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Search resuls for: "Nature Geoscience"


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CNN —Parts of icy Antarctica are turning green with plant life at an alarming rate as the region is gripped by extreme heat events, according to new research, sparking concerns about the changing landscape on this vast continent. Vegetation covered less than 0.4 square miles of the Antarctic Peninsula in 1986 but had reached almost 5 square miles by 2021, the study found. The rate at which the region has been greening over nearly four decades has also been speeding up, accelerating by more than 30% between 2016 and 2021. Vegetation growing on Green Island on the Antarctic Peninsula, which is warming much faster than the global average. Matt AmesburyA part of Barrientos Island that has given way to plant life.
Persons: Matt Amesbury, Dan Charman, Thomas Roland, ” Roland, , Charman, Olly Bartlett, Matthew Davey, Davey, Mary Gilbert Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, Nature, University of Exeter, University of Hertfordshire, Scottish Association for Marine Science Locations: South America, Exeter, Hertfordshire, England, Barrientos, Antarctica
Mount Everest is astoundingly tall at 29,032 feet above sea level, besting its Himalayan neighbors by hundreds of feet. But the world’s tallest peak is still growing, scientists say, thanks in part to the merger of two nearby river systems tens of thousands of years ago. Everest has gained between about 50 and 160 feet as a result of that merger, researchers revealed in a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. Researchers also say this could explain why Everest is unusually tall, reaching nearly 800 feet higher than its neighbors. “While not entirely revolutionary, these findings are certainly surprising,” Dai said, adding that they could lead to a re-examination of current models of Himalayan formation and evolution.
Persons: Everest, ” Dai Jingen, , Dai, ” Dai Organizations: Nature, China University of Geosciences, NBC News Locations: Everest, Beijing, Eurasia
This process, known as river piracy, set in motion a chain of geological events that reshaped the landscape, scientists reported Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. While some instances of river capture and landscape remodeling began millions of years ago, others are happening today, she added. Evidence of one ancient example still exists around the edges of the Himalayas, where long-ago river capture eroded deep gorges. Han’s simulations suggested that river capture would have dramatically increased the flow of water in the Kosi’s lower segments. Compared with river piracy, erosion and uplift unspool over a much longer time span — and are still happening with Everest, Lhotse and Makalu.
Persons: Everest, , Jin, Dai, ” Dai, Devon A, Orme, ” Orme, Nanga Parbat, Xu Han, “ There’s, ” Mindy Weisberger Organizations: CNN, Nature, China University of Geosciences, Colorado, Montana State University, of Earth Sciences, Resources, Slims, Scientific Locations: Arun, Beijing, Antarctica, Himalayas, Tibet, Nepal, Orme, Everest, Canada’s Yukon
A team of international scientists has found that oxygen is being produced in complete darkness approximately 4,000 meters below the ocean's surface. An international team of scientists has discovered that oxygen is being produced by potato-shaped metallic nodules thousands of feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean. A team of scientists led by Professor Andrew Sweetman at the U.K.'s Scottish Association for Marine Science found that oxygen is being produced in complete darkness approximately 4,000 meters (13,100 feet) below the ocean's surface. "For aerobic life to begin on the planet, there had to be oxygen and our understanding has been that Earth's oxygen supply began with photosynthetic organisms," Sweetman said. "But we now know that there is oxygen produced in the deep sea, where there is no light.
Persons: Andrew Sweetman, Sweetman Organizations: Nature Geoscience, Scottish Association for Marine Science
It’s also possible, these scientists warn, that deep-sea mining could disrupt the way carbon is stored in the ocean, contributing to the climate crisis. A documentary about deep-sea mining that Sweetman watched in a hotel bar in São Paulo, Brazil, unleashed a breakthrough. However, several countries, including the United Kingdom and France, have expressed caution, supporting a moratorium or ban on deep-sea mining to safeguard marine ecosystems and conserve biodiversity. Earlier this month, Hawaii banned deep-sea mining in its state waters. Many unanswered questions remain about how dark oxygen is produced and what role it plays in the deep-sea ecosystem.
Persons: Andrew Sweetman, they’re, , Sweetman, , SAMS, I’ve, , Franz Geiger, ’ ”, Geiger, Charles E, Emma H, Morrison, Daniel Jones, Beth Orcutt, Orcutt, Craig Smith, Smith, Camille Bridgewater, Hawaii’s Smith, ” Geiger, Diva Amon, ” Sweetman Organizations: CNN, Clarion, Scottish Association for Marine Science, Nature, NHMDeepSea, SMARTEX, International, Authority, UN, AA, Northwestern University, Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, National Oceanography, Bigelow Laboratory, Ocean Sciences, University of Hawaii, Geological Survey, University Locations: São Paulo, Brazil, Evanston , Illinois, Southampton, England, Maine, Mānoa, Jamaica, United Kingdom, France, Hawaii, Clarion
A tipping point refers to the threshold at which a series of small changes accumulate to push a system beyond a point of no return. A small increase in ocean temperatures can have a very big impact on the amount of melting, the study found. The study does not give time frames for when the tipping point might be reached, nor does it give figures for how much sea level rise can be expected. A slew of research has looked at the vulnerability of this vast continent to the impacts of the climate crisis. “With every small increase in ocean temperature, with every small increase in climate change, we get closer to these tipping points,” he said.
Persons: , Alex Bradley, Bradley, Sebnem, Eric Rignot, Ted Scambos Organizations: CNN, British Antarctic Survey, Nature, Getty, University of California, University of Colorado Locations: West Antarctica, East Antarctica, Antarctica, Anadolu, Irvine, University of Colorado Boulder
“Based on rough estimates, it’s about 150,000 metric tons of water ice, the equivalent of 60 Olympic swimming pools,” he said. The volcanoes are near the Mars equator, the warmest area of the planet, which makes a water discovery particularly intriguing, Valantinas said. “Mars is a desert planet, but there’s water ice in the polar caps, and there’s water ice in the midlatitudes. Now we also have water frost in the equatorial regions, and equatorial regions are quite dry in general. “If the frost on these volcanoes is confirmed to be water (and not carbon dioxide), it would be surprising,” he said.
Persons: Adomas Valantinas, , Ceraunius, Valantinas, CaSSIS, ” Valantinas, , Mars, John Bridges, ” Bridges, Taylor Perron, Cecil, Ida Green, Perron Organizations: CNN, Olympus, NASA, JPL, Brown University, University of Bern, Nature Geoscience, University of Bern’s, European Space Agency, Orbiter, ESA Mars Express, Stereo, Mars, ESA, University of Leicester, Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Locations: , Mauna Loa, Hawaii, Switzerland, Ascraeus, Russian, CaSSIS, United Kingdom
We have discovered the earliest evidence of fresh water and representative evidence for dry land above the sea,” he added. The research indicates that the Earth’s water cycle — when water moves between land, oceans and atmosphere through evaporation and precipitation — was operating at that point in time. The earliest widely agreed upon evidence of life — and fresh water — comes from stromatolites, fossilized microbes that formed mounds in hot springs 3.5 billion years ago, Gamaleldien said. Two zircon crystals showed isotopic evidence of meteoric or fresh water; one was 4 billion years old, while the other was 3.4 billion years old, he said. What’s more, land and fresh water, which likely would have fallen as rain, would have provided the essential ingredients for the origin of life, he said.
Persons: , Hamed Gamaleldien, ” Gamaleldien, Gamaleldien, … landmasses, Hugo Olierook, Hamed, , John Valley, Geochemist Beth Ann Bell, wasn’t, ” Bell Organizations: CNN, Nature, , Curtin University’s School of, Planetary Sciences, Khalifa University, United Arab, Curtin’s School of, geoscience, University of Wisconsin Locations: Australia, United Arab Emirates, Western Australia, Jack, John, Madison
CNN —Potentially toxic chemicals called PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are found in surface and groundwaters around the world at levels much higher than many international regulators allow, a new study found. Groundwater can be contaminated by PFAS from food and consumer products added to landfills as well as from manufacturing facilities. Public concern led to a commitment by manufacturers in 2008 to phase out use of PFOA and PFOS, two of the most widely used chemicals. Generally PFAS concentrations are higher in urban areas or areas that used PFAS products extensively, O’Connell said, but it is also leached into the environment in ways that may not be obvious. “Another example is that PFAS used to be used in ski wax, so pristine environments, where people ski, have PFAS in their waters and soils,” he said.
Persons: Mario Tama, , David Andrews, Andrews, ” Andrews, , Denis O’Connell, O’Connell, ” O’Connell Organizations: CNN, US Environmental Protection Agency, Health Canada, EPA, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine . Studies, Environmental, Agency, Toxic Substances, Disease, Nature, University of New, Geological Survey, NSF, National Sanitation Foundation Locations: Mount Everest, Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney
CNN —Evidence from a 2,000-foot-long ice core reveals that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrank suddenly and dramatically around 8,000 years ago, according to new research — providing an alarming insight into how quickly Antarctic ice could melt and send sea levels soaring. Map showing the location of the Skytrain Ice Rise, part of the Ronne Ice Shelf, from where the ice core was taken. The ice core analyzed in the study was drilled from Skytrain Ice Rise located at the edge of the ice sheet, near the point where the ice starts to float and become part of the Ronne Ice Shelf. Inside the drilling tent at Skytrain Ice Rise, scientists preparing the drill for its next drop into the borehole. University of Cambridge/British Antarctic SurveyInsulated boxes full of ice cores being loaded into the Twin Otter aircraft, Skytrain Ice Rise, Antarctica.
Persons: Eric Wolff, “ We’ve, we’ve, Wolff, Ted Scambos, , that’s, ” Wolff, Isobel Rowell, , David Thornalley, Thwaites, Scambos Organizations: CNN, West, Empire, Nature, University of Cambridge, University of Colorado, Ronne Ice Shelf, University of Cambridge / British Antarctic Survey, Ronne, Shelf, Twin, British Antarctic Survey, University College London Locations: Antarctica, University of Colorado Boulder, West Antarctica
It's been collecting hourly data on measurements like the mountain's air temperature, total precipitation, humidity, and wind speed since the early '90s. On warm days, as sunlight heats the glaciers, the air just above the glacier's surface warms and rises. This creates a vacuum causing the cold air around the snowy peaks to rush down due to gravity. Then at night, the ice releases some of that stored heat energy, preventing the air temperature from dropping too low. The terrain has also gotten more technical as melting glaciers open up huge crevasses.
Persons: Everest, It's, Yifei Fang, Franco Salerno, Gordon Janow, Mount Rainier, We're, it's Organizations: Service, Nature, Business, Researchers, National Research Council, Institute of Polar Sciences Locations: Mt, Milan, Janow, Mount
Touching down on the lunar surface is incredibly difficult, as evidenced by numerous crashes that have made their mark and created new craters. Ultimately, 12 NASA astronauts walked on the lunar surface between 1969 and 1972. Declaring a Lunar Anthropocene could make it clear that the moon is changing in ways it wouldn’t naturally due to human exploration, the researchers said. But a propulsion issue noticed hours after liftoff means that Peregrine won’t be able to attempt a moon landing, and currently, its fate is uncertain. NASA/JSCThe Apollo 11 lunar landing marked the first time humans set foot on another world.
Persons: , , Justin Holcomb, ” Holcomb, bootprints, NASA’s, Micrometeorites, Eugene A, Cernan, It's, , landers, Russia’s Luna, Astrobotic, Peregrine won’t, , we’re Organizations: CNN, NASA, Geoscience, Kansas Geological Survey, University of Kansas, , Humanity, ASU, Apollo, JSC, Navajo Locations: Soviet, Mare Imbrium, Kansas, Canada, , Africa
Water leaking into the Earth may be wrapping the core in crystals, a study has suggested. "For years, it has been believed that material exchange between Earth's core and mantle is small. We still don't know everything about our planet's insidesThe Earth's core is only about 1,800 miles under our feet, but it's more inaccessible than Mars. Dan Shim/ASUTo support their hypothesis, the scientists simulated the high-pressure conditions of the outer core in the lab. He added that his calculations show that he can explain the E-prime layer "reasonably well" with a range of water transportation scenarios.
Persons: Dan Shim, Shim, haven't, Jon Wade, Wade Organizations: Service, Arizona State University, Geosciences, ASU, Materials, Oxford University
The total amount of dust, they calculated, was about 2,000 gigatonnes - exceeding 11 times the weight of Mt. While prior research highlighted two other factors - sulfur released after the impact and soot from the wildfires - this study indicated dust played a larger role than previously known. "It was cold and dark for years," Vrije Universiteit Brussel planetary scientist and study co-author Philippe Claeys said. "While the sulfur stayed about eight to nine years, soot and silicate dust resided in the atmosphere for about 15 years after the impact. "Without the impact, my guess is that mammals - including us - had little chance to become the dominant organisms on this planet."
Persons: grâce, Cem Berk Senel, Philippe Claeys, Özgür Karatekin, Karatekin, Claeys, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Royal Observatory of, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Nature, Dinos, Thomson Locations: North Dakota, WASHINGTON, Yucatan, Everest, Dakota, Royal Observatory of Belgium, Vrije, Belgium
This dust blocked the sun to an extent that plants were unable to photosynthesize, a biological process critical for life, for almost two years afterward. Pim KaskesAn unexpected killing mechanismTo reach their findings, scientists developed a new computer model to simulate the global climate after the asteroid strike. Fossilized fish found at the site have revealed that the asteroid struck off Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula in springtime. The team determined that this fine dust could have remained in the atmosphere for up to 15 years after the asteroid strike. The researchers suggested the global climate may have cooled by as much as 15 degrees Celsius.
Persons: , Cem Berk Senel, Pim Kaskes, ” Senel, Alfio Alessandro Chiarenza, Chiarenza Organizations: CNN, Royal Observatory of, , University of Vigo Locations: Mexico, Royal Observatory of Belgium, , North Dakota, Spain
AdvertisementAdvertisementMercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, is getting even — and getting more wrinkles as it does, a new study suggests. Mercury is wrinkling like an old appleLike any other planet, Mercury is losing heat. The study, published in Nature Geosciences on Monday, identified 48 definite and 244 likely grabens on pictures snapped by NASA's MESSENGER probe in 2015. AdvertisementAdvertisementMercury is likely constantly shaking with quakesThe study also suggests Mercury is constantly shaking with quakes, Rothery said. ESA/BepiColombo/MTM, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGOThe next step for Mercury, Rothery said, will be the arrival of a space probe called BepiColumbo.
Persons: , David Rothery, Rothery, Ben Man, Nat, it's, we've, BepiColumbo Organizations: Service, UK's Open University, Nature Geosciences, Mercury, ESA, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Locations: et
CNN —The formation of a new “supercontinent” could wipe out humans and all other mammals still alive in 250 million years, researchers have predicted. They found it would be extremely hot, dry and virtually uninhabitable for humans and mammals, who are not evolved to cope with prolonged exposure to excessive heat. Humans – along with many other species – would expire due to their inability to shed this heat through sweat, cooling their bodies,” Farnsworth added. This grim outlook is no excuse for complacency when it comes to tackling today’s climate crisis, the report authors warned. “While we are predicting an uninhabitable planet in 250 million years, today we are already experiencing extreme heat that is detrimental to human health.
Persons: ” Alexander Farnsworth, ” Farnsworth, Farnsworth, ” Benjamin Mills, Eunice Lo, ” Lo Organizations: CNN, University of Bristol, Nature, University of Leeds Locations: United Kingdom, UN
It’s been about 250 million years since reptile-like animals evolved into mammals. Now a team of scientists is predicting that mammals may have only another 250 million years left. The researchers built a virtual simulation of our future world, similar to the models that have projected human-caused global warming over the next century. Using data on the movement of the continents across the planet, as well as fluctuations in the chemical makeup of atmosphere, the new study projected much further into the future. Alexander Farnsworth, a paleoclimate scientist at the University of Bristol who led the team, said that the planet might become too hot for any mammals — ourselves included — to survive on land.
Persons: It’s, Alexander Farnsworth, , Dr, Farnsworth Organizations: University of Bristol, Nature
The LatestThere’s less plastic pollution flowing into the ocean from land than scientists previously thought, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience. The researchers estimated that about 500,000 metric tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year, with about half from land. The other half comes from the fishing industry in the form of nets, ropes, buoys and other equipment. An earlier, widely publicized study in 2015 estimated that about 8 million metric tons of plastic were entering the ocean each year from rivers alone. Within 20 years, the amount of plastic on the sea surface could double, the authors found.
Organizations: Nature Geoscience
The springs were exposed by retreating glaciers in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. Scientists think the methane in the Svalbard springs comes from somewhere else. The researchers estimate springs across the archipelago alone could represent about 2,000 tonnes of methane emissions a year. Scientists have found springs full of methane bubbling near retreating glaciers in Svalbard. Kleber suspects these methane emissions are only one of several "invisible feedback loops that we're just not aware of."
Persons: , hasn't, Gabrielle Kleber, Kleber, Andy Hodson, ", Rick Spinrad Organizations: Service, University of Cambridge, Nature Geoscience, International Energy Agency, NOAA Locations: Svalbard, Norwegian, Alaska, Norway
Researchers say glass beads found on the moon's surface could contain billions of tons of water. The scientists say the water was created from solar winds, which blow hydrogen — one of the two elements in water — onto the lunar surface. The glass beads themselves form when small meteorites hit the surface of the moon and melt with material on the surface, per the study. Hu said the water extracted from the glass beads shows promise that it could be used in future lunar missions. NASA also plans to once again send astronauts to the Moon in 2025, 50 years after man last set foot on the lunar surface.
More Water Found on Moon, Locked in Tiny Glass Beads
  + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Eric Niiler | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
The moon’s surface contains a new source of water found embedded in microscopic glass beads, which might one day help future astronauts produce drinking water, breathable air and even rocket fuel, scientists say. The findings come from a Chinese rover that spent two weeks on the moon in 2020. The Chang’e 5 rover drilled several feet into the lunar surface and returned 3.7 pounds of material, among which were the glass beads from an impact crater, according to a paper published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The researchers see promise in obtaining water from the glass beads, perhaps through a heating process to release vapor that would then turn into liquid through condensation. "We can simply heat these glass beads to free the water stored in them," said planetary scientist and study co-author Hejiu Hui of Nanjing University in China. The glass beads were found to hold a water content of up to about 2,000 parts per million by weight. Hu said he believes that such impact glass beads are a common part of lunar soils, found globally and spread evenly. The interaction of the solar wind with lunar surface materials could sustain a water cycle on the moon, with the glass beads absorbing the water and acting as a repository for it, the researchers said.
The Earth's inner core may have recently stopped rotating and reversed direction, a new study found. Published in "Nature Geoscience" this week, the peer-reviewed research suggests that the solid inner core of the Earth could experience changes in its rotation every several decades. The inner core, which is mostly composed of pure, solid iron, is long thought to have rotated, differing from the liquid outer core and the other layers of the Earth. The study may help shed further light on the mysterious nature of the inner core and how it interacts with Earth's other layers. Please check back for updates.
A team of researchers from China believe the Earth’s inner core has reversed its rotation after they analyzed earthquake-driven seismic waves as they pass through the Earth. In a study published Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers said the reversal of the inner core rotation would shorten the length of the day by a fraction of a millisecond over the course of a year, and might have a small effect on Earth’s magnetic field, but wouldn’t affect life on the surface. The Earth’s inner core is made of iron and nickel and is separated from the rest of the solid Earth by the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently than the rest of the planet.
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