Warmer Seas May Impact Antarctic Clams’ Reproduction
Antarctic clams (Laternula elliptica) play a vital role in the ocean ecosystem, drawing down carbon into sea-bed sediments and circulating ocean nutrients. Now a new study has found that the reproductive capacity of this long-lived and abundant species — existing in the cold, oxygen-rich waters of the Antarctic — could be seriously affected by … Read More
Six to See: Slideshow of Week’s Top Climate News
Crazy, unseasonable weather, air travel, and Obama's budget request all in this week's slideshow of top climate news. … Read More
Antarctic Sea Ice Grows as Result of Warming
The Arctic may be shrinking as the world warms but Antarctic sea ice is expanding. Blame global warming for that, too, say Dutch scientists. The paradox is that increasing temperatures have set in motion a chain of events in the southern seas that have the opposite effect. Engineers call this negative feedback. So do Richard Bintanja and colleague… Read More
It’s ‘Survival of the Fattest’ for Canada’s Polar Bears
One of the most southerly populations of polar bears now has only limited time to hunt on sea ice due to a warming climate, research suggests. The polar bears of Hudson Bay, Canada, migrate onto land in the summer when the sea ice melts, relying on fat reserves to survive until the sea refreezes in late November or early December. During the winter… Read More
Ice Bubbles May Solve Carbon-Temperature Paradox
Climate scientists have shown over and over that when there’s more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, global temperatures are higher. When there’s less, they’re lower. But when they look in more detail, they see something odd. Ancient records locked in the ice covering Antarctica and Greenland seem to show that CO2 starts to rise hundreds of years … Read More
Ice Melt Means Uneven Sea Level Rise Around the World
Scientists say the sea level rise caused by climate change during the rest of this century will not affect all parts of the world equally, because of the ways sea, land and ice interact. They say parts of the Pacific are likely to see the highest rise. This region is where many low-lying island countries most vulnerable to sea level rise, like the … Read More
Ozone Hole’s Shifting Winds May Sap Major Carbon Sink
High above Antarctica, the atmosphere is slowly recovering from the decades-long barrage of manmade chemicals that ate a hole in the protective ozone layer. But the legacy of that destruction lingers. Scientists have linked the ozone hole that forms each Antarctic spring, high above Earth, to changes in the fierce band of winds that swirls around… Read More
Greenland’s Ice Sheet More Stable Than Once Believed
The enormous sheets of ice that lie atop Greenland may not be as prone to catastrophic melting as many scientists thought, even if the planet continues to warm and temperatures remain high for hundreds of years. But while that may sound like good news, new evidence also suggests that parts of the even vaster ice sheets that lie atop Antarctica … Read More
