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Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming.
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Jet stream changes could amplify weather extremes by 2060s

Mon, 09/13/2021 - 21:02
The ribbon of fast winds familiar to air travelers between North America and Europe is a big influencer on weather in North America and Europe. By drilling deep into the Greenland Ice Sheet, researchers reconstructed the jet stream's past and found that climate-caused disruptions are likely to have drastic weather-related consequences for societies on both sides of the Atlantic.

A recent reversal in the response of western Greenland’s ice caps to climate change

Thu, 09/09/2021 - 15:22
Greenland may be best known for its enormous continental scale ice sheet that soars up to 3,000 meters above sea level, whose rapid melting is a leading contributor to global sea level rise. But surrounding this massive ice sheet, which covers 79% of the world's largest island, is Greenland's rugged coastline dotted with ice capped mountainous peaks. These peripheral glaciers and ice caps are now also undergoing severe melting due to anthropogenic (human-caused) warming. However, climate warming and the loss of these ice caps may not have always gone hand-in-hand.

Scientists solve mystery of icy plumes that may foretell deadly supercell storms

Thu, 09/09/2021 - 13:12
The most devastating tornadoes are often preceded by a cloudy plume of ice and water vapor billowing above a severe thunderstorm. New research reveals the mechanism for these plumes could be tied to 'hydraulic jumps' -- a phenomenon Leonardo Da Vinci observed more than 500 years ago.

Ancient sea ice core sheds light on modern climate change

Thu, 09/09/2021 - 11:42
A 170 m record of marine sediment cores extracted from Adélie Land in Antarctica is yielding new insights into the complicated relationship between sea ice and climate change.

Study reveals dramatic impact of climate change in the Sierra Nevada

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 17:06
The new study reveals just how dramatically climate change has impacted aquatic ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada. Scientists can use the data to anticipate changes coming in the near future, and how those changes might influence water availability.

‘MRI’ scan reveals spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea

Wed, 09/08/2021 - 17:05
Spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea have been discovered using 3D seismic reflection technology. Similar to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the images reveal in unprecedented detail huge seafloor channels - each one 10 times wider than the River Thames.

Nature’s archive reveals Atlantic tempests through time

Tue, 09/07/2021 - 15:05
Scientists uncover how natural archives recorded Atlantic hurricane frequency over the past 1,000 years. More data is needed to help model how climate change will affect storms in the future.

Global warming threatens the existence of an Arctic oasis

Fri, 09/03/2021 - 12:26
The most significant Arctic oasis is susceptible to climate change -- researchers say that global warming is threatening the region's ecosystem, and predict that the oasis will cease to exist.

Indian wolf among world’s most endangered and distinct wolves

Thu, 09/02/2021 - 16:46
The Indian wolf could be far more endangered than previously recognized, say first scientists to sequence its genome. Indian wolves could also represent the most ancient surviving lineage of wolves.

‘Tipping points’ in Earth’s system triggered rapid climate change 55 million years ago

Tue, 08/31/2021 - 12:14
Scientists have uncovered a fascinating new insight into what caused one of the most rapid and dramatic instances of climate change in the history of the Earth.

Bacterial bloom as the Earth thawed: Photosynthetic organisms during the Snowball Earth

Fri, 08/27/2021 - 11:14
Around 650 million years ago, the Earth entered into the Marinoan glaciation that saw the entire planet freeze. The 'Snowball Earth' impeded the evolution of life. But as it warmed, biotic life began to flourish. A research team has now analyzed rock samples from China to tell us more about this transition.

Artificial intelligence to help predict Arctic sea ice loss

Thu, 08/26/2021 - 07:17
A new AI (artificial intelligence) tool is set to enable scientists to more accurately forecast Arctic sea ice conditions months into the future. The improved predictions could underpin new early-warning systems that protect Arctic wildlife and coastal communities from the impacts of sea ice loss.

Understanding Antarctic ice historic changes could reveal future changes

Tue, 08/24/2021 - 09:41
Researchers suggest that the Antarctic Ice Sheet partly reached its maximum thickness before the Last Glacier Maximum.

Rise and fall of water blisters offers glimpse beneath Greenland’s thick ice sheet

Mon, 08/23/2021 - 11:57
A study found that as meltwater lakes on the surface of Greenland's ice sheet rapidly drain, they create water blisters between the ice and the bedrock that scientists could use to understand the hydrological network below Greenland's thick inland ice sheet. These networks could affect the stability of the ice sheet as Earth's climate warms.

Female and young walruses depend on disappearing Arctic sea ice for food sources

Fri, 08/20/2021 - 10:11
A new study shows that disappearing sea ice is a significant element of the food web supporting female walruses and their dependent young in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea. Researchers were able to trace biomarkers that are unique to algae growing within sea ice to connect marine mammals with a food source that is rapidly diminishing in the face of climate change.

Increased snowfall will offset sea level rise from melting Antarctic ice sheet

Thu, 08/19/2021 - 09:27
A new study predicts that any sea level rise in the world's most southern continent will be countered by an increase in snowfall, associated with a warmer Polar atmosphere. Using modern methods to calculate projected changes to sea levels, researchers discovered that the two ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica respond differently, reflecting their very distinct local climates.

Thwaites glacier: Significant geothermal heat beneath the ice stream

Wed, 08/18/2021 - 07:39
Ice losses from Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica are currently responsible for roughly four percent of the global sea-level rise. This figure could increase, since virtually no another ice stream in the Antarctic is changing as dramatically as the massive Thwaites Glacier. Until recently, experts attributed these changes to climate change and the fact that the glacier rests on the seafloor in many places, and as such comes into contact with warm water masses. But there is also a third, and until nowone of the most difficult to constrain, influencing factors. In a new study, German and British researchers have shown that there is a conspicuously large amount of heat from Earth's interior beneath the ice, which has likely affected the sliding behavior of the ice masses for millions of years. This substantial geothermal heat flow, in turn, are due to the fact that the glacier lies in a tectonic trench, where the Earth's crust is significantly thinner than it is e.g. in neighboring East Antarctica.

The Arctic Ocean’s deep past provides clues to its imminent future

Mon, 08/16/2021 - 10:20
As the Arctic Ocean warms and sea ice shrinks, will the newly exposed sea surface see a plankton population boom and a burgeoning ecosystem in the open Arctic Ocean? Not likely, say a team of scientists who have examined the history and supply rate of nitrogen, a key nutrient. Stratification of the open Arctic waters, especially in the areas fed by the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait, will prevent surface plankton from receiving enough nitrogen to grow abundantly.

July was Earth's hottest month on record: NOAA

Fri, 08/13/2021 - 15:48
July 2021 was the world's hottest month ever recorded, according to new global data released by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.

Global warming begets more warming, new paleoclimate study finds

Wed, 08/11/2021 - 15:28
Global warming begets more, extreme warming, new paleoclimate study finds. Researchers observe a 'warming bias' over the past 66 million years that may return if ice sheets disappear.

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