Feed aggregator

A tiny shark tooth, part of a mantis shrimp and other microscopic marine organisms reveal that as the Andes mountains rose, the Eastern Amazon sank twice, each time for less than a million years.

Climate plays a key role in determining what animals can live where. And while human-induced climate change has been causing major problems for wildlife as of late, changes in the Earth's climate have impacted evolution for millions of years -- offering tantalizing clues into how to protect animals facing climate change today. In a new paper, scientists have delved into the effects of Ice Age climate change upon the evolution of tiny, hand-standing skunks.

A new analysis of an ice core from Dome Fuji in Antarctica, along with climate simulation results, shows a high degree of climate instability (that is, rapid climate fluctuations) within glacial periods with intermediate temperatures. This instability was attributed primarily to global cooling caused by a reduced greenhouse effect.

The rift in the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica now has a second branch, which is moving in the direction of the ice front, researchers revealed after studying the latest satellite data. The main rift in Larsen C, which is likely to lead to one of the largest icebergs ever recorded, is currently 180 km long. The new branch of the rift is 15 km long.

Glacier flow at the southern Antarctic Peninsula has increased since the 1990s, but a new study has found the change to be only a third of what was recently reported.

Parts of the ice of the Juvfonne snow patch in Jotunheimen are 7600 years old, which makes it the oldest dated ice on mainland Norway.

Ice cores drilled from a glacier in a cave in Transylvania offer new evidence of how Europe's winter weather and climate patterns fluctuated during the last 10,000 years, known as the Holocene period.

After an unusually intense heat wave, downpour or drought, climate scientists inevitably receive phone calls and emails asking whether human-caused climate change played a role.

A century-old mystery involving a famous red waterfall in Antarctica has now been solved by researchers. New evidence links Blood Falls to a large source of salty water that may have been trapped under Taylor Glacier for more than 1 million years.

Scientists have created the most comprehensive and high-resolution atlas of the seafloor of both Polar Regions.

New research describes for the first time the role that warm, dry winds play in influencing the behavior of Antarctic ice shelves.

Microplastics, which are particles measuring less than 5 mm, are of increasing concern. They not only become more relevant as other plastic marine litter breaks down into tiny particles, they also interact with species in a range of marine habitats. A new study takes a look at how global climate change and the impact of changing ocean circulation affects the distribution of marine microplastic litter.

The rapid decline of ancient ice sheets could help scientists predict the impact of modern-day climate and sea-level change, according to new research.

Humans have influenced nature since as early as the Ice Age, and over the past century our impact has become even greater with our many new technologies and a growing world population. Researchers have studied this impact and how we can keep it within reasonable limits so that nature can be preserved. We cannot do without nature: we need it for our food and for raw materials, as well as for relaxation.

In the first such continent-wide survey, scientists have found extensive drainages of meltwater flowing over parts of Antarctica's ice during the brief summer.

A group of scientists offers photographic proof of climate change using images of retreating glaciers.

Climate change is causing thick ice deposits that form along Arctic rivers to melt nearly a month earlier than they did 15 years ago, a new study finds.

Using mud pulled from the bottom of a tropical lake, researchers at have gained a new grasp of how ancient microbes made methane in the complex iron chemistry of the early Earth.

A postmortem of the first known case of 'river piracy' in modern times outlines how a retreating glacier in the Yukon diverted water from one river to another, leading to many downstream effects.

Researchers have identified glaciers in West Greenland that are most susceptible to thinning in the coming decades by analyzing how they're shaped. The research could help predict how much the Greenland Ice Sheet will contribute to future sea-level rise during the next century, a number that currently ranges from inches to feet.