ScienceDaily
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Using underground clues to determine past atmospheric heat
Before a global climate model can be used by scientists to predict future climate patterns, it must first successfully predict the climate of the past as known by historical records or as inferred by proxy data (for example, oxygen isotopes in ice cores and tree ring records).
Extensive relict coral reef found in southern Pacific
Coral reefs are sensitive to climate change and track sea level. New observations show that an extensive coral reef existed in the southern Pacific Ocean thousands of years ago. Researchers used multi-beam sonar, coring, and dating to examine a relict reef discovered in water about 20-25 meters (65-82 feet) deep around Lord Howe Island in the southern Pacific Ocean.
Goodbye to cold nights
Given the impact of climatic extremes on agriculture and health in Spain, researchers have analyzed the two factors most representative of these thermal extremes between 1950 and 2006 - warm days and cold nights. The results for mainland Spain show an increase in the number of warm days greater than that for the rest of the planet and a reduction in the number of cold nights.
Dramatic climate change is unpredictable
The fear that global temperature can change very quickly and cause dramatic climate changes is great around the world. But what causes climate change and is it possible to predict future climate change? New research shows that it may be due to an accumulation of different chaotic influences and as a result would be difficult to predict.
Climate change implicated in decline of horseshoe crabs
A distinct decline in horseshoe crab numbers has occurred that parallels climate change associated with the end of the last Ice Age, according to a study that used genomics to assess historical trends in population sizes.
Metop-A completes 20,000th orbit
Metop-A, Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology, will complete its 20,000th orbit of the Earth on 27 August. It will deliver its data to the EUMETSAT Polar System ground station on Svalbard around lunchtime.
Turning up the temperature in the High Arctic
Al Werner is feeling the heat this summer. Typically, that wouldn't be a problem to alleviate; a jump in the pool or a visit to the movie theater would cool things down. But there weren't pools or movie theaters in the Norwegian Arctic, where Werner just finished conducting research. There were, however, glaciers -- and, as the geology found, they're melting. Quickly.
Forest fire smoke in the stratosphere: New insights into pyrocumulonimbus clouds
Meteorologists are now discovering that changes in the frequency of occurrence and intensity of wildfires has substantial consequences for a variety of important problems including atmospheric changes. Superimposed on this important topic is a relatively new discovery: forest fire smoke in the stratosphere, an area of the atmosphere that begins nearly 38 thousand feet above the Earth's surface.
Can the world be powered mainly by solar and wind energy?
Continuous research and development of alternative energy could soon lead to a new era in human history in which two renewable sources -- solar and wind -- will become Earth's dominant contributor of energy, a Nobel laureate said at a conference.
A 'great fizz' of carbon dioxide was produced at the end of the last ice age
Imagine loosening the screw-top of a soda bottle and hearing the carbon dioxide begin to escape. Then imagine taking the cap off quickly, and seeing the beverage foam and fizz out of the bottle. Then, imagine the pressure equalizing and the beverage being ready to drink. Marine scientists say that something similar happened over a 1,000 year period after the end of the last ice age.