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Indian wolf among world’s most endangered and distinct wolves

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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

Science Daily - 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.

Global ocean warming started later in the 20th century than previously estimated

Science Daily - Mon, 08/09/2021 - 15:27
In estimations of ocean heat content -- important when assessing and predicting the effects of climate change -- calculations have often presented the rate of warming as a gradual rise from the mid-20th century to today. However, new research could overturn that assumption, suggesting the ocean maintained a relatively steady temperature throughout most of the 20th century, before embarking on a steep rise. The newly discovered dynamics may have significant implications for what we might expect in the future.

Some past sea levels may not have been as high as thought, says study of rising and sinking landmasses

Science Daily - Mon, 08/09/2021 - 15:27
A new study finds that researchers examining signs of past sea levels along various coasts may have failed to accurately correct for long-term ups and downs of the land itself.

Climate change widespread, rapid, and intensifying: IPCC

Science Daily - Mon, 08/09/2021 - 10:11
Scientists are observing changes in the Earth's climate in every region and across the whole climate system, according to the latest IPCC Report. Many of the changes observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years, and some of the changes already set in motion -- such as continued sea level rise -- are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.

Researchers discover fresh water in the Mediterranean Sea

Science Daily - Fri, 08/06/2021 - 09:43
There is enough water on our planet, but by far the largest part is salt water that is unsuitable as drinking water. Therefore, especially in dry regions of the earth, the search for new freshwater resources is very active. An international team of researchers has now discovered strong evidence of a groundwater deposit off the coast of Malta.

Major Atlantic ocean current system might be approaching critical threshold

Science Daily - Thu, 08/05/2021 - 10:54
A major Atlantic ocean current -- the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC -- may have been losing stability in the course of the last century, according to new research. A potential collapse of this ocean current system could have severe consequences.

Emperor penguins increasingly threatened by climate change

Science Daily - Tue, 08/03/2021 - 11:13
A new study provides valuable new data that highlights how species extinction risk is accelerating due to rapid climate change and an increase in extreme climate events, such as glacial calving and sea ice loss.

Oxygen spike coincided with ancient global extinction

Science Daily - Mon, 08/02/2021 - 10:50
Researchers have found that the extinction at the end of the Permian period coincided with a sudden spike and subsequent drop in the ocean's oxygen content.

Sea levels influence eruptions on volcanic island

Science Daily - Mon, 08/02/2021 - 10:50
The rise and fall of sea levels influence the likelihood of volcanic eruptions on the Greek island of Santorini, new research has discovered. Analyzing the timings of eruptions over hundreds of thousands of years, the researchers found that a 40 meter fall in sea level is a crucial point beyond which eruptions are more likely to occur. The findings could have implications for millions of people living on volcanic islands around the world.

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