NASA’s Latest Hit: Ice Show from Space
If you don’t know what causes the seasons, you’re not alone: a mini-documentary made in the 1980’s showed that lots of Harvard grads don’t, either. For the record, the reason is that Earth’s spin axis is slightly tilted. In the months surrounding June, the Northern Hemisphere leans toward the Sun. There’s more sunlight, days are longer, and the … Read More
Long-Range Ice Forecast: Things Could Get Very Grim
The best guess now is that a worst-case rise of 2 feet is no longer in the cards. The likely increase in sea level by 2100 now stands at 3 feet, with worst-case scenarios going as high as 6 feet. Three feet would threaten many coastal cities around the world with frequent, powerful floods, as the mildest of storms could send water coursing through … Read More
Image of the Day: Emperor Penguins’ Census from Space
Since the penguins live in very remote areas, the satellite images are a successful way to count the populations. Research suggests that emperor penguin colonies will be dramatically affected by climate change, according to British Antarctic Survey biologist Phil Trathan.… Read More
Going Out on a Limb: Forecasting Snowier Winters?
Global warming-related Arctic sea ice loss may be contributing to snowier winters in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study takes a look at how Arctic sea ice loss is impacting snowfall in the Midwest, eastern U.S. and parts of Europe and Asia.… Read More
Image of the Day: Sealed with a Kiss
With temperatures in Antarctica are on the rise, researchers have discovered that the windier, wetter conditions predicted may spell trouble for young fur seal pups. According to Discover News, the continent's conditions will require the pups to use more energy for staying warm and less for vital growth and development, a change … Read More
Image of the Day: Greenland Ice Sheet Melting Faster
The Greenland ice sheet is melting quicker than anyone previously thought. A new estimate lowers the amount of heat necessary, and thus the time needed, to melt the Greenland ice sheet, according to Nature Climate Change… Read More
Antarctica Trek Dramatizes the Dangers of Climate Change
In November, a photographer, environmentalist and adventurer named Sebastian Copeland set off from the east coast of Antarctica with his traveling partner, Eric McNair-Landry, on an almost absurdly daring and arduous journey: a two-man crossing of the entire frozen continent, on skis — towing all of their supplies behind them on sleds.… Read More
What’s Beneath Antarctica’s Ice? No, Not Hitler’s Remains
Some 12,000 feet below one of the coldest spots on the surface of the frigid continent, trapped between the ice above and bedrock below, lies a system of some 140 freshwater lakes. Last week, after years of inching closer and closer, Russian scientists broke through into one of the biggest and it could hold a trove of scientific secrets. … Read More
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