Milkweed plants from the chambers were fed to hundreds of monarch caterpillars this summer. Milkweed is a monarch caterpillar’s only food, satisfying its nutritional needs while providing an invaluable medicinal boost. The plant’s leaves contain a bitter toxin that helps the insects ward off predators and parasites. But previous work at U-M’s northern Michigan biological…
According to a new study, sea level rise of several meters might happen faster then previously thought. Based on data from past climate changes, when sea level rose to +5–9 m, including the occurrence of extreme storms – during a time when temperatures were less than 1 ◦C warmer than today, experts warn of similar…
The month of May brought persistent floods to Texas and an unrelenting heat wave to India. On Monday, researchers from Rutgers University published an explanation for the repeating weather patterns. Kris Van Cleave reports. And Dr. Jennifer Francis is back with more research linking Arctic warming to the erratic jet stream we’ve seen in recent…
NASA hosted a media teleconference to discuss new research results on the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and its potential contribution to future sea level rise. The briefing participants are: — Eric Rignot, professor of Earth system science at the University of California, Irvine, and glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena,…
Past sea level rise is not captured by models yet, in particular the response from ice sheets in Antarctica due to global warming. Projections therefore can often be regarded to potentially underestimate future sea level rise. For example, Overpeck et al. (2006), and Hansen (2007) suggest possibilities which could eventually lead to a nonlinear response…
The year 2014 ranks as Earth’s warmest since 1880, according to two separate analyses by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists. The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000. This trend continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis…
A reservoir of abiotic methane has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean. This means that there is more of the greenhouse gas trapped under the seabed than previously thought. News: A reservoir of abiotic methane has been discovered in the Arctic Ocean https://cage.uit.no/news/new-source-methane-discovered-arctic-ocean/ Study: Abiotic methane from ultraslow-spreading ridges can charge Arctic gas hydrates http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/content/early/2015/03/27/G36440.1.full.pdf+html?ijkey=tNRcKxKHNcG5s&keytype=ref&siteid=gsgeology…
Widespread seafloor gas release from the seabed offshore the West Yamal Peninsula, suggests that permafrost has degraded more significantly than previously thought. Gas is released in an area of at least 7500 km2 in water depths >20 m.((Offshore permafrost decay and massive seabed methane escape in water depths >20 m at the South Kara Sea shelf | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50735/abstract | Alexey Portnov,…
The year 2014 now ranks as the warmest on record since 1880, according to an analysis by NASA scientists. Nine of the 10 warmest years since modern records began have now occurred since 2000, according to a global temperature analysis by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. 2014’s record-breaking warmth…