Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

The blueprint for El Niño diversity      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study isolates key mechanisms that cause El Niño events to differ. Researchers found that the complexity and irregular occurrence of El Niño and La Niña events can be traced back to the co-existence of two coupled atmosphere-ocean oscillations, with different spatial characteristics and different frequencies.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Hotter, longer, more frequent -- marine heatwaves on the rise      (via sciencedaily.com) 

We know heatwaves over land have been increasing, but now new research reveals globally marine heatwaves have also been increasing in length, number and intensity over the past century. More intriguing still, this trend has accelerated markedly since 1982.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Hawaiian-language newspapers illuminate an 1871 hurricane      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A major hurricane struck the islands of Hawai'i and Maui on Aug. 9, 1871, and wrought widespread destruction from Hilo to Lahaina. A recent study revealed how historical Hawaiian-language newspapers expand knowledge of this and other natural disasters of the past.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

West Coast waters returning to normal but salmon catches lagging      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Ocean conditions off most of the US West Coast are returning roughly to average, after an extreme marine heat wave from about 2014 to 2016 disrupted the California Current Ecosystem and shifted many species beyond their traditional range, according to a new report from NOAA Fisheries' two marine laboratories on the West Coast. Some warm waters remain off the Pacific Northwest, however.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Strong El Niño events cause large changes in Antarctic ice shelves      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study reveals that strong El Nino events can cause significant ice loss in some Antarctic ice shelves while the opposite may occur during strong La Nina events.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Cocktail effects of pesticides and environmental chemicals      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have addressed an international environmental problem by developing a model that can predict how certain chemicals amplify the effects of pesticides and other chemical compounds. Pesticide expert hopes that it will make environmental legislation easier.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Impact of coral bleaching on Western Australia's coastline      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The 2016 mass bleaching event on Western Australia's coastline is the most severe global bleaching event to ever be recorded. New research records the impact of this event to the rugged reefs of Western Australia.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Bringing back large herbivores to the steppes      (via sciencedaily.com) 

On 24th October 2017, the first group of nine kulan (Asiatic wild ass) was released into an acclimatization enclosure on the edge of the Altyn Dala protected area in central Kazakhstan. The animals had been transported 1200 km by helicopter from Altyn Emel National Park in the southeast of the country. They will be released in early spring. This is the first step in a multi-year project that aims to restore the full range of large herbivores to this unique area of steppe habitat.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Record-low 2016 Antarctic sea ice due to 'perfect storm' of tropical, polar conditions      (via sciencedaily.com) 

The sudden, unexpected nosedive in Antarctic sea ice last year was due to a unique one-two punch from atmospheric conditions both in the tropical Pacific Ocean and around the South Pole.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

California projected to get wetter through this century      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Under business-as-usual greenhouse gas emissions, climate models predict California will get warmer during the rest of the century and most also predict the state will get drier. But, new research published in Nature Communications predicts California will actually get wetter. The scientists from the University of California, Riverside predict the state will get an average of 12 percent more precipitation through the end of this century, compared to the last 20 years of last century.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

'Perfect storm' led to 2016 Great Barrier Reef bleaching      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers say unprecedented oceanographic conditions in 2016 produced the perfect storm of factors that lead to a mass coral bleaching.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Scientists throw light on mysterious ice age temperature jumps      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists believe they have discovered the reason behind mysterious changes to the climate that saw temperatures fluctuate by up to 15°C within just a few decades during the ice age periods.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Widespread snowmelt in West Antarctica during unusually warm summer      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An area of West Antarctica more than twice the size of California partially melted in 2016 when warm winds forced by an especially strong El Nino blew over the continent.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Some -- but not all -- corals adapting to warming climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study reveals evidence that some corals are adapting to warming ocean waters -- potentially good news in the face of recent reports of global coral die offs due to extreme warm temperatures in 2016.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Increase in extreme sea levels could endanger European coastal communities      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Massive coastal flooding in northern Europe that now occurs once every century could happen every year if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, according to a new study.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Looking for 'fingerprints' at the intersection of weather and climate      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Scientists have found the seasonal 'fingerprints' of Arctic sea ice, El Nino, and other climate phenomena in a new study that probes the global interactions between weather and climate.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Changing atmospheric conditions may contribute to stronger ocean waves in Antarctica      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study provides important details on the extent of sea ice, which can protect ice shelves from the impacts of ocean storms, in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Warmer West Coast ocean conditions linked to increased risk of toxic shellfish      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Hazardous levels of domoic acid, a natural toxin that accumulates in shellfish, have been linked to warmer ocean conditions in waters off Oregon and Washington for the first time, report scientists.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

Early Pacific seafarers likely latched onto El Nino, other climate patterns      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers employed computer simulations and climatic data to help them explore the travels that led to the settlement of islands in Remote Oceania.

Geoscience: Severe Weather
Published

El Nino influences the formation of low pressure systems over the Gulf Stream      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Analysis of cyclone tracks and precyclogenesis flow conditions show that El Niño can shift the preferred cyclogenesis position over the Gulf Stream which influences the cyclone’s track across the North Atlantic, report researchers.