A new study from researchers at Rutgers University suggests that the best place to look for evidence of life on Mars is deep underground, where geothermal heat melted subsurface ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-life-search-subsurface-ice-melted-by-geothermal-heat…
Tag: canadian arctic
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…
Canada’s last intact ice shelf just collapsed
In less than 48 hours, the last intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic collapsed, losing more than 40% of its mass. Source: https://www.livescience.com/canada-last-ice-shelf-collapses.html
Could ice sheets, not rivers, have formed the channels on Mars?
New research suggests that many of Mars’ ancient channels, thought to have been carved by flowing surface water, were formed instead by meltwater beneath glacial ice sheets. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-river-channels-ice-sheets-devon-island-canadian-arctic-archipelago…
Ancient 4-limbed fish reveals origin of human hand
The origin of digits in land vertebrates is hotly debated, but a new study suggests that human hands likely evolved from the fins of the Elpistostege, a fish that lived more than 380-million-years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/elpistostege-ancient-4limbed-fish-fin-origin-human-hand…
Antarctica Logs Hottest Temperature On Record of 18.3C
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: A record high temperature of 18.3C (64.9F) has been logged on the continent of Antarctica. The reading, taken on Thursday by Argentine research base Esperanza, is 0.8C hotter than the previous peak temperature of 17.5C, in March 2015. The temperature was recorded in the Antarctic Peninsula, on the continent’s north-west tip –…
Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Changes Time Zones, Just Keeps Drifting
pgmrdlm tipped us off to an unprecedented scientific phenomenon. Forbes writes: Earth’s magnetic north pole has been moving East at an unusually fast pace, heading from the Canadian Arctic toward Russia. The rapid change of the magnetic poles has caused concern over navigation, GPS systems, military operations, etc. The northern magnetic pole has been drifting toward Russia at a speed of…
Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Continues Drifting, Crosses Prime Meridian
Earth’s magnetic north is wandering from the Canadian Arctic toward Siberia, and it just crossed the Prime Meridian. Source: https://www.livescience.com/earth-magnetic-north-passes-prime-meridian.html
Bone-Crushing Hyenas Lived in Canada’s Arctic During the Last Ice Age
During the last ice age, bone-crushing hyenas stalked the snowy Canadian Arctic, likely satisfying their meat cravings by hunting herds of caribou and horses, while also scavenging mammoth carcasses on the tundra, a new study finds. Source: https://www.livescience.com/65733-ancient-hyenas-in-yukon.html
Arctic Permafrost Melting 70 Years Sooner Than Expected, Study Finds
An anonymous reader quotes a report The Weather Channel: Scientists studying climate change expected layers of permafrost in the Canadian Arctic to melt by the year 2090. Instead, it’s happening now. A new study published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters revealed that unusually warm summers in the Canadian High Arctic between 2003 and 2016 resulted in permafrost melt…