New evidence in Belize shows the ancient Maya responded to population and environmental pressures by creating massive agricultural features in wetlands, potentially increasing atmospheric CO2 and methane through burn events and farming, according to geographical research.
Read moreScientists have carried out a novel statistical analysis to determine for the first time a global picture of how the ocean helps predict the low-level atmosphere and vice versa. They observed ubiquitous influence of the ocean on the atmosphere in the extratropics, which has been difficult to demonstrate with dynamic models of atmospheric and oceanic circulation.
Read morePressure improves the ability of materials to turn heat into electricity and could potentially be used to create clean generators, according to new work.
Read moreThe breeding season of some seabirds in Arctic regions takes place earlier as a result of the temperature rise caused by climate change, according to a new article.
Read moreAnother casualty of climate change will likely be shoreline recreational fishing, according to new research. The study finds some regions of the U.S. may benefit from increasing temperatures, but those benefits will be more than offset by declines in fishing elsewhere.
Read moreIt is common knowledge that glaciers are melting in most areas across the globe. The speed at which tropical glaciers in the Peruvian Andes are retreating is particularly alarming, however. In the first detailed investigation of all Peruvian mountain ranges, a research team has ascertained a drastic reduction of almost 30 percent in the area covered by glaciers between 2000 and 2016.
Read moreWorking with the ice core ReCap, drilled close to the coast in East Greenland, researchers wondered why the dust particles from the interglacial period — the warmer period of time between the ice ages — were several times bigger than the dust particles from the ice age. The research led to the invention of a method able to map the advancement of the glaciers in cold periods and the melting in warmer periods.
Read moreThe skies were clear, the winds were low, and the lasers aligned. In April, instruments aboard NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign and the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 succeeded in measuring the same Arctic sea ice at the same time, a tricky feat given the shifting sea ice.
Read moreWinter conditions are changing more rapidly than any other season and researchers have found clear signs of a decline in frost days, snow covered days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy, tourism and human health.
Read moreAs climate change accelerates, recording shifts in plant flowering times is critical to understanding how changes in climate will impact ecosystem interactions. To help measure these shifts, researchers have introduced a new quantitative measure of phenological status, called the 'phenological index,' that improves scoring of developmental stage in herbarium specimens, and predicts a higher degree of phenological advancement in response to climate change.
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