Showing 20 articles starting at article 621
< Previous 20 articles Next 20 articles >
Categories: Paleontology: Climate, Physics: General
Published Then vs. now: Did the Horn of Africa reach a drought tipping point 11,700 years ago?



If climate models predict that much of tropical Africa will become wetter with a warming climate, then why does it keep getting drier in the Horn of Africa?
Published Invasion of the Arctic Ocean by Atlantic plankton species reveals a seasonally ice-free ocean during the last interglacial



A subpolar species associated with Atlantic water expanded far into the Arctic Ocean during the Last Interglacial, analysis of microfossil content of sediment cores reveals. This implies that summers in the Arctic were ice free during this period.
Published Past climate warming driven by hydrothermal vents



An international drilling expedition off the Norwegian coast confirms the theory that methane emissions from hydrothermal vents were responsible for global warming about 55 million years ago. The study shows that the vents were active in very shallow water depth or even above sea level, which would have allowed much larger amounts of methane to enter the atmosphere.
Published Nature's kitchen: how a chemical reaction used by cooks helped create life on Earth



A chemical process used in the browning of food to give it its distinct smell and taste is probably happening deep in the oceans, where it helped create the conditions necessary for life. Known as the Maillard reaction after the French scientist who discovered it, the process converts small molecules of organic carbon into bigger molecules known as polymers. In the kitchen, it is used to create flavors and aromas out of sugars. But a research team argues that on the sea floor, the process has had a more fundamental effect, where it has helped to raise oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to create the conditions for complex life forms to emerge and thrive on Earth.
Published North Atlantic Oscillation contributes to 'cold blob' in Atlantic Ocean



A patch of ocean in the North Atlantic is stubbornly cooling while much of the planet warms. This anomaly -- dubbed the 'cold blob' -- has been linked to changes in ocean circulation, but a new study found changes in large-scale atmospheric patterns may play an equally important role, according to an international research team.
Published Insolation affected ice age climate dynamics



In past ice ages, the intensity of summer insolation affected the emergence of warm and cold periods and played an important role in triggering abrupt climate changes, a study by climate researchers, geoscientists, and environmental physicists suggests. Using stalagmites in the European Alps, they were able to demonstrate that warm phases appeared primarily when the summer insolation reached maxima in the Northern Hemisphere.
Published Greenland melted recently: High risk of sea level rise today



A large portion of Greenland was an ice-free tundra landscape -- perhaps covered by trees and roaming woolly mammoths -- in the recent geologic past (about 416,000 years ago), a new study shows. The results help overturn a previous view that much of the Greenland ice sheet persisted for most of the last two and a half million years. Instead, moderate warming, from 424,000 to 374,000 years ago, led to dramatic melting. At that time, the melting of Greenland caused at least five feet of sea level rise, despite atmospheric levels of heat-trapping carbon dioxide being far lower than today (280 vs. 420 ppm). This indicates that the ice sheet on Greenland may be more sensitive to human-caused climate change than previously understood -- and will be vulnerable to irreversible, rapid melting in coming centuries.
Published Crawford Lake, Canada, chosen as the primary marker to identify the start of the Anthropocene epoch



An international team of researchers has chosen the location which best represents the beginnings of what could be a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene Working Group have put forward Crawford Lake, in Canada, as a Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the Anthropocene. A GSSP is an internationally agreed-upon reference point to show the start of a new geological period or epoch in layers of rock that have built up through the ages.
Published Global cooling caused diversity of species in orchids, confirms study



Research shows global cooling of the climate 10 million years ago led to an explosion of diversity in terrestrial orchids.
Published Why there are no kangaroos in Bali (and no tigers in Australia)



Researchers are using a new model to clarify why millions of years ago more animal species from Asia made the leap to the Australian continent than vice versa. The climate in which the species evolved played an important role.
Published Shrinking Arctic glaciers are unearthing a new source of methane



As the Arctic warms, shrinking glaciers are exposing bubbling groundwater springs which could provide an underestimated source of the potent greenhouse gas methane, finds new research.
Published New study reveals abrupt shift in tropical Pacific climate during Little Ice Age



An El Niño event has officially begun. The climate phenomenon, which originates in the tropical Pacific and occurs in intervals of a few years will shape weather across the planet for the next year or more and give rise to various climatic extremes. El Niño-like conditions can also occur on longer time scales of decades or centuries. This has been shown to have occurred in the recent past.
Published Research reveals sources of CO2 from Aleutian-Alaska Arc volcanoes



Scientists have wondered what happens to the organic and inorganic carbon that Earth's Pacific Plate carries with it as it slides into the planet's interior along the volcano-studded Ring of Fire. A new study suggests a notable amount of such subducted carbon returns to the atmosphere rather than traveling deep into Earth's mantle.
Published Climate change will increase impacts of volcanic eruptions



Volcanic disasters have been studied since Pompeii was buried in 79 A.D., leading the public to believe that scientists already know why, where, when and how long volcanoes will erupt. But a volcanologist said these fundamental questions remain a mystery.
Published There may be good news about the oceans in a globally warmed world



An analysis of oxygen levels in Earth's oceans may provide some rare, good news about the health of the seas in a future, globally warmed world. A study analyzing ocean sediment shows that ocean oxygen levels in a key area were higher during the Miocene warm period, some 16 million years ago when the Earth's temperature was hotter than it is today.
Published Don't wait, desalinate: A new approach to water purification



A water purification system separates out salt and other unnecessary particles with an electrified version of dialysis. Successfully applied to wastewater with planned expansion into rivers and seas, the method saves money and saps 90% less energy than its counterparts.
Published 'Toggle switch' can help quantum computers cut through the noise



What good is a powerful computer if you can't read its output? Or readily reprogram it to do different jobs? People who design quantum computers face these challenges, and a new device may make them easier to solve.
Published Nanophotonics: Coupling light and matter



Researchers have developed a metasurface that enables strong coupling effects between light and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs).
Published Einstein and Euler put to the test at the edge of the Universe



The cosmos is a unique laboratory for testing the laws of physics, in particular those of Euler and Einstein. Euler described the movements of celestial objects, while Einstein described the way in which celestial objects distort the Universe. Since the discovery of dark matter and the acceleration of the Universe's expansion, the validity of their equations has been put to the test: are they capable of explaining these mysterious phenomena? A team has developed the first method to find out. It considers a never-before-used measure: time distortion.
Published Combining twistronics with spintronics could be the next giant leap in quantum electronics



Quantum researchers twist double bilayers of an antiferromagnet to demonstrate tunable moiré magnetism.