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Categories: Paleontology: Climate
Published North Atlantic Oscillation contributes to 'cold blob' in Atlantic Ocean
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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)
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source 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 AI reveals hidden traits about our planet's flora to help save species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Machine learning can help extract important information from the huge numbers of plant specimens stored in herbaria, say scientists.
Published Massive underwater plateau near Solomon Islands is younger and its eruption was more protracted than previously thought
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The Ontong Java Plateau, a volcanically-formed underwater plateau located in the Pacific Ocean north of the Solomon Islands, is younger and its eruption was more protracted than previously thought, new research suggests.
Published Climate change likely led to violence in early Andean populations
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Climate change in current times has created problems for humans such as wildfires and reduced growing seasons for staple crops, spilling over into economic effects. Many researchers predict, and have observed in published literature, an increase in interpersonal violence and homicides when temperatures increase. Violence during climatic change has evidence in history, anthropology researchers say.
Published Greenhouse gas emissions at 'an all-time high' -- and it is causing an unprecedented rate of global warming, say scientists
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Human-induced warming, largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels, reached an average of 1.14°C for the most recent decade (2013 to 2022) above pre-industrial levels. This is up from 1.07°C between 2010 and 2019. Human-induced warming is now increasing at a pace of over 0.2°C per decade. The analysis also found that greenhouse gas emissions were 'at an all-time high', with human activity resulting in the equivalent of 54 (+/-5.3) gigatonnes (or billion metric tonnes) of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere on average every year over the last decade (2012-2021). Given the speed at which the global climate system is changing, the scientists argue that policymakers, climate negotiators and civil society groups need to have access to up-to-date and robust scientific evidence on which to base decisions.
Published The clams that fell behind, and what they can tell us about evolution and extinction
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study examined how bivalves -- the group that includes clams, mussels, scallops, and oysters -- evolved among many others in the period of rapid evolution known as the Cambrian Explosion. The team found that though many other lineages burst into action and quickly evolved a wide variety of forms and functions, the bivalves lagged behind. The study has implications for how we understand evolution and the impact of extinctions.
Published Extinct offshore volcano could store gigatons of carbon dioxide
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new study concludes that an extinct volcano off the shore of Portugal could store as much as 1.2-8.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of ~24-125 years of the country's industrial emissions. For context, in 2022 a total of 42.6 megatons (0.0426 gigatons) of carbon dioxide was removed from the atmosphere by international carbon capture and storage efforts, according to the Global CCS Institute. The new study suggests that carbon capture and storage in offshore underwater volcanoes could be a promising new direction for removal and storage of much larger volumes of the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
Published Ancient climate change solves mystery of vanished South African lakes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New evidence for the presence of ancient lakes in some of the most arid regions of South Africa suggests that Stone Age humans may have been more widespread across the continent than previously thought.
Published Half of world's largest lakes losing water
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Fifty-three percent of the world's largest freshwater lakes are in decline, storing less water than they did three decades ago, according to a new study. The study analyzed satellite observations dating back decades to measure changes in water levels in nearly 2,000 of the world's biggest lakes and reservoirs. It found that climate change, human consumption and sedimentation are responsible.
Published Past climate change to blame for Antarctica's giant underwater landslides
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists found weak, biologically-rich layers of sediments hundreds of meters beneath the seafloor which crumbled as oceans warmed and ice sheets declined. The landslides were discovered in the eastern Ross Sea in 2017, by an international team of scientists during the Italian ODYSSEA expedition, and scientists revisited the area in 2018 as part of the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 374 where they collected sediment cores to understand what caused them.