Science Daily

Photosynthesis can take place in nature even at extremely low light levels. This is the result of a study that investigated the development of Arctic microalgae at the end of the polar night. The study shows that photosynthesis in the ocean is possible under much lower light conditions, and can therefore take place at much greater depths, than previously assumed.

Special features of the Arctic climate, such as the strong reflection of the sun's rays off the light snow or the low position of the sun, amplify global warming in the Arctic. However, researchers are often faced with the challenge of modelling the underlying climatic processes in order to be able to provide reliable weather forecasts. Scientists succeeded in precisely measuring the movement of air masses from and to the Arctic. This will contribute to a better understanding of the processes accelerating climate change in the region.

A new species of Antarctic dragonfish, Akarotaxis gouldae or Banded Dragonfish, has been discovered in waters off the western Antarctic Peninsula. The species, named in honor of the recently decommissioned Antarctic research and supply vessel (ARSV) Laurence M. Gould and its crew, exemplifies both the unknown biodiversity and fragile state of the Antarctic ecosystem.

A new study sheds light on the vital role that the mixing of Atlantic and Arctic waters plays in sustaining the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which is crucial for regulating Earth's climate.

Researchers developed a mathematical model showing how brine movement in sea ice enhances heat transfer, potentially improving climate change predictions for polar regions.

The climate factors revealed in a new study shed light on Greenland's climate and can help predict the future development of Greenland's ice sheet.

By analyzing foram shells recovered in drill cores, study led by geologists links rapid climate change that led to thermal maxima 50 million years ago to rising CO2 levels.

A new study reveals how ocean biology and marine pollution can end up on Antarctica's shoreline.

A new study challenges as highly unlikely an alarming prediction of sea-level rise that -- while designated as low likelihood --earned a spot in the latest UN climate report for its projection that the collapse of polar ice sheets could make the world's oceans up to 50 feet higher by 2300. But researchers found that the model is based on inaccurate physics of how ice sheets retreat and break apart, though they stress that the accelerating loss of ice from Greenland and Antarctica is still dire.

The study found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1 km thick, was likely laid down between 662 to 720 million years ago during the Sturtian glaciation -- the first of two global freezes thought to have triggered the development of complex, multicellular life.

Establishing Key Biodiversity Areas in the Southern Ocean will be vital for safeguarding the ecosystem from the impact of human activities, researchers say.

Researchers highlight the roles of carbon dioxide and ocean currents as key drivers of temperature fluctuations in the tropical Andes over a 16,000 year period.

Researchers reported that upland landscapes were releasing some of the highest methane emissions yet documented among northern terrestrial ecosystems. The research was sparked when a potent greenhouse gas began ballooning under lawns in Fairbanks.

In September 2023, a megatsunami in remote eastern Greenland sent seismic waves around the world, piquing the interest of the global research community. The event created a week-long oscillating wave in Dickson Fjord, according to a new report in The Seismic Record.

A new study shows that frozen land in Alaska is eroding faster than it can be replaced due to climate change.

Mammoths, the massive pre-historic ice age cousins of the modern-day elephant, have always been understood to have inhabited parts of British Columbia, but the question of when has always been a bit woolly. Now, a new study has given scientists the clearest picture yet when the giant mammals roamed Vancouver Island.

Scientists have answered one of the most puzzling questions in plate tectonics: how and why 'stable' parts of continents gradually rise to form some of the planet's greatest topographic features.

Markings on a stone pillar at a 12,000 year-old archaeological site in Turkey likely represent the world's oldest solar calendar, created as a memorial to a devastating comet strike, experts suggest.

The first continent-wide mapping study of plant life across Antarctica reveals growth in previously uncharted areas and is set to inform conservation measures across the region. The satellite survey of mosses, lichens and algae across the continent will form a baseline for monitoring how Antarctica's vegetation responds to climate change.

Seeds, twigs, and insect parts found under two miles of ice confirm Greenland's ice sheet melted in the recent past, the first direct evidence that the center -- not just the edges -- of the two-mile-deep ice melted away in the recent geological past. The new research indicates that the giant ice sheet is more fragile than scientists had realized until the last few years -- and reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe in a warmer future.