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How wildfires may have larger effects on cloud formation than previously thought

Science Daily - Thu, 02/25/2021 - 10:32
As the frequency and size of wildfires continues to increase worldwide, new research shows how the chemical aging of the particles emitted by these fires can lead to more extensive cloud formation and intense storm development in the atmosphere.

How did dogs get to the Americas? An ancient bone fragment holds clues

Science Daily - Tue, 02/23/2021 - 18:24
Researchers analyzed the dog's mitochondrial genome, and concluded that the animal belonged to a lineage of dogs whose evolutionary history diverged from that of Siberian dogs as early as 16,700 years ago. The timing of that split coincides with a period when humans may have been migrating into North America along a coastal route that included Southeast Alaska.

Alaska thunderstorms may triple with climate change

Science Daily - Tue, 02/23/2021 - 12:55
Warming temperatures will potentially alter the climate in Alaska so profoundly later this century that the number of thunderstorms will triple, increasing the risks of widespread flash flooding, landslides, and lightning-induced wildfires, new research finds.

'Missing ice problem' finally solved

Science Daily - Tue, 02/23/2021 - 10:07
During glacial periods, the sea level falls, because vast quantities of water are stored in the massive inland glaciers. To date, however, computer models have been unable to reconcile sea-level height with the thickness of the glaciers.

Glaciers accelerate in the Getz region of West Antarctica

Science Daily - Tue, 02/23/2021 - 10:04
Glaciers in West Antarctica are moving more quickly from land into the ocean, contributing to rising global sea levels. A 25-year record of satellite observations has been used to show widespread increases in ice speed across the Getz sector for the first time, with some ice accelerating into the ocean by nearly 50%.

Effects of past ice ages more widespread than previously thought

Science Daily - Mon, 02/22/2021 - 18:28
A new study suggests that cold temperatures in unglaciated North America during the last ice age shaped past and modern landscape as far south as Texas and Arkansas.

The melting of large icebergs is a key stage in the evolution of ice ages

Science Daily - Fri, 02/19/2021 - 14:59
A new study, in which the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (IACT) (CSIC-UGR) participated, has described for the first time a key stage in the beginning of the great glaciations and indicates that it can happen to our planet in the future. The study claims to have found a new connection that could explain the beginning of the ice ages on Earth.

Ancient relic points to a turning point in Earth's history 42,000 years ago

Science Daily - Thu, 02/18/2021 - 13:27
The temporary breakdown of Earth's magnetic field 42,000 years ago sparked major climate shifts that led to global environmental change and mass extinctions, a new international study shows.

Human impact on solar radiation levels for decades

Science Daily - Thu, 02/18/2021 - 13:01
Based on the long-term Potsdam radiation time series, researchers have shown that variations in the intensity of sunlight over decades are down to ultra-fine, human-made dirt particles in the atmosphere.

The distribution of vertebrate animals redefines temperate and cold climate regions

Science Daily - Thu, 02/18/2021 - 12:58
The distribution of vegetation is routinely used to classify climate regions worldwide, yet whether these regions are relevant to other organisms is unknown. Researchers have established climate regions based on vertebrate species' distributions in a new study. They found that while high-energy climate regions are similar across vertebrate and plant groups, there are large differences in temperate and cold climates.

Increasingly fragmented tiger populations may require 'genetic rescue'

Science Daily - Thu, 02/18/2021 - 08:45
A new study reveals the lasting genetic impacts of increased isolation among different tiger subpopulations.

Lakes isolated beneath Antarctic ice could be more amenable to life than thought

Science Daily - Wed, 02/17/2021 - 14:11
Lakes underneath the Antarctic ice sheet could be more hospitable than previously thought, allowing them to host more microbial life.

World's oldest DNA reveals how mammoths evolved

Science Daily - Wed, 02/17/2021 - 10:44
An international team has sequenced DNA recovered from mammoth remains that are up to 1.2 million years old. The analyses show that the Columbian mammoth that inhabited North America during the last ice age was a hybrid between the woolly mammoth and a previously unknown genetic lineage of mammoth. The study provides new insights into when and how fast mammoths became adapted to cold climate.

Crocodile evolution rebooted by Ice Age glaciations

Science Daily - Wed, 02/17/2021 - 08:10
Crocodiles are resilient animals from a lineage that has survived for over 200 million years. Skilled swimmers, crocodiles can travel long distances and live in freshwater to marine environments. But they can't roam far overland. American crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) are found in the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of the Neotropics but they arrived in the Pacific before Panama existed, according to new research.

Thermal energy storage with new solution meant to ease grid stress

Science Daily - Tue, 02/16/2021 - 17:59
Scientists have developed a simple way to better evaluate the potential of novel materials to store or release heat on demand in your home, office, or other building in a way that more efficiently manages the building's energy use.

Slow motion precursors give earthquakes the fast slip

Science Daily - Tue, 02/16/2021 - 17:59
At a glacier near the South Pole, earth scientists have found evidence of a quiet, slow-motion fault slip that triggers strong, fast-slip earthquakes many miles away.

How icebergs really melt -- and what this could mean for climate change

Science Daily - Tue, 02/16/2021 - 12:34
Iceberg melt is responsible for about half the fresh water entering the ocean from the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Accurately modelling how it enters is important for understanding potential impact on ocean circulation.

Past earthquakes triggered large rockslides in the Eastern Alps

Science Daily - Tue, 02/16/2021 - 12:34
Geologists shed new light on a long-lasting debate about the trigger mechanism of large rockslides. Lake mud in two Alpine lakes in Tyrol reveal that rare strong earthquakes are the final cause of multiple, prehistoric rockslides in the Eastern Alps. The steep rock slopes were degraded by a series of prehistoric earthquakes, larger than any of the historically documented events in the region of the past ~1000 years.

Quantum leaps in understanding how living corals survive

Science Daily - Tue, 02/16/2021 - 10:50
A new imaging technique has been developed to improve our ability to visualize and track the symbiotic interactions between coral and algae in response to globally warming sea surface temperatures and deepening seawaters.

Carbon dioxide dip may have helped dinosaurs walk from South America to Greenland

Science Daily - Mon, 02/15/2021 - 15:02
A new study identifies a climate phenomenon that may have helped sauropodomorphs spread northward across the Pangea supercontinent.

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