Antarctica’s Ice-Free Areas to Increase By 2100
Climate change will cause ice-free areas on Antarctica to increase by up to a quarter by 2100, threatening the diversity of the unique terrestrial plant and animal life that exists there, according to projections from the first study examining the question in detail. If emissions of greenhouse gasses are not reduced, projected warming and changes … Read More
Global Sea Level Rise Accelerates Since 1990
The rise in global sea levels has accelerated since the 1990s amid rising temperatures, with a thaw of Greenland's ice sheet pouring ever more water into the oceans, scientists said this week. The annual rate of sea level rise increased to 3.3 millimeters (0.13 inch) in 2014 — a rate of 33 centimeters (13 inches) if kept unchanged for a century… Read More
Climate Change Altering Droughts, Impacts Across U.S.
As a major drought devastated the West and Midwest beginning in 2012, farmers racked up billions of dollars in crop losses and water managers grappled with possible water shortages for millions of people as reservoirs dried up in the heat. That drought is now gone. But scientists have found that the dry spell showed unusual wild extremes of … Read More
Desert Basins Could Hold ‘Missing’ Carbon Sinks
Deserts across the globe may contain some of the world’s “missing” carbon sinks — land masses scientists had not previously identified that absorb carbon from the atmosphere, according to researchers at China’s Lanzhou University. A study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience found that closed, or endorheic, basins in deserts — areas… Read More
Houston Fears Warming Will Cause Catastrophic Flooding
Sam Brody is not a real estate agent, but when his friends want to move home they get in touch to ask for advice. He is a flood impact expert in Houston — and he has plenty of work to keep him busy. The Texas metropolis has more casualties and property loss from floods than any other locality in the U.S., according to data stretching back to 1960 … Read More
It’s June. California Is Still Covered in Snow
The summer solstice is just around the corner, but someone forgot to tell California’s snowpack. After years of wallowing in drought, this winter walloped California’s Sierra Nevada mountains in a major, record-setting way. And while the calendar says summer, winter still has its grips on the granite spine of the Sierras… Read More
Human Activities Are Taking Their Toll in the Deep Ocean
Imagine sinking into the deepest parts of the Central Pacific Ocean, somewhere between Mexico and Hawaii. Watch as the water turns from clear to blue to dark blue to black. And then continue on for another 15,000 feet (4,600 meters) to the seafloor — roughly the distance from the peak of California’s Mount Whitney to the bottom of nearby Death … Read More
Protecting Ocean Waters Will Aid Climate Adaptation
Setting aside vast swathes of ocean and protecting them from industrial uses such as overfishing and other development is critically important to helping both the earth and countries adapt to climate change, a global team of marine biologists says. Large marine reserves can also help prevent some of the worst effects of climate change by helping … Read More
