SciencePoles news
Recent Polar Science and Climate Change news are featured here. Our news RSS feed will inform you when news are published on this website.
-
Past Glacial Melting Can Provide Insight into Concerns about Antarctica
05.08.2011
An analysis of Heinrich Events – which were periodic events that occurred every 7,000 years or so during the last glacial period and included massive discharges of icebergs into the North Atlantic Ocean – suggests that even minimal subsurface warming of the ocean can result in a rapid collapse of…
-
Greenland Ice Seems to Have Contributed Less to Sea Level Rise during Last Interglacial
29.07.2011
During the last prolonged warm period seen on Earth (the Eemian - 130,000 - 114,000 years ago, approximately), the oceans were between 4 and 6.5 meters higher than their current levels, and the extra water must have come from ice covering Greenland and Antarctica.
-
Quantifying the Effect of Melting Land Ice on Ocean Currents
27.05.2011
Using a computer climate model to study how freshwater entering the oceans at the end of the penultimate Ice Age 140,000 years ago affected the parts of the ocean currents that control climate, a team of scientists from the University of Sheffield and Bangor University have discovered that freshwater from…
-
Vatican Science Panel Draws Attention to Threat Posed by Melting Glaciers
10.05.2011
A report recently issued by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences lists various examples of glacial decline around the world and the evidence linking the decline to man-made climate change. According to the report, entitled "Fate of Mountain Glaciers in the Anthropocene", the changes observed in mountain glaciers result from a…
-
Warming Oceans May Release CO2 Faster than Previously Believed
30.04.2011
According to a new study presented at the Greenhouse 2011 Conference in Cairns, Australia in April, warming oceans could release carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolved in the water into the atmosphere, further adding to the greenhouse effect.
-
ESA and NASA Collaborate in CryoSat-2 Validation Campaign
21.04.2011
A thorough validation campaign is being carried out on the ground in the Arctic to support ESA's CryoSat ice mission. ESA’s Cryosat-2 satellite was launched last year to monitor changes in ice thickness.
-
ESA’s Snow Radiance Project Offers New Insight into Snow Properties
25.03.2011
The European Space Agency's Snow Radiance Project has demonstrated a new method in satellite data processing to observe different properties of snow from space. This method, say researchers, will lead to a better understanding of the role snow plays in the Earth’s climate system.
-
Polar Ice Sheets Becoming Main Contributors to Sea Level Rise, Say Scientists
14.03.2011
A study published this month in the Geophysical Research Letters shows that the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are losing mass at an accelerating pace. This study of changes in ice sheet mass balance suggests that the ice sheets are currently becoming the main contributor to global sea level rise…
-
Thawing Permafrost Will Likely Speed up Global Warming by 2200
21.02.2011
According to a new study recently published in Tellus B, the Earth could lose two-thirds of its permafrost by 2200, releasing incredible quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Not only will this release have a significant impact on the climate, scientists say, but it will influence international climate change…
-
CryoSat Data Now Open to Scientists Worldwide
02.02.2011
Only a few weeks after its end of its commissioning phase, CryoSat Mission Manager Tommaso Parrinello announced that CryoSat-2 data is now open to scientists worldwide. The new data from CryoSat-2 will contribute to helping researchers determine the changes taking place in the cryosphere and significantly improve the understanding of…
