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Categories: Geoscience: Earth Science, Mathematics: Puzzles

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A study describes a new computer algorithm which can be applied to Earth System Models to drastically reduce the time needed to prepare these in order to make accurate predictions of future climate change. During tests on models used in IPCC simulations, the algorithm was on average 10 times faster at spinning up the model than currently-used approaches, reducing the time taken to achieve equilibrium from many months to under a week.

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Researchers have discovered the missing piece of the puzzle behind a rare opening in the sea ice around Antarctica, which was nearly twice the size of Wales and occurred during the winters of 2016 and 2017. A study reveals a key process that had eluded scientists as to how the opening, called a polynya, was able to form and persist for several weeks.

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A research team has found that ancient rocks and fossils from long-extinct marine reptiles in Angola clearly show a key part of Earth's past -- the splitting of South America and Africa and the subsequent formation of the South Atlantic Ocean.

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The link between massive flood basalt volcanism and the end-Triassic (201 million years ago) mass-extinction is commonly accepted. However, exactly how volcanism led to the collapse of ecosystems and the extinction of entire families of organisms is difficult to establish. Extreme climate change from the release of carbon dioxide, degradation of the ozone layer due to the injection of damaging chemicals, and the emissions of toxic pollutants, are all seen as contributing factors. One toxic element stands out: mercury.

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Dust can have a huge impact on local air quality, food security, energy supply and public health. Previous studies have found that dust levels are decreasing across India, particularly northern India, the Persian Gulf Coast and much of the Middle East, but the reason has remained unclear. Researchers found that the decrease in dust can be attributed to the Arctic warming much faster than the rest of the planet, a phenomenon known as Arctic amplification. This process destabilizes the jet stream and changes storm tracks and wind patterns over the major sources of dust in West and South Asia.

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Researchers have published a comprehensive study on the invasion of lionfish in the Mediterranean Sea, highlighting a rapid spread and the potential ecological impacts. The research shows the lionfish species Pterois miles has significantly expanded its territory in the Mediterranean since the invasion began around ten years ago. The invasive species has established presence in the eastern Mediterranean, with observations now extending to colder waters previously thought to be unsuitable for the species.

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Hydrologists predict human-induced underground fluid fluxes to rise with climate change mitigation strategies like carbon sequestration.

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Scientists are using artificial intelligence software to analyze plant root systems, laying out a protocol that can be applied to gather data on crop and model plant phenotypes (physical characteristics) more efficiently and with equal or greater accuracy than existing methods.

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Just as water moves through a river, rivers themselves move across the landscape. They carve valleys and canyons, create floodplains and deltas, and transport sediment from the uplands to the ocean.

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As wildfires in Siberia become more common, global climate modeling estimates significant impacts on climate, air quality, health, and economies in East Asia and across the northern hemisphere.

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A new study has recovered a 3.7-billion-year-old record of Earth's magnetic field, and found that it appears remarkably similar to the field surrounding Earth today.

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Scientists demonstrated the first-ever remote observations of the fine-scale structure at the base of clouds. The results show that the air-cloud interface is a transition zone where aerosol particles suspended in Earth's atmosphere give rise to the droplets that ultimately form clouds. The research will enable scientists to gain insight into how changes in atmospheric aerosol levels could affect clouds and climate.

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A nontoxic separation process recovers critical minerals from electronic scrap waste.

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Powerful monsoon winds, strengthened by a warming climate, are lofting unexpectedly large quantities of ozone-depleting substances high into the atmosphere over East Asia, according to new research. The study found that the East Asian Monsoon delivers more than twice the concentration of very short-lived ozone-depleting substances into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere than previously reported.

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Warming temperatures are causing a steady rise in copper, zinc and sulfate in the waters of Colorado mountain streams affected by acid rock drainage. Concentrations of these metals have roughly doubled in these alpine streams over the past 30 years, presenting a concern for ecosystems, downstream water quality and mining remediation, according to a new study. Natural chemical weathering of bedrock is the source of the rising acidity and metals, but the ultimate driver of the trend is climate change, the report found, and the results point to lower stream volumes and exposure of rock once sealed away by ice as the likely causes.

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Video gamers who exploit glitches in games can help experts better understand buggy software, students suggest.

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Astrophysicists have made a significant step toward solving the last puzzle in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence theory by observing the weak to strong transition in the space plasma turbulence surrounding Earth with newly developed multi-spacecraft analysis methods.

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A study of shallow-water fish communities on rocky reefs in south-eastern Australia has found climate change is helping tropical fish species invade temperate Australian waters.

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Oases are important habitats and water sources for dryland regions, sustaining 10% of the world's population despite taking up about 1.5% of land area. But in many places, climate change and anthropogenic activities threaten oases' fragile existence. New research shows how the world's oases have grown and shrunk over the past 25 years as water availability patterns changed and desertification encroaches on these wet refuges.

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Researchers who study Earth's biosphere tend to operate from one of three scientific cultures, each with distinct ways of conducting science, and which have been operating mostly independently from one another. The authors identify and explain the three cultures, and suggest that reconnecting them could help accelerate biosphere science.