Vast reserves of freshwater have been discovered beneath the seabed of continental shelves off Australia, China, North America, and South Africa—a potentially valuable resource for coastal cities needing to alleviate water shortages or combat drought. The finding comes from a new analysis of seafloor water studies conducted for oil and gas exploration purposes. The total volume of these untapped reserves […]
Read more
Earth got off relatively easy last week after being hit by the biggest blast of solar radiation since 2005—but we may not be so lucky next time. Last week’s coronal mass ejection, in which a solar flare whipped an arc of magnetic particles toward Earth at 4 million mph, led some airlines to reroute flights away from the poles, where […]
Read more
An influential panel of climate scientists has expressed higher confidence than ever that human activity is the main cause of the rise in global temperatures since the 1950s, Reuters.com reports. A leaked draft of an upcoming report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, based on a broad analysis of published scientific studies, concludes with 95 percent certainty […]
Read more
Sunspot activity may be entering a lull for the first time in almost 400 years, offering scientists a rare chance to gauge how solar conditions affect Earth’s climate. “This is highly unusual and unexpected” says Frank Hill, a researcher at the National Solar Observatory. Three new NSO studies suggest that the sun’s fluctuating magnetic field may soon become too weak […]
Read more
Scientists have recorded that the temperature of the oceans has been on the rise. The temperatures have been rising at a rate of 40% on average over what they previously predicted over the past five years. The year 2018 was warmer than the previous year and it’s still getting warmer. Heating of the ocean plays a big role in climate […]
Read more
“It has happened,” said Philip Bump. For the first time in human history, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels hit a daily average of 400 parts per million (ppm) last week. “There is now more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than at any point since 3 million years ago.” Back then, global temperatures were about 7 degrees higher, the Arctic was ice-free, […]
Read more
Stanford scientists have found that chronically low levels of oxygen throughout the oceans hampered the recovery of life after the Permian-Triassic extinction, the most catastrophic die-off in our planet’s history. Also known as the “Great Dying,” global ecosystems collapsed as some 90 percent of species perished in this extinction event 250 million years ago. The new findings, published this week […]
Read more
The ozone layer is a protector of the earth from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. According to reports the ozone layer is getting smaller over Antarctica. The scientists are using satellites and sensors to get information on the measurements of the ozone layer. Since the early 20th century when the emissions of chemical substances called halo-carbons the ozone layer has […]
Read more
In polluted environments, diesel fumes may be reducing the availability of almost half the most common flower odors that bees use to find their food, research has found. The new findings suggest that toxic nitrous oxide (NOx) in diesel exhausts could be having an even greater effect on bees’ ability to smell out flowers than was previously thought. NOx is […]
Read more
New South Wales and southern Queensland are going to be suffering from warmer weather and less rain than in the past. This temperature change is called “sudden stratospheric warming.” It happens when the air above the South Pole starts to warm up rapidly. Predictions are that the warming of Antarctic will likely be higher than a previous record high in […]
Read more