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Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming.
Updated: 2 hours 42 min ago

Updrafts crucial: Clouds in the southern hemisphere more precisely understood

Wed, 01/26/2022 - 13:41
Clouds in the southern hemisphere reflect more sunlight than those in the northern hemisphere. The reason is a more frequent occurrence of liquid water droplets, which results from an interplay between updrafts and a cleaner environment.

Bubbles of methane rising from seafloor in Puget Sound

Wed, 01/19/2022 - 12:50
The release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for almost a quarter of global warming, is being studied around the world, from Arctic wetlands to livestock feedlots. A team has discovered a source much closer to home: 349 plumes of methane gas bubbling up from the seafloor in Puget Sound, which holds more water than any other U.S. estuary.

Rivers speeding up Arctic ice melt at alarming rate

Tue, 01/18/2022 - 09:41
Freshwater flowing into the Arctic Ocean from the continent is thought to exacerbate Arctic amplification, but the extent of its impact isn't fully understood. New research measures how the flow of the Yenisei River -- the largest freshwater river that flows into the Arctic Ocean -- has changed over the last few hundred years, and describes the impact freshwater has had on the Arctic.

Past eight years: Warmest since modern recordkeeping began

Thu, 01/13/2022 - 22:01
Earth's global average surface temperature in 2021 tied with 2018 as the sixth warmest on record, according to independent analyses done by NASA and NOAA. Collectively, the past eight years are the warmest years since modern recordkeeping began in 1880.

World's largest fish breeding area discovered in Antarctica

Thu, 01/13/2022 - 10:14
Near the Filchner Ice Shelf in the south of the Antarctic Weddell Sea, a research team has found the world's largest fish breeding area known to date. A towed camera system photographed and filmed thousands of nests of icefish of the species Neopagetopsis ionah on the seabed.

Ancient Mesopotamian discovery transforms knowledge of early farming

Tue, 01/11/2022 - 14:37
Researchers have unearthed the earliest definitive evidence of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in ancient Iraq, challenging our understanding of humanity's earliest agricultural practices.

Arctic coasts in transition

Tue, 01/11/2022 - 10:19
Arctic coasts are characterized by sea ice, permafrost and ground ice. This makes them particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, which is already accelerating rapid coastal erosion.

Low oxygen and sulfide in the oceans played greater role in ancient mass extinction

Mon, 01/10/2022 - 17:48
Researchers have new insight into the complicated puzzle of environmental conditions that characterized the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME), which killed about 85% of the species in the ocean.

Recent growth and sudden declines in Antarctic sea ice to be unique changes since the early 20th century

Mon, 01/10/2022 - 10:41
Researchers show that the increase of sea ice surrounding Antarctica since 1979 is a unique feature of Antarctic climate since 1905 -- an observation that paints a dramatic first-ever picture for weather and climate implications on the world's southernmost continent.

Tipping point in Humboldt Current off Peru leads to species shift

Fri, 01/07/2022 - 11:14
Fundamental changes in the ocean, such as warming, acidification or oxygen depletion, may have significant consequences for the composition of fish stocks, including the displacement of individual species. Researchers have reconstructed environmental conditions of the warm period 125,000 years ago (Eemian interglacial) using sediment samples from the Humboldt Current System off Peru. They were able to show that, at warmer temperatures, mainly smaller, goby-like fish species became dominant and pushed back important food fish such as the anchovy (Engraulis ringens). The trend is independent of fishing pressure and fisheries management.

Ancient Maya lessons on surviving drought

Wed, 01/05/2022 - 08:45
A new study casts doubt on drought as the driver of ancient Mayan civilization collapse.

Geneticists’ new research on ancient Britain contains insights on language, ancestry, kinship, milk

Wed, 12/22/2021 - 14:31
New research revealing a major migration to the island of Great Britain offers fresh insights into the languages spoken at the time, the ancestry of present-day England and Wales, and even ancient habits of dairy consumption.

Melting of the Antarctic ice sheet could cause multi-meter rise in sea levels by the end of the millennium

Wed, 12/22/2021 - 09:08
Scientists predict that continued global warming under current trends could lead to an elevation of the sea level by as much as five meters by the year 3000 CE.

Plants as cold specialists from the ice age

Tue, 12/21/2021 - 09:27
Plants of the spoonweed group time-and-again quickly adapted to a changing climate during the Ice Ages of the last two million years. Evolutionary biologists and botanists used genomic analyses to study what factors favor adaptation to extreme climatic conditions. The evolutionary history of the Brassicaceae family provides insights into how plants may be able to cope with climate change in the future.

Extinct reptile discovery reveals earliest origins of human teeth, study finds

Tue, 12/21/2021 - 09:27
A new extinct reptile species has shed light on how our earliest ancestors became top predators by modifying their teeth in response to environmental instability around 300 million years ago.

Air bubbles in Antarctic ice point to cause of oxygen decline

Mon, 12/20/2021 - 18:06
An unknown culprit has been removing oxygen from our atmosphere for at least 800,000 years, and an analysis of air bubbles preserved in Antarctic ice for up to 1.5 million years has revealed the likely suspect.

Abundance of life discovered beneath an Antarctic ice shelf

Mon, 12/20/2021 - 11:00
Far beneath the ice shelves of the Antarctic, there is more marine life than expected.

Himalayan glaciers melting at 'exceptional rate'

Mon, 12/20/2021 - 07:31
The accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers threatens the water supply of millions of people in Asia, new research warns. The study concludes that over recent decades the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly over the last few decades than on average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the Little Ice Age.

Fire and ice: The puzzling link between western wildfires and Arctic sea ice

Fri, 12/17/2021 - 09:28
Researchers uncover the mechanics behind dwindling Arctic sea ice and its influence on wildfire weather in the western United States.

Maples in the mountains provide clues to past distribution

Thu, 12/16/2021 - 13:45
Researchers have investigated the genetic structure of the relic species, Acer miyabei, from three regions in Japan: Hokkaido Island and two southern groups in Northern and Central Honshu. There was significant genetic differentiation among the regions, with the northern group separated from the southern groups. Populations in the mountains of Central Honshu showed a high proportion of distinct alleles and the mountainous terrain in this area likely contributed to this genetic differentiation.

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