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Wax on, melt off: Adding phase change materials, like paraffin, to concrete could make roads that melt snow and ice

Science Daily - Wed, 09/13/2017 - 18:31
Researchers have made a discovery that could create roads that melt off ice and snow during winter storms. Their secret? Adding a little paraffin wax to the road's concrete mix.

Earth's oldest trees in climate-induced race up the tree line

Science Daily - Wed, 09/13/2017 - 18:24
Bristlecone pine and limber pine trees in the Great Basin region of the western United States are like two very gnarled, old men in a slow-motion race up the mountaintop, and climate change is the starting gun, according to a new study. The study shows that the tree line has been steadily moving upslope over the past 50 years in the Great Basin.

Ancient tree reveals cause of spike in Arctic temperature

Science Daily - Tue, 09/12/2017 - 08:30
A kauri tree trapped in a New Zealand swamp for 30,000 years may have overturned the idea that a slowdown in ocean currents in the North Atlantic may be entirely responsible for Dansgaard-Oeschger events and the characteristic bi-polar see-saw, which sees the Antarctica cool while the Arctic warms during glacial periods. The research reveals a mechanism that generates a 20,000 km long atmospheric bridge, reaching from Antarctica to the Arctic.

Rapid climate changes across northern hemisphere in the earliest Middle Pleistocene

Science Daily - Tue, 09/12/2017 - 08:30
By studying climate changes that took place thousands of years ago, we can better understand the global climate system and predict Earth's future climate. A multi-organization research team has discovered evidence of rapid climate changes on a millennial-to-centennial scale that occurred 780 to 760 thousand years ago.

How openings in Antarctic sea ice affect worldwide climate

Science Daily - Mon, 09/11/2017 - 11:26
In a new analysis of climate models, researchers reveal the significant global effects that seemingly anomalous polynyas, or openings in sea ice, can have. Their findings indicate that heat escaping from the ocean through these openings impacts sea and atmospheric temperatures and wind patterns around the globe and even rainfall around the tropics.

Cold region 'tipping point' now inevitable

Science Daily - Mon, 09/11/2017 - 11:26
The decline of cold regions called periglacial zones is now inevitable due to climate change, researchers say.

USA threatened by more frequent flooding

Science Daily - Mon, 09/11/2017 - 11:26
The East Coast of the United States is threatened by more frequent flooding in the future. According to this study, the states of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina are most at risk. Their coastal regions are being immersed by up to three millimeters per year -- among other things, due to human intervention.

Ancient wetlands offer window into climate change

Science Daily - Mon, 09/11/2017 - 08:59
Environmental researchers have uncovered a wealth of information about a unique part of Australia that offers never-before-seen insights into climate change since the last ice age.

NASA flights map summer melt of Greenland ice sheet

Science Daily - Fri, 09/08/2017 - 19:54
Operation IceBridge is flying in Greenland to measure how much ice has melted over the course of the summer from the ice sheet. The flights, which began on Aug. 25 and will go on until Sept. 21, repeat paths flown this spring and aim to monitor seasonal changes in the elevation of the ice sheet.

Ship exhaust makes oceanic thunderstorms more intense

Science Daily - Thu, 09/07/2017 - 13:27
Thunderstorms directly above two of the world's busiest shipping lanes are significantly more powerful than storms in areas of the ocean where ships don't travel, according to new research.

Direct evidence of sea level 'fingerprints' discovered

Science Daily - Thu, 09/07/2017 - 11:02
The first observation of sea level 'fingerprints' -- tell-tale differences in sea level rise around the world in response to changes in continental water and ice sheet mass -- has been reported by researchers.

Unraveling a major cause of sea ice retreat in the Arctic Ocean

Science Daily - Wed, 09/06/2017 - 09:36
Quantitative analysis has evidenced the acceleration system of melting ice: dark water surfaces absorb more heat than white ice surfaces, thus melting ice and making more water surfaces in the Arctic Ocean.

Aeroices: Newly discovered ultralow-density ice

Science Daily - Tue, 09/05/2017 - 13:55
Relatively little is known about the effects of extreme negative pressure on water molecules. Exploring a significant region of negative pressure through molecular dynamic simulations, researchers have now theoretically discovered a new family of ice phases. Called aeroices, these ices have the lowest density of all known ice crystals.

Warmer world may bring more local, less global, temperature variability

Science Daily - Tue, 09/05/2017 - 11:32
Many tropical or subtropical regions could see increases in naturally occurring temperature variability as Earth warms over coming decades, a new study suggests. These local changes could occur even though Earth's global mean surface temperature variability will likely decrease because of less solar reflection from icecaps at high latitudes.

Massive Antarctic volcanic eruptions linked to abrupt Southern hemisphere climate changes

Science Daily - Mon, 09/04/2017 - 14:10
New findings document a 192-year series of volcanic eruptions in Antarctica that coincided with accelerated deglaciation about 17,700 years ago.

Experts call for added focus on the impact of glacier mass loss on downstream systems

Science Daily - Mon, 09/04/2017 - 14:10
Researchers have warned of an 'urgent worldwide need' to address a broad spectrum of cascading impacts of glacier mass loss on downstream systems.

Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to 'perfect storm' of tropical, polar conditions

Science Daily - Thu, 08/31/2017 - 08:26
The sudden, unexpected nosedive in Antarctic sea ice last year was due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.

American pika disappears from large area of California's Sierra Nevada mountains

Science Daily - Wed, 08/30/2017 - 19:21
The American pika, a small mammal adapted to high altitudes and cold temperatures, has died out from a 165-square-mile span of habitat in California's northern Sierra Nevada mountains, and the cause appears to be climate change. Researchers surveyed pika habitat throughout the north Lake Tahoe area and found that pikas had disappeared from an area that stretches from near Tahoe City to Truckee, more than 10 miles away, and includes Mount Pluto.

Century-old seal pelts reveal changes in Ross Sea ecosystem

Science Daily - Wed, 08/30/2017 - 08:43
Scientists sampled a pile of frozen pelts left in a hut by Antarctic explorers for Weddell seal tissue from a century ago, at the very start of human activities in Antarctica. By using sophisticated isotope analysis to compare samples from modern and century-old seals, they were able to investigate human impacts on the Antarctic ecosystem.

Past and future of sea ice cover in the Arctic

Science Daily - Tue, 08/29/2017 - 08:10
Temperatures in the Arctic are currently climbing two to three times faster than the global average. The result is dwindling sea ice. Climate researchers now show that, in the course of our planet's history, summertime sea ice was to be found in the central Arctic in periods characterized by higher global temperatures -- but less CO2 -- than today.

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