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Who fought in the ancient Greek Battles of Himera? Chemical evidence provides answers
Geochemical evidence reveals that armies in the Battles of Himera were a mixture of locals and outsiders, according to a new study. These data contradict certain claims made in historical accounts by ancient Greek writers.
Prehistoric horses, bison shared diet
Researchers found that a broader diversity of plants in the Arctic 40,000 years ago supported both more -- and more diverse -- big animals like horses, bison and ground sloths. The research could inform conservation of wood bison in Alaska.
Ocean-bottom sediments tell a story about ancient Greenland summers
The study uses leaf wax chemicals in the deposits to learn about ancient climate in southern Greenland, focusing on summer temperature during periods of relative warmth on Earth, called interglacials, over the past 600,000 years.
Flooding might triple in the mountains of Asia due to global warming
A research team has revealed the dramatic increase in flood risk that could occur across Earth's icy Third Pole in response to ongoing climate change. Focusing on the threat from new lakes forming in front of rapidly retreating glaciers, a team demonstrated that the related flood risk to communities and their infrastructure could almost triple. Important new hotspots of risk will emerge, including within politically sensitive transboundary regions of the Himalaya and Pamir.
Antarctica remains the wild card for sea-level rise estimates through 2100
A massive collaborative research project offers projections to the year 2100 of future sea-level rise from all sources of land ice, offering the most complete projections created to date.
Ice core chemistry study expands insight into sea ice variability in Southern Hemisphere
Sea ice cover in the Southern Hemisphere is extremely variable, from summer to winter and from millennium to millennium, according to a new study. Overall, sea ice has been on the rise for about 10,000 years, but with some exceptions to this trend. Researchers uncovered these findings by examining the chemistry of a 54,000-year-old South Pole ice core.
Catastrophic sea-level rise from Antarctic melting possible with severe global warming
The Antarctic ice sheet is much less likely to become unstable and cause dramatic sea-level rise in upcoming centuries if the world follows policies that keep global warming below a key 2015 Paris climate agreement target, according to a new study.
Antarctic ice-sheet melting to lift sea level higher than thought, Harvard study says
The new predictions show that in the case of a total collapse of the ice sheet, global sea level rise estimates would be amplified by an additional meter within 1,000 years.
Cave deposits reveal Pleistocene permafrost thaw, absent predicted levels of CO2 release
Expanding the study of prehistoric permafrost thawing to North America, researchers found evidence in mineral deposits from caves in Canada that permafrost thawing took place as recently as 400,000 years ago, in temperatures not much warmer than today. But they did not find evidence the thawing caused the release of predicted levels of carbon dioxide stored in the frozen terrain.
Icebreaker's cyclone encounter reveals faster sea ice decline
An icebreaker unexpectedly in the path of an Arctic cyclone allowed researchers to unravel why sea ice declines during and after a cyclone. For the first time ever, scientists were able to show that cyclone-triggered processes within the Arctic Ocean melt sea ice from below.
Was North America populated by 'stepping stone' migration across Bering Sea?
A new study may answer 'one of the greatest mysteries of our time . . . when humans made the first bold journey to the Americas.'
Methane release rapidly increases in the wake of the melting ice sheets
Melting of the Arctic ice sheets caused rapid methane release from the ocean floor during the last two deglaciations, according to a new study. A similar release is likely to happen today, and should be included in climate models, say the scientists.
Global glacier retreat has accelerated
Scientists have shown that almost all the world's glaciers are becoming thinner and losing mass - and that these changes are picking up pace. The team's analysis is the most comprehensive and accurate of its kind to date.
Seasonal water resource on the Upper Indus
Seasonally occurring fields of aufeis (icing) constitute an important resource for the water supply of the local population in the Upper Indus Basin. Geographers have now examined the spreading of aufeis and, for the first time, created a full inventory of these more than 3,700 aufeis fields. They are important for these high mountain areas between South and Central Asia, particularly with respect to hydrology and climatology.
Arctic stew: Understanding how high-latitude lakes respond to and affect climate change
To arrive at Nunavut, turn left at the Dakotas and head north. You can't miss it -- the vast tundra territory covers almost a million square miles of northern Canada. Relatively few people call this lake-scattered landscape home, but the region plays a crucial role in understanding global climate change.
Social tensions preceded disruptions in ancient Pueblo societies
Drought is often blamed for the periodic disruptions of ancient Pueblo societies of the U.S. Southwest, but in a study with potential implications for the modern world, archaeologists found evidence that slowly accumulating social tension likely played a substantial role in three dramatic upheavals in Pueblo development. The findings show that Pueblo farmers often persevered through droughts, but when social tensions were increasing, even modest droughts could spell the end of an era of development.
Climate has shifted the axis of the Earth, study finds
Melting glaciers redistributed enough water to cause the direction of polar wander to turn and accelerate eastward during the mid-1990s, according to a new study.
Fiber optic cable monitors microseismicity in Antarctica
Researchers shared how they are using fiber optic cable to detect the small earthquakes that occur in ice in Antarctica.
Mars has right ingredients for present-day microbial life beneath its surface, study finds
New research suggests that rocks in the Martian crust could produce the same kind of chemical energy that supports microbial life deep beneath Earth's surface.
Carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in ancient meteorite
Scientists detect small pockets of carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in a meteorite dating from the early solar system.
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