Category: Earth
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Warming climate will affect streamflow in the northeast, says study
Map showing the average change in annual extreme precipitation 1996-2011 compared to the 1979-1996 average. Watersheds analyzed are outlined in black: (A) Mattawamkeag River in Maine, (B) Dead Diamond River in New Hampshire, (C) White River in Vermont, and (D) Shenandoah River in West Virginia. Credit: C.Cockburn et al. Over the past 25 years, the…
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New approach estimates long-term coastal cliff loss
Jane Willenbring sampling shore platform bedrock in Del Mar with a hammer and chisel. Credit: Travis Clow In parts of California’s iconic mountainous coasts, breathtaking beauty is punctuated by brusque signs warning spectators to stay back from unstable cliffs. The dangers of coastal erosion are an all-too-familiar reality for the modern residents of these communities.…
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Tracing Earth’s past in prehistoric rock deposits
Palaeoproterozoic (around 2 billion years-old) stromatolite fossils studied in this project. Credit: Yogaraj Banerjee What did the Earth look like about 2 billion years ago, when the planet’s atmosphere was being oxygenated? By analyzing ancient dolomite (carbonate) deposits found in Vempalle, in the Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh, researchers at the Indian Institute of Science…
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Altering Winds in Earth’s Upper Atmosphere Could Result in Stronger Hurricanes
What impacts are climate change making on hurricanes? This is what a team researchers hope to answer as they examined the potential for stronger and more frequent hurricanes for the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States due to climate change. The researchers say this could come from wind alterations in the Earth’s upper…
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Environmental toxin PCB found in deep sea trench
Samples from the bottom of the Atacama trench were taken with this “multiple core sampler”, which is shown here on its way up with samples. Credit: Anni Glud/SDU PCB has been banned in most countries since the 1970s, but that doesn’t mean it no longer exists. Now, deep-sea researchers report that they have found PCB…
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Novel detection technique raises pollution policy questions
Wildfire emissions polluting the view in 2020. Credit: Frausto-Vicencio/UCR Using a new detection method, UC Riverside scientists found a massive amount of methane, a super-potent greenhouse gas, coming from wildfires—a source not currently being accounted for by state air quality managers. Methane warms the planet 86 times more powerfully than carbon dioxide over the course…
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Unique Image Reveals How Lightning Rods Work
Using a high-speed camera, Brazilian researchers captured a rare image of lightning strikes, highlighting the importance of proper protection systems and offering insight into the behavior of lightning discharges. Credit: Marcelo Saba/ Diego Rhamon The high-speed camera captured an image displaying multiple lightning rods attempting to connect to the downward discharge. The two descending branches…
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Climate Changing Is Causing a Shift To Flash Droughts
Flash droughts are sudden, intense droughts that occur rapidly and unexpectedly, often within a matter of weeks or months. Unlike traditional droughts, which are usually caused by a lack of rainfall over a prolonged period, flash droughts result from a combination of factors such as high temperatures, low soil moisture, and strong winds. These droughts…
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Geologists Discover a Critical Kill Mechanism Behind a 350 Million-Year-Old Series of Extinctions
The Bakken Shale Formation has offered a new insight into Earth’s geological history, revealing a major trigger for several biotic crises during the late Devonian Period: euxinia, or oxygen depletion and hydrogen sulfide expansion in large water bodies. This research not only helps understand Earth’s past but also warns of potential consequences of global warming,…
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Hemorrhagic Fevers Move to Europe
Mosquito and tick bites can spread several different diseases, and the ranges of these insects are shifting as the climate changes. One tick-borne disease is Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF), which is now affecting people in Europe as well as Africa and Asia. For now, the European cases seem to have been confined to Spain, Russia,…