Seeping methane is driving a global warming feedback loop. Some Arctic lakes are starting to look like witches’ cauldrons. The above video shows an increasingly common site in northern latitudes. As global warming heats these areas up, the frozen ground is melting. And when permafrost turns from solid ground to looser mud, it releases gases…
On June 9 2016, Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, reached the warmest temperature ever recorded for the month of June anywhere on the island, 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit). An article from NSDIC, published June 22 elaborated on the broader situation: Surface melting on Greenland’s Ice Sheet proceeded at a brisk pace, with three…
The study indicates that under the frigid weight of Barents Sea Ice sheet, which covered northern Eurasia some 22 000 years ago, significant amounts of methane may have been stored as hydrates in the ground. As the ice sheet retreated, the methane rich hydrates melted, releasing the climate gas into the ocean and atmosphere for…
We hear all the time that we need to stop the planet from warming an additional two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Why is that specific number so important though? And what happens if we exceed that limit? William Brangham offers some background on that climate science target.
Using a core sample from the Santa Barbara Basin, UCSB researchers decipher the history of paleoclimate change with surprising results By Julie Cohen (UCSB): Global climate change isn’t new — the phenomenon has been around for millions of years. But now, a core from the ocean floor in the Santa Barbara Basin provides a remarkable…
Leaders Event – Statements by Heads of State and Government, at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21. In light of the 14 warmest years on record since 2000, Obama urges bold actions. Highlighting coastal erosion, lose of farm land, flooding, or ice lose he points out that we are the first generation which…
A Breathing Planet, Off Balance NASA: Earth’s land and ocean currently absorb about half of all carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, but it’s uncertain whether the planet can keep this up in the future. NASA’s Earth science program works to improve our understanding of how carbon absorption and emission processes work…
According to a new NASA study, a class of widely used chemical coolants known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), found in refrigerators and in home and automobile air conditioners, contributes to ozone depletion by a small but measurable amount, countering a decades-old assumption. A class of widely used chemical coolants known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) contributes to ozone…
A new open access study in Science Advances concludes that a warming beyond the 2°C target would potentially lead to rates of sea-level rise dominated by ice loss from Antarctica, and continued CO2 emissions from fossil sources could cause additional tens of meters of sea level rise, over the next millennia and eventually ultimately eliminate the…