Feed aggregator

New mathematical method shows how climate change led to fall of ancient civilization

Science Daily - Thu, 09/03/2020 - 09:56
A researcher developed a mathematical method that shows climate change likely caused the rise and fall of an ancient civilization. A new article outlines the technique he developed and shows how shifting monsoon patterns led to the demise of the Indus Valley Civilization, a Bronze Age civilization contemporary to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt.

Bering Sea ice extent is at most reduced state in last 5,500 years

Science Daily - Wed, 09/02/2020 - 14:21
Through the analysis of vegetation from a Bering Sea island, researchers have determined that the extent of sea ice in the region is lower than it's been for thousands of years.

Viruses on glaciers highlight evolutionary mechanism to overcome host defenses

Science Daily - Wed, 09/02/2020 - 08:51
Scientists studying life on the surface of glaciers in the Arctic and Alps challenge assumptions on virus evolution. Their study shows that, contrary to expectations, the viruses on glaciers in the Alps, Greenland and Spitsbergen are remarkably stable in the environment.

Sea level rise from ice sheets track worst-case climate change scenario

Science Daily - Mon, 08/31/2020 - 10:21
Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica whose melting rates are rapidly increasing have raised the global sea level by 1.8cm since the 1990s, and are matching the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's worst-case climate warming scenarios.

How Neanderthals adjusted to climate change

Science Daily - Fri, 08/28/2020 - 10:53
Climate change occurring shortly before their disappearance triggered a complex change in the behavior of late Neanderthals in Europe: they developed more complex tools, suggests new research.

Mount Everest summit success rates double, death rate stays the same over last 30 years

Science Daily - Wed, 08/26/2020 - 13:14
A new study finds that the success rate of summiting Mount Everest has doubled in the last three decades, even though the number of climbers has greatly increased, crowding the narrow route through the dangerous 'death zone' near the summit. However, the death rate for climbers has hovered unchanged at around 1% since 1990.

How cold was the ice age? Researchers now know

Science Daily - Wed, 08/26/2020 - 13:14
Scientists have nailed down the temperature of the last ice age -- the Last Glacial Maximum of 20,000 years ago - to about 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

Antarctic ice shelves vulnerable to sudden meltwater-driven fracturing, says study

Science Daily - Wed, 08/26/2020 - 13:14
A new study says that many of the ice shelves ringing Antarctica could be vulnerable to quick destruction if rising temperatures drive melt water into the numerous fractures that currently penetrate their surfaces. The shelves help slow interior glaciers' slide toward the ocean, so if they were to fail, sea levels around the world could surge rapidly as a result.

New study warns: We have underestimated the pace at which the Arctic is melting

Science Daily - Wed, 08/26/2020 - 09:40
Arctic sea ice is melting more quickly than once assumed. Today's climate models have yet to incorporate the steep rise in temperatures that have occurred over the past 40 years.

Atmospheric scientists study fires to resolve ice question in climate models

Science Daily - Wed, 08/26/2020 - 09:16
Black carbon from fires is an important short-term climate driver because it can affect the formation and composition of clouds. Scientists are figuring out how.

Fossil pollen record suggests vulnerability to mass extinction ahead

Science Daily - Mon, 08/24/2020 - 08:20
Reduced resilience of plant biomes in North America could be setting the stage for the kind of mass extinctions not seen since the retreat of glaciers and arrival of humans about 13,000 years ago, cautions a new study.

East Antarctic melting hotspot identified

Science Daily - Mon, 08/24/2020 - 08:20
Ice is melting at a surprisingly fast rate underneath Shirase Glacier Tongue in East Antarctica due to the continuing influx of warm seawater into the Lützow-Holm Bay.

Arctic ocean moorings shed light on winter sea ice loss

Science Daily - Fri, 08/21/2020 - 14:57
The eastern Arctic Ocean's winter ice grew less than half as much as normal during the past decade, due to the growing influence of heat from the ocean's interior, researchers have found.

The age of Earth's inner core revised

Science Daily - Fri, 08/21/2020 - 14:57
By creating conditions akin to the center of Earth inside a laboratory chamber, researchers have improved the estimate of the age of our planet's solid inner core, putting it at 1 billion to 1.3 billion years old.

Anthropogenic CO2 increase is unprecedented

Science Daily - Thu, 08/20/2020 - 14:13
Even in earlier warm periods there were pulse-like releases of CO2 to the atmosphere. Today's anthropogenic CO2 rise, however, is more than six times larger and almost ten times faster than previous jumps in the CO2 concentration.

Past rapid warming levels in the Arctic associated with widespread climate changes

Science Daily - Thu, 08/20/2020 - 13:38
Using Greenland ice cores, new research is the first to confirm the longstanding assumption that climate changes between the tropics and the Arctic were synchronized during the last glacial period.

Greenland ice sheet shows losses in 2019

Science Daily - Thu, 08/20/2020 - 13:38
The Greenland Ice Sheet recorded a new record loss of mass in 2019. This was the finding of a team of international researchers after evaluating data from satellite observations and modelling data.

Larger variability in sea level expected as Earth warms

Science Daily - Thu, 08/20/2020 - 10:28
Researchers have identified a global tendency for future sea levels to become more variable as oceans warm this century due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Global warming is changing our plant communities

Science Daily - Mon, 08/17/2020 - 11:49
In a comprehensive study of nearly 20,000 species, research shows that plant communities are shifting to include more heat-loving species as a result of climate change.

New research reveals effect of global warming on Greenland ice melt

Science Daily - Mon, 08/17/2020 - 11:30
New analysis of almost 30 years' worth of scientific data on the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet predicts global sea level rise of at least 10 centimeters by the end of the 21st Century if global warming trends continue.

Pages

Subscribe to Explore the Ice Age Midwest aggregator