http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/ice_ages/ Read science articles on the ice age, glaciation and climatology. Discover the connection between ice ages and global warming. en-us Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:05:01 EST Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/ice_ages/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091115134132.htm Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091115134132.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091123142739.htm A new study provides "incontrovertible evidence" that the volcanic super-eruption of Toba on the island of Sumatra about 73,000 years ago deforested much of central India, some 3,000 miles from the epicenter, researchers report. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091123142739.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141039.htm A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis of ice core records suggests that Antarctic temperatures may have been up to 6°C warmer than the present day. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141039.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116103447.htm In a new study, measurements were made during three Austral summers to study the optical properties of the Antarctic system and to produce radiation information for additional modeling studies. The system has an important part in the global climate due to its size, its high latitude location and the negative radiation balance of its large ice sheets. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116103447.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141029.htm Roughly 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, North America's vast assemblage of large animals -- including such iconic creatures as mammoths, mastodons, camels, horses, ground sloths and giant beavers -- began their precipitous slide to extinction. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141029.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119193640.htm Much of our planet's mineral wealth was deposited billions of years ago when Earth's chemical cycles were different from today's. Using geochemical clues from rocks nearly 3 billion years old, a group of scientists have made the surprising discovery that the creation of economically important nickel ore deposits was linked to sulfur in the ancient oxygen-poor atmosphere. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119193640.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151621.htm Some 500 years ago there was a change in the circulation in the atmosphere over Scandinavia. This probably led to increased amounts of winter precipitation in northern Sweden for a period. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029151621.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118112419.htm Nine research challenges and four research initiatives that are poised to advance the study of how Earth's landscapes change were unveiled by the National Research Council. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118112419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103419.htm The calculation of variations in the sea level is relatively simple. It is by far more complicated to then determine the change in the water mass. A team of geodesists and oceanographers have now, for the first time succeeded in doing this. The researchers were able to observe short-term fluctuations in the spatial distribution of the ocean water masses. Their results are, amongst others, important for improved climate models. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110141840.htm Researchers have created a glacier in a freezer that could help scientists understand how glaciers slide across their beds. That could help researchers predict how climate change accelerates glacier sliding and contributes to rising sea levels. Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110141840.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171741.htm California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to analysis of stalagmites from a cave in the Sierra Nevada. Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171741.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112141311.htm Satellite observations and a state-of-the art regional atmospheric model have independently confirmed that the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate, according to a new study. This mass loss is equally distributed between increased iceberg production, driven by acceleration of Greenland's fast-flowing outlet glaciers, and increased meltwater production at the ice sheet surface. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112141311.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122526.htm Is there such a thing as "weather" on Mars? There are some doubts, considering the planet's atmosphere is only 1 percent as dense as that of the Earth. Mars, however, definitely has clouds, drastically low temperatures and out-of-this-world dust storms. A professor of atmospheric sciences now hopes to analyze and forecast Martian weather. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091104122526.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111110045.htm Contrary to preconceived notions, the atmosphere and the oceans were perhaps not formed from vapors emitted during intense volcanism at the dawning of our planet. Scientists now suggest that water was not part of the Earth's initial inventory but stems from the turbulence caused in the outer solar system by giant planets. Ice-covered asteroids thus reached the Earth around one hundred million years after the birth of the planets. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111110045.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202859.htm The lush, tropical Congo Basin was much different 150 million to 200 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed Gondwana, the single continent formed by Africa and South America. Geochemical analysis of rare ancient soils from Central Africa suggests the land was arid, with a small amount of seasonal rainfall, and few bushes or trees. There's very little data for the paleoclimate of the Late Jurassic, but it's important because climate determines plant communities. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110202859.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110141842.htm New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of CO₂ having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now. This suggests that terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans have a much greater capacity to absorb CO₂ than had been previously expected. Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110141842.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121117.htm Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonization is having a beneficial impact on climate change. As the blooms die back phytoplankton sinks to the sea-bed where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029161532.htm Climate models that predict heavy rainfall don't give the whole picture, according to the results of a new study. Researchers examined climate changes that have taken place over the past 800,000 years, and discovered that the melting icebergs in the North Atlantic and changes in the El Niño Southern Oscillation have a great influence on the intensity of monsoon rains. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029161532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111092049.htm The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111092049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106095636.htm The seriousness of current global warming is underlined by a reconstruction of climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula over approximately the last 14,000 years, which appears to show that the current warming and widespread loss of glacial ice are unprecedented. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106095636.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106140757.htm Despite the fact that summer 2009 had more sea ice than in 2007 or 2008, scientists are seeing drastic changes in the region from just five years ago and at rates faster than anticipated. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106140757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106201613.htm Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106201613.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121207.htm The Alps are growing just as quickly in height as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result comes from a new study by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists. Due to glaciers and rivers, about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the slopes of the Alps as is regenerated from the deep Earth's crust. The climatic cycles of the glacial period in Europe over the past 2.5 million years have accelerated this erosion process. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121207.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172251.htm Researchers spent two months this summer high in the Peruvian Andes and brought back two cores, the longest ever drilled from ice fields in the tropics. This latest expedition focused on a yet-to-be-named ice field 5,364 meters above sea level in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range. Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172251.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171209.htm The remaining ice fields atop famed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner, based on the latest survey of the ice fields remaining on the mountain . The findings indicate a major cause of this ice loss is very likely to be the rise in global temperatures. Although changes in cloudiness and precipitation may also play a role, they appear less important, particularly in recent decades. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171209.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027170853.htm Isotopic measurements performed on fossil land snail shells found in ancient soils on the subtropical eastern Canary Islands resulted in oxygen isotope ratios that suggest the Spanish archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa has become progressively drier over the past 50,000 years, according to new research. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091027170853.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192617.htm An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise in North Carolina is accelerating, a jump that appears to have occurred during a time of industrial change. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019162929.htm An analysis of sediment cores indicates that biological and chemical changes occurring at a remote Arctic lake are unprecedented over the past 200,000 years and likely are the result of human-caused climate change, according to a new study. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019162929.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm Europe's southern-most skeletal remains of a mammoth were unearthed in a moor on the 37 degree N latitude. This is considerably south of the inhospitable habitat than one usually imagines for mammoths, and for the characteristically dry and cold climate that prevailed during the ice ages in the north of Eurasia. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090709132057.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026132932.htm Researchers here have discovered the pivotal role that volcanoes played in a deadly ice age 450 million years ago. Perhaps ironically, these volcanoes first caused global warming -- by releasing massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. When they stopped erupting, Earth's climate was thrown off balance, and the ice age began. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026132932.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022141128.htm While carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas and the focus of climate treaties, other pollutants that stay in the atmosphere for only days or months also contribute to global warming. Researchers argue that policymakers should plan a summit now to look at these pollutants, which range from soot to ozone and methane, because they will be more complicated to regulate than is the case with carbon dioxide. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022141128.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163513.htm The possibility that climate change might simply be a natural variation like others that have occurred throughout geologic time is dimming, according to new evidence. The research reveals that sediments retrieved by geologists from a remote Arctic lake are unlike those seen during previous warming episodes. Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163513.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021100742.htm Those pristine-looking Alpine glaciers now melting as global warming sets in may explain the mysterious increase in persistent organic pollutants in sediment from certain lakes since the 1990s, despite decreased use of those compounds in pesticides, electric equipment, paints and other products. Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091021100742.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019122838.htm New ground measurements suggest the rate of ice loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet has been slightly overestimated. For the first time, researchers have directly measured the vertical motion of the bedrock at sites across West Antarctica using GPS. The results will lead to more accurate estimates of ice mass loss. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019122838.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016140633.htm The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the second warmest September on record, according to NOAA. Scientists also reported that the average land surface temperature for September was the second warmest on record, behind 2005. Additionally, the global ocean surface temperature was tied for the fifth warmest on record for September. Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091016140633.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015203837.htm The Arctic Ocean sea ice is thinning, new data show, supporting the emerging thinking that the Ocean will be largely ice-free during summer within a decade. Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091015203837.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091014144729.htm In a new study, ecologists estimate that Arctic lands and oceans are responsible for up to 25 percent of the global net sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Under current predictions of global warming, this Arctic sink could be diminished or reversed, potentially accelerating predicted rates of climate change. Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091014144729.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012095533.htm Oxygen deficiency in the Baltic Sea has never been greater than it is now. But it is not an effect of climate change but rather of increased inputs of nutrients and fertilizers. Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091012095533.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007081532.htm Coastal roads and harbors are traditionally protected from sea erosion by giant blocks of rock or geosynthetic bags filled with material, all locally sourced where possible. In the Arctic and other cold northern regions, where good quality material is often scarce, the prohibitive economic and environmental cost of importing suitable matter has led to a demand for solutions that make use of whatever low quality soil or other material is available. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007081532.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008152242.htm You must go back 15 million years to find carbon dioxide levels as high as they are today, Earth scientists report. "The last time carbon dioxide levels were apparently as high as they are today and sustained at those levels, global temperatures were five to 10 degrees Fahrenheit higher than they are today," said Aradhna Tripati, UCLA assistant professor of Earth and Space Sciences and lead author. Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091008152242.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006201354.htm A new map plots the most accurate predictions yet for land uplift and subsidence and shows that southern Ireland and Wales, and southern and eastern England are continuing to sink, whilst Scotland is rising, at rates less than previously predicted. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006201354.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007153747.htm Starting this month, a giant NASA DC-8 aircraft loaded with geophysical instruments and scientists will buzz at low level over the coasts of West Antarctica, where ice sheets are collapsing at a pace far beyond what scientists expected a few years ago. The flights, dubbed Operation Ice Bridge, are an effort to image what is happening on, and under, the ice, in order to estimate future sea-level rises that might result. Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007153747.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006155913.htm Ancient soil-inhabiting creatures decreased in body size by nearly half in response to a period of boosted carbon dioxide levels and higher temperatures, scientists have discovered. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006155913.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007124729.htm A team of Spanish scientists from a variety of fields has analyzed the effects of human activity on the peridunal lagoons in the Doñana National Park. Results show that the lagoons are in the process of regressing, largely due to the extraction of underground water for the Matalascañas tourist resort (Huelva). Moreover, the natural effects of the ecosystem itself are further aggravating the situation. Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091007124729.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006104627.htm Historical naval logbooks are being used for the first time in research into climate change. The logbooks include famous voyages such as the Beagle, Cook’s HMS Discovery and Parry’s polar expedition in HMS Hecla. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006104627.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006122328.htm Despite a slight recovery in summer Arctic sea ice in 2009 from record-setting low years in 2007 and 2008, the sea ice extent remains significantly below previous years and remains on a trend leading toward ice-free Arctic summers, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center. Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091006122328.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929194207.htm The origin of the "Celtic fringe" of genetically and culturally distinctive people in the Northern and Western British Isles is the source of fierce academic controversy. But new research into the movement of small mammals, such as voles and shrews, at the end of the last Ice Age, could provide important new clues to resolve the debate. Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090929194207.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005211748.htm Early in the 20th century, a succession of adventurers and scientists pioneered the exploration of Antarctica. A century later, they're still at it, albeit with a different set of tools. This fall, a team of modern explorers will fly over Earth's southern ice-covered regions to study changes to its sea ice, ice sheets, and glaciers as part of NASA's Operation Ice Bridge. Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005211748.htm