A new theory described today in Scientific Reports posits that hunter-gatherers whose omnivorous digestive system prevented too much protein consumption likely shared surplus meat with wolves. Those scraps may have initiated a step toward domestication. Scientific American reports: [Maria Lahtinen, a senior researcher at the Finnish Food Authority and a visiting scholar at the Finnish Museum of Natural History] did not…
Tag: arctic ice
2020 Arctic Report Card: Sea ice loss, extreme wildfires
NOAA’s 2020 Arctic Report Card describes a region that is warming even more rapidly than scientists expected. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arctic-report-card-2020-sea-ice-loss-extreme-wildfires…
Deep Frozen Arctic Microbes Are Waking Up
An anonymous reader shares an opinion piece from Scientific American: Permafrost covers 24 percent of the Earth’s land surface, and the soil constituents vary with local geology. Arctic lands offer unexplored microbial biodiversity and microbial feedbacks, including the release of carbon to the atmosphere. In some locations, hundreds of millions of years’ worth of carbon is buried. The layers may still…
The Arctic hasn’t been this warm for 3 million years
The last time CO2 concentrations reached today’s level was 3 million years ago, during the Pliocene Epoch. Hear from geoscientists who see evolving conditions in the Arctic as an indicator of how climate change could transform the planet. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arctic-warmest-3-million-years…
Tiny algae can photosynthesise and grow in the dark beneath Arctic ice
Microscopic marine algae can use even the smallest amount of reflected light to grow in near darkness during winter under the Arctic sea ice Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2255501-tiny-algae-can-photosynthesise-and-grow-in-the-dark-beneath-arctic-ice/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Earth’s glaciers and ice sheets are melting
Several new studies released in recent weeks paint a dire picture of the ongoing melting of Earth’s freshwater ice sheets and glaciers, 99% of which are found in Greenland and Antarctica. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ice-sheets-glaciers-tearing-loose-worst-case-vulnerable…
Greenland’s Ice Sheet has Melted to a Point of No Return
“Ice melting in Greenland contributes more than a millimeter rise to sea level every year,” reports CNN, adding that now “that’s likely to get worse.” And Forbes shares some context:
Last week, the world was given two more harsh reminders of what the future holds as residents of Italy’s Aosta valley were told to evacuate fearing that a huge portion of the…
Arctic ice melt changing major ocean current
A major ocean current in the Arctic is faster and more turbulent as a result of rapid sea ice melt, according to a new study. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/arctic-ice-melt-changing-major-ocean-current-beaufort-gyre…
2019 Arctic Report Card: Visual highlights
NOAA’s 14th annual Arctic Report Card recounts the ways that climate change continued to alter the north polar region during 2019. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/2019-arctic-report-card-visual-highlights-video…
Greenland’s Ice Sheet Melting Seven Times Faster Than In 1990s
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Greenland’s ice sheet is melting much faster than previously thought, threatening hundreds of millions of people with inundation and bringing some of the irreversible impacts of the climate emergency much closer. Ice is being lost from Greenland seven times faster than it was in the 1990s, and the scale and speed of…