Climate
Impact of warming climate doesn't always translate to streamflow
April 6, 2012 9:44 am | by Mark Floyd, Oregon State University | News | CommentsAn analysis of 35 headwater basins in the United States and Canada found that the impact of warmer air temperatures on streamflow rates was less than expected in many locations, suggesting that some ecosystems may be resilient to certain aspects of climate change.
Study: Replacing coal the least expensive way to reduce emissions
April 3, 2012 1:22 pm | News | CommentsAccording to a new study using SWITCH, a highly detailed computer model of the electric power grid, University of California, Berkeley researchers have learned that goals for decarbonization of the electric power sector are most easily achieved using renewable or nuclear energy sources in lieu of coal.
Research brings new understanding to past global warming events
April 3, 2012 6:08 am | News | CommentsA series of global warming events called hyperthermals that occurred more than 50 million years ago had a similar origin to a much larger hyperthermal of the period, the Pelaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), new research has found. The findings represent a greater understanding of the major "burp" of carbon that occurred during the PETM.
Fertilizer use responsible for increase in nitrous oxide in atmosphere
April 2, 2012 3:58 pm | by Robert Sanders, Media Relations | News | CommentsAccording to recent from the University of California, Berkeley, nitrogen isotope data was successfully used to identify the unmistakable fingerprint of fertilizer use in archived air samples from Antarctica and Tasmania. The results provide the smoking gun, say researchers, that implicates fertilizer in a dramatic rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide in the last 50 years.
New climate models may change evolutionary theory
March 16, 2012 5:19 am | News | CommentsClimate is believed to be the driving force behind most of humanity’s evolutionary processes, including geographical range change. According to a new paper, new concepts such as “refugia”, or movements forced by harsh Ice Age climates, may explain the emergence of new species, or subspecies.
Berkeley Lab quantifies effect of soot on snow, ice
March 5, 2012 8:09 am | News | CommentsA new study from scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has quantitatively demonstrated that black carbon—also known as soot, a pollutant emitted from power plants, diesel engines, and residential cooking and heating, as well as forest fires—reduces the reflectance of snow and ice, an effect that increases the rate of global climate change.
Oceans acidifying faster today than in past 300 million years
March 2, 2012 7:20 am | News | CommentsAccording to researchers with Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, there are few parallels in the geologic record for today's rapid ocean changes. In a review of hundreds of paleoceanographic studies, the researchers found evidence for only one period in the last 300 million years when the oceans changed as fast as today: the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.
Interactive picture reveals extent of the Arctic’s ice loss
March 1, 2012 3:05 am | News | CommentsUsing the most robust and longest duration satellite dataset of Arctic sea ice available, researchers at NASA have built one of the most complete pictures of how the Arctic’s supply is changing over time. The study reveals the rate of disappearance of the old and thickest sea ice, which typical survives the cyclical summer melt season.
Antarctic soil sucks water from air: Could it happen on Mars?
February 29, 2012 7:21 am | News | CommentsThe frigid McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica are famously dry, yet the sandy soils there are frequently dotted with moist patches in the spring despite a lack of snowmelt and no possibility of rain. A new study has found that that the salty soils in the region actually suck moisture out of the atmosphere, raising the possibility that such a process could take place on Mars or on other planets.
Climate scientists improve detail by computing in concert
February 27, 2012 5:29 pm | by Eric Gedenk | News | CommentsResearchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are sharing computational resources and expertise to improve the detail and performance of the Community Earth System Model, a scientific application code that is the product of one of the world's largest collaborations of climate researchers.
Evolution of earliest horses driven by climate change
February 27, 2012 3:59 am | by Tom Simons | News | CommentsThe size of Sifrhippus , the earliest known horse, correlates surprisingly well with average global temperatures, according to a recent study. The discoveries about its changes in stature, fluctuating from 12 to 8.5 to 15 lbs, offer new evidence of the cause and effect relationship between temperature and body size. The findings also offer clues to what might happen to animals in the near future.
Extreme summer temperatures occur more frequently
February 16, 2012 5:03 am | News | CommentsExtreme summer temperatures are already occurring more frequently in the United States, and will become normal by mid-century if the world continues on a business-as-usual schedule of emitting greenhouse gases, according to a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory study.
Time of year plays big role in impact of heat and drought
February 15, 2012 4:02 am | News | CommentsLast summer’s heat wave in the U.S. Midwest decimated plant growth, impacting everything from peanuts to prairie grass. But would it matter if the heat arrived at a slightly different time? Researchers are beginning to realize, based on 25 years of data, as little as a month’s difference in timing can drastically affect the outcome of challenging weather.
First plants caused ice ages
February 1, 2012 4:56 am | News | CommentsNew research reveals how the arrival of the first plants 470 million years ago triggered a series of ice ages. A team, led by the universities of Exeter and Oxford, set out to identify the effects that the first land plants had on the climate during the Ordovician Period, which ended 444 million years ago.
Despite low solar activity, Earth’s energy budget out of whack
January 31, 2012 3:26 am | News | CommentsA prolonged solar minimum left the sun's surface nearly free of sunspots from 2005 to 2010. Total solar irradiance declined slightly as a result, but according to a recent NASA study, the Earth continued to absorb more energy than it emitted throughout the minimum.
New map for what to plant reflects global warming
January 26, 2012 8:27 am | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsThe color-coded map of planting zones often seen on the back of seed packets is being updated by the government, and it illustrates a hotter 21st century. It's the first time since 1990 since the official guide for the nation's 80 million gardeners has been updated, and nearly entire states are in warmer zones.
Decline in solar output unlikely to offset global warming
January 24, 2012 9:38 am | News | CommentsNew research has found that solar output is likely to reduce over the next 90 years but that will not substantially delay expected increases in global temperatures caused by greenhouse gases. Carried out by the University of Reading and the Met Office, the study establishes the most likely changes in the sun's activity and looks at how this could affect near-surface temperatures on Earth.
A new approach to control global climate warming
January 18, 2012 8:04 am | News | CommentsEngineering our way out of global climate warming may not be as easy as simply reducing the incoming solar energy, according to a team of University of Bristol and Penn State University climate scientists. Designing the approach to control both sea level rise and rates of surface air temperature changes requires a balancing act to accommodate the diverging needs of different locations.
The high price of climate change
January 17, 2012 4:25 am | by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office | News | CommentsResearchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Yale University have found that coastal regions of North America and the Caribbean, as well as East Asia, are most at risk for hurricane damage—a finding that may not surprise residents of such hurricane-prone communities. However, the researchers say by the year 2100, two factors could more than quadruple the economic damages caused by tropical storms in such regions and around the world: Growing income and global warming.
Cores from glacier in the Alps may yield new climate clues
January 16, 2012 8:49 am | News | CommentsResearchers are beginning their analysis of what are probably the first successful ice cores drilled to bedrock from a glacier in the eastern European Alps. With luck, that analysis will yield a record of past climate and environmental changes in the region for several centuries, and perhaps even covering the last 1,000 years.
Scientists say cut soot, methane to curb warming
January 13, 2012 1:37 pm | by Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer | News | CommentsAn international team of scientists says it's figured out how to slow global warming in the short run and prevent millions of deaths from dirty air: Stop focusing so much on carbon dioxide.
Climate change models may underestimate extinctions
January 4, 2012 3:12 am | News | CommentsPredictions of the loss of animal and plant diversity around the world are common under models of future climate change. But a new study shows that because these climate models don't account for species competition and movement, they could grossly underestimate future extinctions.
Chemically scrubbing carbon dioxide from the air too expensive
December 12, 2011 10:54 am | News | CommentsWhile it is possible to chemically scrub carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere in order to lessen the severity of global warming, the process is prohibitively expensive for now. Best to focus on controls for coal-burning power plants, say researchers from Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Climate conference approves landmark deal
December 12, 2011 8:10 am | by Arthur Max, Associated Press | News | CommentsA U.N. climate conference reached a hard-fought agreement Sunday on a complex and far-reaching program meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades. The United States was a reluctant supporter, concerned about agreeing to join an international climate system that likely would find much opposition in the U.S. Congress.
GPS reveals that spike in Greenland ice loss lifted bedrock
December 9, 2011 10:39 am | News | CommentsAs the Greenland Ice Sheet melts, the rockbound coast rises, as much at 15 mm or more per year. According to results from GPS stations around the island, the temperature spike in 2010 lifted the bedrock a detectably higher amount in a short five-month period.
