While sunning themselves on the Birling Gap Beach, some tourists noticed that there was a haze coming across the beach. As it reached them, they started coughing and choking. They told the authorities that it smelled like chlorine. The people were then taken to the hospital, vomiting and in respiratory distress. The authorities said that it was unlikely to be […]
Read more
Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. Because the oceans consist of saltwater, this occurs at about minus 1.8 degrees Celsius (28.8 degrees Fahrenheit). Most Antarctic sea ice occurs annually, meaning it forms in the winter and melts during the summer. Sea ice regulates exchanges of heat, moisture and salinity in the polar oceans. It insulates the relatively warm […]
Read more
The planet’s inexorable warming means there will be no new ice age for at least the next 100,000 years, scientists say. Human beings have not just started to leave a unique geological stratum that will announce their existence long after the species has been extinguished. They may have altered a climate cycle that has been stable for millions of years and even […]
Read more
There’s no question that our species has had a dramatic impact on the planet’s physical environment, particularly over the last few centuries, with the rise of modern industry, transportation, and infrastructure. But as new research shows, humans have been transforming the landscape, with lasting impacts, since long before the start of the Industrial Era. Scientists from MIT and the University […]
Read more
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 […]
Read more
As a new generation of writers confronts global warming, a new book genre has emerged: “climate fiction”, or “cli-fi”. Russell: “In my secret heart, I hope that all these books that are now talking about climate change will help to move public opinion.” That’s Canadian novelist Craig Russell. In his recent book, Fragment, a shockwave sends a massive Antarctic ice […]
Read more
Coral reefs around the world are experiencing a massive die-off that could be the worst in recorded history, a new study warns. Stoked by climate change and a powerful El Nino, record-high ocean temperatures have triggered the global event, which began last year and is expected to destroy 5 percent of the world’s coral reefs by 2016. The temperature changes […]
Read more
Polar bear numbers are expanding The Effects of Global Warming on Polar Bears has been quite significant. “A main Canadian power on polar bears, Mitch Taylor, said: ‘We’re seeing an increment in bears that is truly phenomenal, and in spots where we’re seeing an abatement in the populace it’s from chasing, not from environmental change.’” (Scotsman.com) Polar bears are found […]
Read more
Global warming hits plateau. . . What does that mean for the threat of catastrophic climate change? Why has the warming trend slowed? Climatologists aren’t sure. What they do know is that the average air temperatures at the earth’s surface have risen only about 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1998—the hottest year of the 20th century—even as humanity has continued to […]
Read more
As the planet faces the dawn of a sixth mass extinction, scientists are searching for clues about the uncertain road ahead by exploring how an ancient ecosystem collapsed and bounced back from traumatic upheavals. A new study follows the lengthy collapses and revival of South African ecosystems during one of the “big five” mass extinctions, the Permian-Triassic event, revealing unexpected […]
Read more