Category: Earth
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Climate Change Is Shifting Our Oceans From Blue to Green
July 2002 – June 2022 Two decades of satellite measurements show that the sea surface is shading toward green. The deep-blue sea is turning a touch greener. While that may not seem as consequential as, say, record warm sea surface temperatures, the color of the ocean surface is indicative of the ecosystem that lies beneath.…
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Iron atoms discovered on the move in Earth’s solid inner core
Charged ions interacting with the Earth’s magnetic field often create auroras near the planet’s poles. The aurora australis or the “southern lights,” are captured here by a NASA satellite. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory. The iron atoms that make up the Earth’s solid inner core are tightly jammed together by astronomically high pressures—the highest on the…
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Glaciers can give us clues about when a volcano might erupt
Credit: Mayumi.K.Photography/Shutterstock Globally, there is about one volcano erupting each week. Volcanic unrest kills an average of 500 people every year and costs the global economy roughly US$7 billion (£5.7 billion). With one in 20 people living somewhere at risk of volcanic activity, every effort that can be made to improve the monitoring of volcanoes…
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Scientists investigate potential of sustainable protection of rapidly subsiding coastlines with mangroves
Dutch and Indonesian researchers at work in an eroding and sinking mangrove forest. Credit: Celine van Bijsterveldt Along the Asian coastlines there are many areas where rural communities experience alarming rates of sea level rises due to land subsidence up to 10 cm per year. This causes tremendous challenges on how to live there and…
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Controlled burns help prevent wildfires, but climate change is limiting their use
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Prescribed fires, sometimes called controlled burns, are one of the most common tools for preventing catastrophic wildfires in the Western United States. Lit by highly trained firefighters, they help clear away excess dry plant matter that might otherwise turn a healthy vegetation fire into a raging inferno. To safely carry out…
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The Mississippi Is Mighty Parched
Prolonged drought in 2023 has drastically lowered Mississippi River levels, disrupting transport, increasing shipping costs, and threatening Louisiana’s drinking water supplies. In September, low water levels made it more challenging to ship goods down the river and allowed a wedge of saltwater to move upstream. Months of excessive heat and drought parched the Mississippi River…
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Scientists investigate Grand Canyon’s ancient past to predict future climate impacts
The Grand Canyon is known as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Credit: Matthew Lachniet The Grand Canyon’s valleys and millions of years of rock layers spanning Earth’s history have earned it a designation as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. But, according to a new UNLV study, its…
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Three wide-scale efforts could make the difference
In a new commentary paper, researchers point to three major efforts that could help cap global warming at 1.5°C. Ramping up carbon dioxide removal and better addressing other emissions, like methane and fluorinated gases, are among the most worthwhile efforts they recommend. Credit: Peggychoicair | Pixabay With the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference just…
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Drier savannas, grasslands store more climate-buffering carbon than previously believed
Most models underpredict the stronger relative effects of fire on SOC in drier environments. Comparison between model simulations and empirical data of changes in SOC under different fire regimes across aridity classes. Colored symbols and lines represent means from different DGVMs, and the black symbols and gray line represent the empirical data with the error…
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Climate and human land use both play roles in Pacific island wildfires past and present: Study
Stratigraphic records of charcoal and stable carbon isotopes from Viti Levu. a–c, Photos of grasslands (a) and grassland fires (b) in the Sigatoka River valley of Viti Levu (c). The leeward (dry) side of Viti Levu is largely ‘talasiga’ or grassland/savanna on the west/northwest side of the island. Stratigraphic charcoal concentrations (black lines) and δ13C…