - Thu, 05/20/2021 - 08:50
Normally, mountain forests are among the most diverse habitats in alpine regions. Yet, as a team discovered in the Tibetan Plateau, the higher, treeless areas are home to far more species.

Groundwater monitoring with seismic instruments

Science Daily - Wed, 05/19/2021 - 11:07
How can we determine how empty or full the soil reservoir is in areas that are difficult to access? Researchers have now demonstrated an elegant method to track groundwater dynamics in high mountains: They use seismic waves.

Colonization of the Antilles by South American fauna: Giant sunken islands as a passageway

Science Daily - Tue, 05/18/2021 - 10:42
Fossils of land animals from South America have been found in the Antilles, but how did these animals get there? According to scientists from the CNRS, l'Université des Antilles, l'Université de Montpellier and d'Université Côte d'Azur, land emerged in this region and then disappeared beneath the waves for millions of years, explaining how some species were able to migrate to the Antilles. This study will be published in June 2021 issue in Earth-Science Reviews.

Greenland becoming darker, warmer as its snow ages and changes shape

Science Daily - Mon, 05/17/2021 - 09:57
A reduction in the amount of fresh, light-colored snow in parts of Greenland is exposing older, darker snow. The research reports on new weather patterns and explains how the changing shape of snowflakes on the surface is leading to conditions on Greenland's ice sheet, including possibly increased melting.

Two biodiversity refugia identified in the Eastern Bering Sea

Science Daily - Mon, 05/17/2021 - 09:26
Scientists have used species survey and climate data to identify two marine biodiversity refugia in the Eastern Bering Sea - regions where species richness, community stability and climate stability are high.

Climate change threatens one-third of global food production

Science Daily - Fri, 05/14/2021 - 12:41
New research assesses just how global food production will be affected if greenhouse gas emissions are left uncut.

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