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For the past 70 years, the Danube has almost never frozen over

Science Daily - Thu, 05/24/2018 - 10:23
Since the 1950s, warmer and warmer winters and man-made inflows have largely prevented ice formation on Europe's second-largest river.

The gypsum gravity chute: A phytoplankton-elevator to the ocean floor

Science Daily - Tue, 05/22/2018 - 11:32
Tiny gypsum crystals can make phytoplankton so heavy that they rapidly sink, hereby transporting large quantities of carbon to the ocean's depths.

Ancient mound builders carefully timed their occupation of coastal Louisiana site

Science Daily - Tue, 05/22/2018 - 10:48
A new study of ancient mound builders who lived hundreds of years ago on the Mississippi River Delta near present-day New Orleans offers new insights into how Native peoples selected the landforms that supported their villages and earthen mounds -- and why these sites were later abandoned.

Scientists analyze first ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia

Science Daily - Thu, 05/17/2018 - 13:26
Researchers have completed the first whole-genome analysis of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia Study identifies at least three major waves of human migration into the region over the last 50,000 years, each shaping the genetics of Southeast Asia.

After 60 years, Isle Royale continues world's longest predator-prey study

Science Daily - Thu, 05/17/2018 - 09:23
The 2018 report is out: two wolves, almost 1,500 moose and an ecosystem in transition. In its 60th year, the research conducted at Isle Royale National Park is the longest running predator-prey study of its kind.

Major shifts in global freshwater

Science Daily - Wed, 05/16/2018 - 15:25
A new global, satellite-based study of Earth's freshwater found that Earth's wet areas are getting wetter, while dry areas are getting drier. The data suggest this pattern is due to many factors, including human water management practices, human-caused climate change and natural climate cycles.

Traditional knowledge sheds light on changing East Greenland climate and polar bear hunt

Science Daily - Tue, 05/15/2018 - 12:15
Inuit polar bear hunters in East Greenland report changes to their subsistence hunting patterns as well as polar bear distribution and behavior due to decreasing sea ice and the introduction of hunting quotas in 2006. The study is the first in nearly 20 years to document traditional knowledge in East Greenland -- providing a valuable baseline for monitoring future changes and the polar bear population.

Tiny satellite's first global map of ice clouds

Science Daily - Tue, 05/15/2018 - 10:35
Looking at Earth from the International Space Station, astronauts see big, white clouds spreading across the planet. They cannot distinguish a gray rain cloud from a puffy white cloud. While satellites can see through many clouds and estimate the liquid precipitation they hold, they can't see the smaller ice particles that create enormous rain clouds.

Antarctic seals can help predict ice sheet melt

Science Daily - Tue, 05/15/2018 - 09:56
Two species of seal found in Antarctic seas are helping scientists collect data about the temperature and salinity of waters around vulnerable ice sheets in West Antarctica. Understanding more about how this water gets towards the ice shelves by measuring its temperature, salinity and depth, will help climate change modellers make more accurate predictions about how rapidly the Antarctic ice sheet is melting.

Lead pollution in Greenland ice shows rise and fall of ancient European civilizations

Science Daily - Mon, 05/14/2018 - 14:19
Scientists, historians and economists have used ice samples from the North Greenland Ice Core Project to measure, date and analyze European lead emissions that were captured in Greenland ice between 1100 BC and AD 800. Their results provide new insight for historians about how European civilizations and their economies fared over time.

Ice stream draining Greenland Ice Sheet sensitive to changes over past 45,000 years

Science Daily - Mon, 05/14/2018 - 07:39
A ribbon of ice more than 600 kilometers long that drains about 12 percent of the gigantic Greenland Ice Sheet has been smaller than it is today about half of the time over the past 45,000 years, a new study suggests.

Tiny fossils unlock clues to Earth's climate half a billion years ago

Science Daily - Wed, 05/09/2018 - 17:55
Scientists have quantified the temperature of Earth's oceans over half a billion years ago by combining fossil data and climate models.

The slipperiness of ice explained

Science Daily - Wed, 05/09/2018 - 11:15
Everybody knows that sliding on ice or snow, is much easier than sliding on most other surfaces. But why is the ice surface slippery? Researchers have now shown that the slipperiness of ice is a consequence of the ease with which the topmost water molecules can roll over the ice surface.

Ediacara Biota flourished in bacterially rich marine habitats

Science Daily - Fri, 05/04/2018 - 12:36
Researchers have used biomarkers in ancient rocks to learn more about the environmental conditions and food sources that sustained the Ediacara Biota.

Are emperor penguins eating enough?

Science Daily - Wed, 05/02/2018 - 12:18
For emperor penguins waddling around a warming Antarctic, diminishing sea ice means less fish to eat. How the diets of these tuxedoed birds will hold up in the face of climate change is a big question scientists are grappling with.

Climate change will boost global lake evaporation -- with 'extreme' consequences

Science Daily - Wed, 05/02/2018 - 10:59
Global lake evaporation will increase 16 percent by the end of the century, triggering, among other outcomes, stronger precipitation events, according to a new study. But the specific mechanisms that will drive that phenomenon are not quite what scientists expected.

'Hairdryer wind' melts snow in Antarctica in winter as well

Science Daily - Wed, 05/02/2018 - 09:40
Even though the sun does not shine in Antarctica in winter, in some places snow on the glaciers can melt. The cause: warm wind. Utrecht glacier researchers discovered that fact by combining the results of weather stations and satellite images.

American pikas tolerate climate change better than expected

Science Daily - Tue, 05/01/2018 - 07:53
The American pika, a relative of rabbits, occupies rocky environments in the mountains of western Northern America. It has been widely thought that pikas could not survive extremes of temperature and thus were at risk of running out of space at the tops of mountains as temperatures rise due to climate change. But is there more to the story?

Physics of a glacial 'slushy' reveal granular forces on a massive scale

Science Daily - Mon, 04/30/2018 - 15:04
New findings describe the dynamics of the clog of icebergs -- known as an ice mélange -- in front of Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier. The fast-moving glacier is considered a bellwether for the effects of climate change.

Russian Arctic glacier loss doubles as temps warm

Science Daily - Wed, 04/25/2018 - 15:20
Ice mass loss in the Russian Arctic has nearly doubled over the last decade.

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