The origins of the last major ice age, which cloaked the Northern Hemisphere in colossal glaciers, might have had a surprising cause: the buildup of ice sheets on the other side of the planet, in Antarctica, researchers say…The findings also reveal that “a change in deep-sea heat transport had a profound effect on the Earth’s climate,” said lead study author Stella Woodard, a geochemist and paleooceanographer at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Deep-sea currents are responsible for about 30 to 50 percent of global heat storage and transport. In the study, Woodard and her colleagues analyzed the shells of microscopic bottom-dwelling organisms known as foraminifera in ancient sediments in the Pacific collected by the International Ocean Discovery Program.
Climate Scientists: IPCC Report Must Communicate Consensus
As the huge effort to compile the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report comes to a close this week, many researchers expect new certainty to emerge in such areas as sea level rise and global temperature increases. Climate scien…
Incredible Technology: How to Engineer the Climate
Greenhouse gases are heating up the planet, spurring plenty of controversy about whether – and how – to stop pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But some scientists are looking at another option, one they often see as an emergency brake: Geoeng…
Worst Allergy Season Ever?
This spring could be the most miserable one ever for those of us with allergies, and we can blame it on climate change. People in the Northeast, in particular, will be among the hardest hit in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and this winter’s record-s…
Arctic Snow Cover Shows Steep Decline
The blanket of snow that covers Arctic regions for most of the year has been shrinking at an increasing pace over the past decade, researchers say…NASA’s Earth Observatory illustrated the trend with a series of maps based on data from the Rutgers Uni…
Rogue Dumping of Iron into Ocean Stirs Controversy
A controversial experiment in which more than 200,000 pounds of iron sulfate were dumped into the Pacific Ocean west of Canada has scientists calling for more transparency in geoengineering…"There’s 18 reasons why it might be a bad idea; the solu…