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Earth Sciences - 19.07.2018
Environment - Earth Sciences - 19.07.2018 
New study puts a figure on sea-level rise following Antarctic ice shelves’ collapse
An international team of scientists has shown how much sea level would rise if Larsen C and George VI, two Antarctic ice shelves at risk of collapse, were to break up. While Larsen C has received much attention due to the break-away of a trillion-tonne iceberg from it last summer, its collapse would contribute only a few millimetres to sea-level rise.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 18.07.2018 
Martian atmosphere behaves as one
New research using a decade of data from ESA's Mars Express has found clear signs of the complex martian atmosphere acting as a single, interconnected system, with processes occurring at low and mid levels significantly affecting those seen higher up. Understanding the martian atmosphere is a key topic in planetary science, from its current status to its past history.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.07.2018 
Atlantic Ocean circulation is not collapsing - but as it shifts gears, global warming will reaccelerate
A huge circulation pattern in the Atlantic Ocean took a starring role in the 2004 movie "The Day After Tomorrow. In that fictional tale the global oceanic current suddenly stops and New York City freezes over. While many aspects of the movie are unrealistic, oceanographers are concerned about the long-term stability of the Atlantic Ocean circulation, and previous studies show that it has slowed dramatically in the past decade.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 17.07.2018 
Climate determines shapes of river basins
There are more than 1 million river basins carved into the topography of the United States, each collecting rainwater to feed the rivers that cut through them. Some basins are as small as individual streams, while others span nearly half the continent, encompassing, for instance, the whole of the Mississippi river network.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 16.07.2018 
Sound waves reveal diamond cache deep in Earth’s interior
There may be more than a quadrillion tons of diamond hidden in the Earth's interior, according to a new study from MIT and other universities. But the new results are unlikely to set off a diamond rush. The scientists estimate the precious minerals are buried more than 100 miles below the surface, far deeper than any drilling expedition has ever reached.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 12.07.2018
Environment - Earth Sciences - 12.07.2018 
Great Britain’s coastal wetlands threatened by rising sea levels
Marshlands in the south east of England could start to disappear from the year 2040 due to rapid sea level rise, according to new research involving Durham University scientists. Using data from more than 800 sediment cores which record how salt marshes responded to variable rates of sea-level rise over the past 10,000 years, the researchers estimate that marshes in the south east of England could start to disappear from the year 2040, and across all of Great Britain by 2100.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 09.07.2018 
Oxygen levels on early Earth rose and fell several times before the successful Great Oxidation Event
Earth's oxygen levels rose and fell more than once hundreds of millions of years before the planetwide success of the Great Oxidation Event about 2.4 billion years ago, new research from the University of Washington shows. The evidence comes from a new study that indicates a second and much earlier "whiff” of oxygen in Earth's distant past - in the atmosphere and on the surface of a large stretch of ocean - showing that the oxygenation of the Earth was a complex process of repeated trying and failing over a vast stretch of time.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 04.07.2018 
The toxic side of the Moon
When the Apollo astronauts returned from the surface of the Moon, the dust that clung to their spacesuits made their throats sore and their eyes water. Moon dust is made of sharp, abrasive and nasty particles, but how toxic is it for humans? The "lunar hay fever", as NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt described it during the Apollo 17 mission created symptoms in all 12 people who have stepped on the Moon.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 25.06.2018
Environment - Earth Sciences - 25.06.2018 
Striking the right balance between wind energy and biodiversity
EPFL researchers have developed a simulator that can calculate the performance of wind farms over 30 years while also factoring in the need to preserve local biodiversity. Tested at a site in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, the simulator could be applied to the Swiss Jura region, which has a similar landscape.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 22.06.2018 
Earth’s squishy interior gives rapid rise to Antarctica
Parts of Earth's crust are rising very slowly owing to post-glacial rebound, but using GPS, researchers have found that West Antarctica is rising faster than almost anywhere else in the world. And, ESA's GOCE gravity mission has, in turn, helped them to understand that the mantle below is unusually fluid.
Earth Sciences - 22.06.2018 
Polar ice may be softer than we thought
Tübingen and international researchers investigate ice flow speed in northern Greenland, correcting models predicting sea level change Ice is a material that can flow like a very viscous liquid. In the polar ice sheets, it flows towards the oceans under its own weight. Knowing how fast the ice flows is of crucial importance to predict future sea level rises, particularly under changing climate conditions.
Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 20.06.2018 
Nearly 80 exoplanet candidates identified in record time
Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have analyzed data from K2, the follow-up mission to NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, and have discovered a trove of possible exoplanets amid some 50,000 stars. In a paper that appears online today in The Astronomical Journal , the scientists report the discovery of nearly 80 new planetary candidates, including a particular standout: a likely planet that orbits the star HD 73344, which would be the brightest planet host ever discovered by the K2 mission.
Earth Sciences - Life Sciences - 13.06.2018 
T. Rex Couldn’t Stick Out Its Tongue
Dinosaurs in reconstructions are often shown with tongues wildly waving - a feature that is incorrect, according to new research conducted by The University of Texas at Austin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Spencer Wright AUSTIN, Texas - Dinosaurs are often depicted as fierce creatures, baring their teeth, with tongues wildly stretching from their mouths like giant, deranged lizards.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 11.06.2018 
Rising CO2 may increase dangerous weather extremes, whatever happens to global temperatures
New research from the University of Oxford and collaborators at several other institutions, including the University of Bristol, provides compelling evidence that meeting the global warming target of 1.5°C may not be enough to limit the damage caused by extreme weather. The paper, published today , demonstrates that higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations directly increase temperature and rainfall extremes, meaning there could be dangerous changes in these extremes even if the global mean temperature rise remains within 1.5°C.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 08.06.2018
Environment - Earth Sciences - 07.06.2018 
Scientists propose changing the rules of history to avoid environmental collapse
For the first time in our planet's 4.5 billion-year history a single species, humans, is increasingly dictating its future, according to a new book by UCL scientists. The new epoch known as the Anthropocene - assessed in 2015 by Professors Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin in a report published in Nature - marks the period when human impacts on our home planet have become global and sustained.
Health - Earth Sciences - 05.06.2018
Earth Sciences
Results 81 - 100 of 185.
Deep groundwater in coastal deltas resilient to contamination
Groundwater pumped from the depths of the coastal Bengal Basin supporting more than 80 million people is largely secure from contamination, according to new research by UCL and the British Geological Survey. The study shows that groundwater pumped from depths below 150m in the coastal regions of the Bengal Basin is thousands of years old, and generally secure from contamination by salinity and arsenic found in shallow groundwater.
Groundwater pumped from the depths of the coastal Bengal Basin supporting more than 80 million people is largely secure from contamination, according to new research by UCL and the British Geological Survey. The study shows that groundwater pumped from depths below 150m in the coastal regions of the Bengal Basin is thousands of years old, and generally secure from contamination by salinity and arsenic found in shallow groundwater.
An international team of scientists has shown how much sea level would rise if Larsen C and George VI, two Antarctic ice shelves at risk of collapse, were to break up. While Larsen C has received much attention due to the break-away of a trillion-tonne iceberg from it last summer, its collapse would contribute only a few millimetres to sea-level rise.
New research using a decade of data from ESA's Mars Express has found clear signs of the complex martian atmosphere acting as a single, interconnected system, with processes occurring at low and mid levels significantly affecting those seen higher up. Understanding the martian atmosphere is a key topic in planetary science, from its current status to its past history.
A huge circulation pattern in the Atlantic Ocean took a starring role in the 2004 movie "The Day After Tomorrow. In that fictional tale the global oceanic current suddenly stops and New York City freezes over. While many aspects of the movie are unrealistic, oceanographers are concerned about the long-term stability of the Atlantic Ocean circulation, and previous studies show that it has slowed dramatically in the past decade.
There are more than 1 million river basins carved into the topography of the United States, each collecting rainwater to feed the rivers that cut through them. Some basins are as small as individual streams, while others span nearly half the continent, encompassing, for instance, the whole of the Mississippi river network.
There may be more than a quadrillion tons of diamond hidden in the Earth's interior, according to a new study from MIT and other universities. But the new results are unlikely to set off a diamond rush. The scientists estimate the precious minerals are buried more than 100 miles below the surface, far deeper than any drilling expedition has ever reached.
Mediterranean Climate as pacemaker for Glacier Formation in Europe
Ice ages are recurring phenomena in Earth's recent geological history, and the resulting glacier advances significantly shaped the European landscape. An international research team led by Dr Stefanie Kaboth from the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University has now shown that the extent of glaciation in Western Europe was largely driven by the advection of warm seawater towards Europe's Atlantic coast, which raised precipitation on the continent.
Ice ages are recurring phenomena in Earth's recent geological history, and the resulting glacier advances significantly shaped the European landscape. An international research team led by Dr Stefanie Kaboth from the Institute of Earth Sciences at Heidelberg University has now shown that the extent of glaciation in Western Europe was largely driven by the advection of warm seawater towards Europe's Atlantic coast, which raised precipitation on the continent.
Marshlands in the south east of England could start to disappear from the year 2040 due to rapid sea level rise, according to new research involving Durham University scientists. Using data from more than 800 sediment cores which record how salt marshes responded to variable rates of sea-level rise over the past 10,000 years, the researchers estimate that marshes in the south east of England could start to disappear from the year 2040, and across all of Great Britain by 2100.
Earth's oxygen levels rose and fell more than once hundreds of millions of years before the planetwide success of the Great Oxidation Event about 2.4 billion years ago, new research from the University of Washington shows. The evidence comes from a new study that indicates a second and much earlier "whiff” of oxygen in Earth's distant past - in the atmosphere and on the surface of a large stretch of ocean - showing that the oxygenation of the Earth was a complex process of repeated trying and failing over a vast stretch of time.
When the Apollo astronauts returned from the surface of the Moon, the dust that clung to their spacesuits made their throats sore and their eyes water. Moon dust is made of sharp, abrasive and nasty particles, but how toxic is it for humans? The "lunar hay fever", as NASA astronaut Harrison Schmitt described it during the Apollo 17 mission created symptoms in all 12 people who have stepped on the Moon.
Who shares experiences of climate change in a 1.5°C world and beyond?
A new framework to understand how uneven the effects of a 1.5°C world are for different countries around the world has been published today in Geophysical Research Letters, led by researchers from the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at the Oxford University Department of Geography. It has been long understood that climate change will affect some regions more severely than others.
A new framework to understand how uneven the effects of a 1.5°C world are for different countries around the world has been published today in Geophysical Research Letters, led by researchers from the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) at the Oxford University Department of Geography. It has been long understood that climate change will affect some regions more severely than others.
EPFL researchers have developed a simulator that can calculate the performance of wind farms over 30 years while also factoring in the need to preserve local biodiversity. Tested at a site in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, the simulator could be applied to the Swiss Jura region, which has a similar landscape.
Parts of Earth's crust are rising very slowly owing to post-glacial rebound, but using GPS, researchers have found that West Antarctica is rising faster than almost anywhere else in the world. And, ESA's GOCE gravity mission has, in turn, helped them to understand that the mantle below is unusually fluid.
Tübingen and international researchers investigate ice flow speed in northern Greenland, correcting models predicting sea level change Ice is a material that can flow like a very viscous liquid. In the polar ice sheets, it flows towards the oceans under its own weight. Knowing how fast the ice flows is of crucial importance to predict future sea level rises, particularly under changing climate conditions.
Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have analyzed data from K2, the follow-up mission to NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, and have discovered a trove of possible exoplanets amid some 50,000 stars. In a paper that appears online today in The Astronomical Journal , the scientists report the discovery of nearly 80 new planetary candidates, including a particular standout: a likely planet that orbits the star HD 73344, which would be the brightest planet host ever discovered by the K2 mission.
Dinosaurs in reconstructions are often shown with tongues wildly waving - a feature that is incorrect, according to new research conducted by The University of Texas at Austin and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Spencer Wright AUSTIN, Texas - Dinosaurs are often depicted as fierce creatures, baring their teeth, with tongues wildly stretching from their mouths like giant, deranged lizards.
New research from the University of Oxford and collaborators at several other institutions, including the University of Bristol, provides compelling evidence that meeting the global warming target of 1.5°C may not be enough to limit the damage caused by extreme weather. The paper, published today , demonstrates that higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations directly increase temperature and rainfall extremes, meaning there could be dangerous changes in these extremes even if the global mean temperature rise remains within 1.5°C.
Rising CO2 may increase dangerous weather extremes, whatever happens to global temperatures
New research from the University of Oxford and collaborators at several other institutions provides compelling evidence that meeting the global warming target of 1.5°C may not be enough to limit the damage caused by extreme weather. The paper, published today , demonstrates that higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations directly increase temperature and rainfall extremes, meaning there could be dangerous changes in these extremes even if the global mean temperature rise remains within 1.5°C.
New research from the University of Oxford and collaborators at several other institutions provides compelling evidence that meeting the global warming target of 1.5°C may not be enough to limit the damage caused by extreme weather. The paper, published today , demonstrates that higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations directly increase temperature and rainfall extremes, meaning there could be dangerous changes in these extremes even if the global mean temperature rise remains within 1.5°C.
For the first time in our planet's 4.5 billion-year history a single species, humans, is increasingly dictating its future, according to a new book by UCL scientists. The new epoch known as the Anthropocene - assessed in 2015 by Professors Simon Lewis and Mark Maslin in a report published in Nature - marks the period when human impacts on our home planet have become global and sustained.
Overpumping groundwater increases contamination risk
Pumping an aquifer to the last drop squeezes out more than water. A Stanford study finds it can also unlock dangerous arsenic from buried clays - and reveals how sinking land can provide an early warning and measure of contamination. For decades, intensive groundwater pumping has caused ground beneath California's San Joaquin Valley to sink, damaging infrastructure.
Pumping an aquifer to the last drop squeezes out more than water. A Stanford study finds it can also unlock dangerous arsenic from buried clays - and reveals how sinking land can provide an early warning and measure of contamination. For decades, intensive groundwater pumping has caused ground beneath California's San Joaquin Valley to sink, damaging infrastructure.
