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Warming has more impact than cooling on Greenland's 'firn'

Science Daily - Thu, 07/25/2024 - 14:47
A new study finds disproportionate effects of temperature shifts on an icy glacier layer.

How Saharan dust regulates hurricane rainfall

Science Daily - Wed, 07/24/2024 - 16:14
New research underscores the close relationship between dust plumes transported from the Sahara Desert in Africa, and rainfall from tropical cyclones along the U.S. Gulf Coast and Florida.

Hot traces in rock

Science Daily - Tue, 07/23/2024 - 11:33
Fluids circulating underground change rocks over the course of time. These processes must be taken into account if they are to be used as a climate archive. Researchers have used 380-million-year-old limestones from Hagen-Hohenlimburg to show in detail which climate information is still preserved in the rock.

Sea ice's cooling power is waning faster than its area of extent

Science Daily - Wed, 07/17/2024 - 15:24
As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new research.

Research tracks 66 million years of mammalian diversity

Science Daily - Wed, 07/17/2024 - 11:11
New research has examined the fossil record going back 66 million years and tracked changes to mammalian ecosystems and species diversity on the North American continent.

Scientists discover missing piece in climate models

Science Daily - Mon, 07/15/2024 - 12:57
As the planet continues to warm due to human-driven climate change, accurate computer climate models will be key in helping illuminate exactly how the climate will continue to be altered in the years ahead.

How plant cold specialists can adapt to the environment

Science Daily - Fri, 07/12/2024 - 11:40
Evolutionary biologists studied spoonworts to determine what influence genome duplication has on the adaptive potential of plants. The results show that polyploids -- species with more than two sets of chromosomes -- can have an accumulation of structural mutations with signals for a possible local adaptation, enabling them to occupy ecological niches time and time again.

Scientists call for 'major initiative' to study whether geoengineering should be used on glaciers

Science Daily - Thu, 07/11/2024 - 10:15
Scientists have released a landmark report on glacial geoengineering -- an emerging field studying whether technology could halt the melting of glaciers and ice sheets as climate change progresses.

The Gulf Stream is wind-powered and could weaken from climate change

Science Daily - Wed, 07/10/2024 - 12:08
New evidence of changes to the Gulf Stream during the last ice age could indicate additional sensitivity to future climatic changes, finds a new study.

The dawn of the Antarctic ice sheets

Science Daily - Thu, 07/04/2024 - 19:15
In recent years global warming has left its mark on the Antarctic ice sheets. The 'eternal' ice in Antarctica is melting faster than previously assumed, particularly in West Antarctica more than East Antarctica. The root for this could lie in its formation, as an international research team has now discovered: sediment samples from drill cores combined with complex climate and ice-sheet modelling show that permanent glaciation of Antarctica began around 34 million years ago -- but did not encompass the entire continent as previously assumed, but rather was confined to the eastern region of the continent (East Antarctica).

Retreating glaciers: Fungi enhance carbon storage in young Arctic soils

Science Daily - Wed, 07/03/2024 - 12:18
Melting Arctic glaciers are in rapid recession, and microscopic pioneers colonize the new exposed landscapes. Researchers revealed that yeasts play an important role in soil formation in the Arctic.

Melting of Alaskan glaciers accelerating faster than previously thought

Science Daily - Tue, 07/02/2024 - 12:54
Melting of glaciers in a major Alaskan icefield has accelerated and could reach an irreversible tipping point earlier than previously thought. The research found that glacier loss on Juneau Icefield, which straddles the boundary between Alaska and British Columbia, Canada, has increased dramatically since 2010. The team looked at records going back to 1770 and identified three distinct periods in how icefield volume changed. In particular, they found that icefield-wide, rates of glacier area shrinkage were five times faster from 2015-2019 relative to 1948-1979. The research team say that current published projections for the Juneau icefield may need to be updated to reflect the processes detailed in this latest study.

Shrinking glaciers: Microscopic fungi enhance soil carbon storage in new landscapes created by shrinking Arctic glaciers

Science Daily - Mon, 07/01/2024 - 15:22
Shrinking glaciers expose new land in the Arctic, creating unique ecosystems. Researchers studied how microbes colonize these barren landscapes. The study reveals a crucial role for specific fungal species in capturing and storing carbon in the newly formed soil. These findings suggest fungi are essential for future carbon storage in the Arctic as glaciers continue to recede.

Climate change to shift tropical rains northward

Science Daily - Fri, 06/28/2024 - 11:52
Atmospheric scientists predict that unchecked carbon emissions will force tropical rains to shift northward in the coming decades, which would profoundly impact agriculture and economies near the Earth's equator. The northward rain shift would be spurred by carbon emissions that influence the formation of the intertropical convergence zones that are essentially atmospheric engines that drive about a third of the world's precipitation.

Antarctic ice shelves hold twice as much meltwater as previously thought

Science Daily - Thu, 06/27/2024 - 16:22
Slush -- water-soaked snow -- makes up more than half of all meltwater on the Antarctic ice shelves during the height of summer, yet is poorly accounted for in regional climate models. The findings could have profound implications for ice shelf stability and sea level rise.

Ocean's loss of oxygen caused massive Jurassic extinction: Could it happen again?

Science Daily - Wed, 06/26/2024 - 14:20
Researchers have found a chemical clue in Italian limestone that explains a mass extinction of marine life in the Early Jurassic period, 183 million years ago. Volcanic activity pumped out CO2, warming oceans and lowering their oxygen levels. The findings may foretell the impact climate change and oxygen depletion might have on today's oceans.

Carbon dioxide's heavy stamp on temperature: Doubling CO2 may mean 7 to 14 degree increase

Science Daily - Mon, 06/24/2024 - 11:55
A doubling of the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere could cause an increase in the average temperature on earth from 7 to even a maximum of 14 degrees. That is shown in the analysis of sediments from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Understanding the Green Sahara's collapse

Science Daily - Mon, 06/17/2024 - 16:36
Abrupt shifts within complex systems such as the Earth's climate system are extremely hard to predict. Researchers have now succeeded in developing a new method to anticipate such tipping points in advance. They successfully tested the reliability of their method using one of the most severe abrupt climate changes of the past: the shift of the once-green Sahara into a desert.

Ancient ocean slowdown warns of future climate chaos

Science Daily - Thu, 06/13/2024 - 13:07
When it comes to the ocean's response to global warming, we're not in entirely uncharted waters. A new study shows that episodes of extreme heat in Earth's past caused the exchange of waters from the surface to the deep ocean to decline.

A mountainous mystery uncovered in Australia's pink sands

Science Daily - Wed, 06/12/2024 - 10:33
Deposits of deep-pink sand washing up on South Australian shores shed new light on when the Australian tectonic plate began to subduct beneath the Pacific plate, as well as the presence of previously unknown ancient Antarctic mountains.

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