Melt Ponds Cause Artic Sea Ice to Melt More Rapidly Jan. 18, 2013 — The Arctic sea ice has not only declined over the past decade but has also become distinctly thinner and younger. Researchers are now observing mainly thin, first-year ice floes which are extensively covered with melt ponds in the summer months where Continue Reading →
Unrestricted Access to the Details of Deadly Volcanic Eruptions Jan. 18, 2013 — Details of around 2,000 major volcanic eruptions which occurred over the last 1.8 million years have been made available in a new open access database, complied by scientists at the University of Bristol with colleagues from the UK, US, Colombia and Japan. Continue Reading →
New Insights On Drought Predictions in East Africa Jan. 18, 2013 — With more than 40 million people living under exceptional drought conditions in East Africa, the ability to make accurate predictions of drought has never been more important. In the aftermath of widespread famine and a humanitarian crisis caused by the 2010-2011 drought in Continue Reading →
Beijing is not the only Asian city with lethal air pollution The Chinese capital is just one of hundreds of cities where poisonous air is the fastest growing cause of death Share294 inShare.22 Email A view of the Oriental Pearl TV tower and downtown Shanghai. A report in the Lancet says that worldwide, a record Continue Reading →
Amazon showing signs of degradation due to climate change, Nasa warns Rainforest area twice the size of California experiencing drought rate that is unprecedented in a century, study shows Share247 inShare.3 Email Jonathan Watts, Latin America correspondent guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 January 2013 16.33 GMT The megadrought in the Amazon rainforest during the summer of 2005 Continue Reading →
Great Oxidation Event: More Oxygen Through Multicellularity Jan. 17, 2013 — The appearance of free oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere led to the Great Oxidation Event. This was triggered by cyanobacteria producing oxygen that was used by multicellular forms as early as 2.3 billion years ago. As evolutionary biologists from the Universities of Zurich and Gothenburg Continue Reading →