What happened A United Nations panel of the world’s leading environmental scientists issued its most dire warnings on the dangers posed by climate change, saying global warming is already affecting every continent and threatens to devastate food supplies, cause mass extinctions of plants and animals, worsen droughts, and raise the risk of wars over resources. The longer society holds off […]
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Tropical groundwater may prove to be a climate-resilient source of freshwater in the tropics as intense rainfall favours the replenishment of these resources, according to a new study published in Environmental Research Letters. As climate observations show that global warming leads to fewer but more intense rainfalls, a clearer understanding of how these sources are replenished is crucial for developing […]
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Despite no legal prohibition on flying over Antarctica, the continent remains largely bypassed by regular commercial airlines. Experts point to a combination of environmental challenges, regulatory hurdles, and economic factors that make the South Pole a less-than-ideal route for modern aviation. Harsh Weather and Treacherous TerrainAntarctica is notorious for its extreme cold, unpredictable weather, and formidable terrain. Sudden storms, biting […]
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Here’s a novel idea for putting the brakes on global warming: Ask everyone in the world to paint their roofs white. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu raised the idea last week at a conference in London, noting that the proposal, first put forth by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, would reflect enormous amounts of sunlight off the […]
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10 myths about global warming, and what the science really says. THE REASONS FOR raising doubts about the human causes of global warming, explains Skeptical Sciences John Cook, are often political rather than scientific. Cook hears from climate change skeptics that ‘“its all a liberal plot to spread socialism and destroy capitalism. However, what is causing global warming is a […]
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Nature films and science documentaries usually portray Antarctica to be nothing but the most cold, isolated, almost anti-social continent on earth — at least if you’re not a penguin — but life at McMurdo Station disproves that. The 2011-2012 Antarctic southern summer season is now alive and kicking (after numerous delays), and “Mac Town” (as the residents of McMurdo call […]
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Massive icebergs more than 18km long give Giant boost for south polar waters by feeding vital nutrients into the Southern Ocean and helping to increase its carbon storage capacity. LONDON, January, 2016 – British scientists have identified the monsters that fertilize the Southern Ocean and help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Giant icebergs drifting northwards could be responsible for storing up […]
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CAPE LEGOUPIL, ANTARCTICA: From the ground in this extreme northern part of Antarctica, spectacularly white and blinding ice seems to extend forever. What can’t be seen is the battle raging thousands of feet below to re-shape Earth. Water is eating away at the Antarctic ice, melting it where it hits the oceans. As the ice sheets slowly thaw, water pours […]
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Mysterious plumes of gas rising more than 150 miles above the surface of Mars have left scientists confounded. On two occasions in the spring of 2012, amateur astronomers spotted a cloud developing on the surface of the Red Planet. The plumes, which spanned about 600 miles in diameter and changed shape constantly, appeared within a few hours and remained […]
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The Endurance was a 1915 Antarctic shipwreck which sank about 10,000 feet below an Arctic ice sheet, It was discovered by a team of archaeologists, engineers, and other researchers. The ship belonged to British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton. It sank during an attempt to cross Antarctica via the South Pole. The crew survived but the ship was unfortunately lost to […]
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