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 Sat, 17 May 2008 06:05:01 EDT Sat, 17 May 2008 06:05:01 EDT 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/2008/05/080514131131.htm The newest analysis of trace gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores now provide a reasonable view of greenhouse gas concentrations as much as 800,000 years into the past, and are further confirming the link between greenhouse gas levels and global warming, scientists have reported in Nature. Sat, 17 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514131131.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080516121650.htm Our mountains are growing greener. At the border between woods and bare mountain, trees that require warm temperatures, such as oak, elm, maple, and black alder, have become established for the first time in 8,000 years. Over the last century, the temperature has risen by more than one degree. The cooling trend over several thousand years is broken, and this has triggered changes in flora, fauna, and landscapes. In important respects, the present state is similar to what occurred directly after the latest ice age. Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080516121650.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514175045.htm The U.S. government has finally decided to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The listing is based on the fact that loss of sea ice will likely continue to threaten polar bear habitat. Thu, 15 May 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080514175045.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512120523.htm The sun has powered almost everything on Earth since life began, including its climate. The sun also delivers an annual and seasonal impact, changing the character of each hemisphere as Earth's orientation shifts through the year. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, new forces have begun to exert significant influence on Earth's climate. Mon, 12 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512120523.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101607.htm An international group of scientists has swapped their comfortable offices for one of the most inhospitable environments on the planet to carry out a challenging field campaign that is seen as the key to ensuring the data delivered by ESA's ice mission CryoSat will be as accurate as possible. Mon, 12 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080509101607.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508132549.htm Research done by the US Department of the Interior to determine if global warming threatens the polar bear population is so flawed that it cannot be used to justify listing the polar bear as an endangered species, according to a new study. The Interior Department has been ordered to make a determination by May 15. Sat, 10 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080508132549.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507132855.htm Computer analyses of global climate have consistently overstated warming in Antarctica, new research concludes. The study can help scientists improve computer models and determine if Earth's southernmost continent will warm significantly this century, a major research question because of Antarctica's potential impact on global sea-level rise. Thu, 08 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507132855.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211835.htm The Arctic has become a poster child for the negative effects of climate change, but new research that species living in the tropics likely face the greatest peril in a warmer world. Tue, 06 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080505211835.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430134246.htm Scientists probing volcanic rocks from deep under the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean have discovered a special geochemical signature until now found only in the southern hemisphere. The rocks were dredged from the remote Gakkel Ridge, which lies under 3,000 to 5,000 meters of water; it is Earth's most northerly undersea spreading ridge. Mon, 05 May 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430134246.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501180253.htm Fewer caribou calves are being born -- and more of them are dying -- in West Greenland as a result of a warming climate. The researchers believe that caribou may serve as an indicator species for climate changes including global warming. The research shows that the timing of peak food availability no longer corresponds to the timing of caribou births. Fri, 02 May 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080501180253.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430124607.htm New calculations indicate the record low minimum extent of sea ice across the Arctic last September has a three-in-five chance of being shattered again in 2008 because of continued warming temperatures and a preponderance of younger, thinner ice. Warming temperatures, preponderance of young, thin ice drives prediction. Fri, 02 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430124607.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429120817.htm The state of Alaska has the dubious distinction of leading the lower 48 in the effects of a warming climate. Small villages are slipping into the sea due to coastal erosion, soggy permafrost is cracking buildings and trapping trucks. In an effort to better understand how the Pacific Northwest fits into the larger climate-change picture, scientists are heading to Denali National Park on the second leg of a multi-year mission to recover ice cores from glaciers in the Alaska wilderness. Thu, 01 May 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429120817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175339.htm Recent additions to the premier collection of Southern Ocean sediment cores at Florida State University's Antarctic Marine Geology Research Facility will give international scientists a close-up look at fluctuations that occurred in Antarctica's ice sheet and marine and terrestrial life as the climate cooled considerably between 20 and 14 million years ago. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175339.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095100.htm Over millions of years carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been moderated by a finely-tuned natural feedback system -- a system that human emissions have recently overwhelmed. Scientists have now linked the pre-human stability to connections between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the breakdown of minerals in the Earth's crust. Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080429095100.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428130641.htm Before ice first began to form in Antarctica around 34 million years ago, the Earth was a very different place - but then greenhouse conditions swiftly gave way to an icehouse climate, causing the oceans to become less acidic. Scientists have been piecing together how Earth's changing climate affected ocean chemistry during this period of transition. Their work sheds light on the links between glaciation and the ocean carbon cycle. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428130641.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423154558.htm The loss of sea ice due to climate change could spell disaster for polar bears and other Arctic marine mammals. Sea ice is the common habitat feature uniting these unique and diverse Arctic inhabitants. Sea ice serves as a platform for resting and reproduction, influences the distribution of food sources, and provides a refuge from predators. The loss of sea ice poses a particularly severe threat to Arctic species, such as the hooded seal, whose natural history is closely tied to, and depends on, sea ice. Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080423154558.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421111622.htm The Antarctic deep sea is getting colder, which might stimulate the circulation of the oceanic water masses. Scientists studied ocean currents as well as the distribution of temperature, salt content and trace substances in Antarctic sea water. Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421111622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421124230.htm The shrinking expanse of Arctic sea ice is increasingly vulnerable to summer sunshine. New research finds that unusually sunny weather contributed to last summer's record loss of Arctic ice, while similar weather conditions in past summers did not have comparable impacts. Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080421124230.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416140958.htm Using novel isotopic studies, scientists have identified the most important processes responsible for changes in natural methane concentrations over the transition from the last ice age into our warm period. The study shows that wetland regions emitted significantly less methane during glacial times. The glacial/interglacial changes in atmospheric methane concentrations are quite drastic. Glacial concentration were on average 350 ppbv (part per billion by volume) and increased to approximately 700 ppbv during the last glacial/interglacial transition. During the last centuries human methane emissions artificially increased methane concentrations to approximately 1750 ppbv. Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080416140958.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417142507.htm Lubricating meltwater that makes its way from the surface down to where a glacier meets bedrock turns out to be only a minor reason why Greenland's outlet glaciers accelerated their race to the sea 50 to 100 percent in the 1990s and early 2000s, scientists say. Their work also shows that surface meltwater is reaching bedrock farther inland under the Greenland Ice Sheet, something scientists had speculated was happening but had little evidence. Sun, 20 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417142507.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417142503.htm Researchers have for the first time documented the sudden and complete drainage of a lake of meltwater from the top of the Greenland ice sheet to its base. From those observations, scientists have uncovered a plumbing system for the ice sheet, where meltwater can penetrate thick, cold ice and accelerate some of the large-scale summer movements of the ice sheet. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080417142503.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414103617.htm For the first time, a German has taken part in a Russian drift expedition. He has spent seven months on an ice floe and gained observational data from a region, which is normally inaccessible during the Arctic winter. Fri, 18 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414103617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415205350.htm The largest ice shelf in the Northern Hemisphere has fractured into three main pieces. During a recent patrol across the northernmost parts of Canada, researchers found a new 18 kilometer-long network of cracks running from the southern edge of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf to the Arctic Ocean. This accompanies a large central fracture that was first detected in 2002, and raises the concern that the remaining ice shelf will disintegrate within the next few years. Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080415205350.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407132120.htm Scientists are now flying through springtime Arctic pollution to find out why the region is warming -- and summertime sea ice is melting -- faster than predicted. Some 35 NOAA researchers are gathering with government and university colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska, to conduct the study. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407132120.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407094610.htm Scientists tell us that the evidence the Earth is warming is "unequivocal." Increases in global average air and sea temperature, ice melting and rising global sea levels all help us understand and prepare for the coming challenges. In addition to these observed changes, climate-sensitive impacts on human health are occurring today. They are attacking the pillars of public health. And they are providing a glimpse of the challenges public health will have to confront on a large scale. Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080407094610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402084336.htm Using state-of-the-art supercomputers climate scientists have performed a 400-year high-resolution global ocean-atmosphere simulation with results that are more similar to actual observations of surface winds and sea surface temperatures. Sat, 05 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402084336.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401165017.htm This month, NASA begins the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic's lower atmosphere. The mission is poised to help scientists identify how air pollution contributes to climate changes in the Arctic. Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080401165017.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402210456.htm At a hearing on Capitol Hill April 2, the National Wildlife Federation urged immediate action to protect America's polar bears from the impacts of climate change by listing polar bears under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Facing a court-imposed deadline, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year proposed to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the ESA. FWS was required by the ESA to issue a final listing decision twelve months thereafter. FWS missed this deadline nearly three months ago despite the imminent dangers to polar bears, as demonstrated by unprecedented melting of Arctic ice in 2007. Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080402210456.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080330215330.htm Warming of the sea surface by as little as several tenths of a degree can pose a serious threat to King penguins. A unique system allowed researchers tracked more than 450 individual King penguins over nine years in their natural environment, within the Crozet Archipelago. Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080330215330.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172038.htm The more you know the less you care -- at least that seems to be the case with global warming. A telephone survey of 1,093 Americans by two Texas A&M University political scientists and a former colleague indicates that trend, as explained in their recent article in the peer-reviewed journal Risk Analysis. Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080327172038.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326142229.htm Scientists from around the world have reconstructed changes in Earth's ancient ocean chemistry during a broad sweep of geological time, from about 2.5 to 0.5 billion years ago. They have discovered that a deficiency of oxygen and the heavy metal molybdenum in the ancient deep ocean may have delayed the evolution of animal life on Earth for nearly 2 billion years. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326142229.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325120714.htm British Antarctic Survey has captured dramatic images of an Antarctic ice shelf that looks set to be the latest to break out from the Antarctic Peninsula. A large part of the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula is now supported only by a thin strip of ice hanging between two islands. Scientists monitoring satellite images of the Wilkins Ice Shelf spotted that a huge iceberg appears to have broken away in recent days -- it is still on the move. Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080325120714.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080323210225.htm Black carbon, a form of particulate air pollution most often produced from biomass burning, cooking with solid fuels and diesel exhaust, has a warming effect in the atmosphere three to four times greater than prevailing estimates. soot and other forms of black carbon could have as much as 60 percent of the current global warming effect of carbon dioxide, more than that of any greenhouse gas besides carbon dioxide. The researchers also noted, however, that mitigation would have immediate societal benefits in addition to the long term effect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080323210225.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319085406.htm Scientists know that air pollution particles from mid-latitude cities migrate to the Arctic and form an ugly haze, but a new study finds surprising evidence that polar explorers saw the same phenomenon as early as 1870. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080319085406.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318121552.htm Rain falling on snow sounds like a relatively harmless weather event, but when it happens in the far north it can mean lingering death for reindeer, musk oxen and other animals that normally graze on the Arctic tundra. Scientists say satellite data could be used to help save herds of musk oxen and reindeer from starvation when ice storms cut off their food supply. Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318121552.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318100925.htm Scientists have completed the first ever series of flights by autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles in Antarctica. This is the first time that unpiloted UAVs have been used in the Antarctic and the successful flights open up a major new technique for gathering scientific data in the harshest and remotest environment on Earth. Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318100925.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317123249.htm A new global portrait taken from space details Earth's land cover with a resolution never before obtained. Earth's land cover has been charted from space before, but this map, which will be made available to the public upon its completion in July, has a resolution 10 times sharper than any of its predecessors. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317123249.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317123240.htm Take a deer's body, attach a camel's head and add a Jimmy Durante nose, and you have a saiga -- the odd-ball antelope with the enormous schnoz that lives on the isolated steppes of Central Asia. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317123240.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318151743.htm Using the latest satellite observations, NASA researchers and others report that the Arctic is still on "thin ice" when it comes to the condition of sea ice cover in the region. A colder-than-average winter in some regions of the Arctic this year has yielded an increase in the area of new sea ice, while the older sea ice that lasts for several years has continued to decline. Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080318151743.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317154235.htm The world's glaciers are continuing to melt away with the latest official figures showing record losses, the UN Environment Programme has announced. Data from close to 30 reference glaciers in nine mountain ranges indicate that between the years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 the average rate of melting and thinning more than doubled. Tue, 18 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080317154235.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314100420.htm Envisat captures the break up of the massive A53A iceberg located just east of the South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080314100420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311120617.htm While every mode of transportation in the United States will be affected as the climate changes, potentially the greatest impact on transportation systems will be flooding of roads, railways, transit systems and airport runways in coastal areas because of rising sea levels and surges brought on by more intense storms, says a new report from the National Research Council. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311120617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311163631.htm The pending federal decision about whether to protect the polar bear as a threatened species is as much about climate science as it is about climate change. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering a proposal to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, a proposal largely based on anticipated habitat loss in a warming Arctic. Climate models -- mathematical representations of the natural processes affecting climate -- factored heavily in the scientific information requested by the FWS to guide its official recommendation, which was due Jan. 9. Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080311163631.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080305105209.htm Scientists recently developed a new modeling approach to estimate sea ice thickness. This is the only model based entirely on historical observations. The model was developed by scientists with the US Geological Survey and the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080305105209.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304200902.htm Research from ancient sediment cores indicates that a warming climate could make the world's arctic tundra far more susceptible to fires than previously thought. The findings are important given the potential for tundra fires to release organic carbon -- which could add significantly to the amount of greenhouse gases already blamed for global warming. Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080304200902.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183818.htm The West Antarctic rift is a region of volcanic activity and crustal stretching that is roughly the size of the western United States (from Salt Lake City to the Pacific Ocean). About 98 percent of it is buried beneath glacial ice, up to 2.5 miles thick, and bedrock beneath the ice is 2000--3000 feet below sea level over large areas. All of this makes it a difficult region to study. It is interesting nevertheless, because volcanic eruptions beneath the ice could destabilize the ice sheet, leading to as much as 25 feet of sea-level rise. Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183818.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183457.htm Finely layered coatings, rich in manganese and iron and commonly called desert varnish, are common on rocks in desert environments worldwide. These coatings have been the subject of intense scientific debate and extensive research, owing to their potential for indicating past climates, for dating geological surfaces, and, via artwork carved in varnish, for providing information about ancient cultures. Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229183457.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229075228.htm Boulders the size footballs could help scientists predict the West Antarctic Ice Sheet's contribution to sea-level rise according to new research in Geology. Initial results show that Pine Island Glacier has 'thinned' by around 4 centimeters per year over the past 5,000 years, while Smith and Pope Glaciers thinned by just over 2 cm per year during the past 14,500 years. These rates are more than 20 times slower than recent changes: satellite, airborne and ground based observations made since the 1990s show that Pine Island Glacier has thinned by around 1.6 meters per year in recent years. The scientists reached their conclusions by investigating how long the boulders have been exposed to cosmic radiation rather than being shielded by ice or sediment. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080229075228.htm