When Greenland was green
New research has uncovered evidence that most of Greenland melted only about 400,000 years ago, suggesting the country may be more sensitive to climate change than previously thought.
Massive lava outburst triggered snowball Earth
Massive eruptions roughly 719 million years ago in what is now Canada may have sucked enough CO2 from the atmosphere to freeze Earth over 2 million years later.
Land surface temperatures follow simple physics
Radiation largely contributes to variations of temperatures across continents, but evaporation and turbulent heat transfer also play a role. These are complex processes. Following new research, the observed temperature patterns follow relatively simple and predictable rules.
Groundwater depletion shifting Earth’s axis
Beneath the Earth’s surface lies over a thousand times more water than all the rivers and lakes in the world. This groundwater makes up for almost all the freshwater on the planet. However, in many areas of the world, groundwater is being extracted faster than the rate that it naturally recharges.
Meltwater is hydro-fracking Greenland’s ice sheet
Moulins are near-vertical conduits that capture and funnel meltwater runoff from the ice surface during summer. There are many thousands of them across Greenland, and they grow to substantial sizes because of the thickness of the ice coupled with the exceptionally high surface melt rates experienced. These gaping holes can be as large as tennis …
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Improving soil to keep 1.5C target
Minimal improvements to agricultural soils around the world would store enough carbon to keep the world within 1.5C of global heating, a new study suggests.
Global ecosystems risk collapse
Across the planet, rainforests are becoming savanna or farmland, savanna is drying out and turning into desert, and icy landscapes are thawing. Scientists have now recorded “regime shifts” like these in more than 20 different types of ecosystems where tipping points have been passed.
Gravity hole in the Indian Ocean
The region of the Earth with the lowest relative gravity is located just south of India in the Indian Ocean. This gravity “hole” may be the result of low-density plumes of magma disturbed by the sinking slabs of a former tectonic plate.