Science Daily: Climate News

New study shows how changes in Antarctic sea ice is driving one of the world's smallest seabirds to forage further for food.

Every drop of fresh water contains thousands of different organic molecules that have previously gone unnoticed. By measuring the diversity of these molecules and how they interact with the environment around them, research has revealed an invisible world that affects the functioning of freshwater ecosystems and can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

A new study from an international group of scientists finds we are releasing more of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide into the atmosphere than previously thought.

Scientists have been looking at pollution affecting the air, land and water around the Athabaska Oil Sands for some time. After looking at contaminants in snow taken from up-to 25 km away from the oil sands, a McGill-led scientific team now suggests that oil sand pollution is also affecting the weather patterns in the surrounding regions.

An international research team was able to experimentally show in the laboratory a completely new reaction path for the largest natural sulfur source in the atmosphere. The team is now reporting on the new degradation mechanism for dimethyl sulfide (DMS), which is released mainly by the oceans.

Two fundamental goals of humanity are to eradicate poverty and reduce climate change, and it is critical that the world knows whether achieving these goals will involve trade-offs. New research for the first time provides a basis to answer this question, including the tools needed to relate basic needs directly to resource use.

Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas and one of the main stratospheric ozone depleting substances on the planet. According to new research, we are releasing more of it into the atmosphere than previously thought.

The world's tropical forests store huge quantities of carbon in their biomass and thus constitute an important carbon sink. However, current estimates of the amount of carbon dioxide stored in tropical forests of the Amazon vary largely. Scientists have developed an approach that uses recent satellite data to provide much more precise estimates of the amount of biomass in tropical forests than in the past.

Researchers find environmental developments caused by climate change are contributing to the transformation of the seafloor to a lower, more patchy seascape dominated by shrub-like seaweed which could impact species habitats and the structure of the food web.

Scientists have used MODIS satellite imagery to understand long-term ocean movements from sea ice dynamics. The engineers used image-processing algorithms to remove clouds, sharpen details, and separate individual floes. Image analysis algorithms mapped the floe movement over a period of days. The resulting ocean current maps were about as accurate as maps made using traditional methods. Tracking sea ice will help scientists better understand the sources driving sea ice transport.

Some programs work better than others when it comes to involving citizens in preserving the environment. After reviewing those that worked, researchers propose a blueprint for how others can educate people to maximize their impact.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire, centered in northern Iraq and extending from Iran to Egypt -- the largest empire of its time -- collapsed after more than two centuries of dominance at the fall of its capital, Nineveh, in 612 B.C.E. Despite a plethora of cuneiform textual documentation and archaeological excavations and field surveys, archaeologists and historians have been unable to explain the abruptness and finality of the historic empire's collapse.

A new study projects that the growth of urban areas in the coming decades will trigger ''extra'' warming due to a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect (UHI). According to their findings, urban expansion will cause the average summer temperature in these areas to increase about 0.5 to 0.6 degrees C -- but up to 3 degrees C in some locations. 

Two new articles use samples and data collected during the Tara Oceans Expedition to analyze current ocean diversity across the planet, providing a baseline to better understand climate change's impact on the oceans.

New results between 2009 and 2013 show that the diversity and functions of planktonic species in the global ocean change dramatically according to latitude.

Researchers have developed a model to project lake levels in world's largest tropical lake.

Scientists analyzed rainfall records from the 1870s to the present day with their findings showing there could be large divergence in projected rainfall by the mid to late 21st century.

Like someone from Minnesota being dropped into an Arizona heat wave, giant kelp living in cooler, high-latitude waters were more vulnerable to excessive heat than kelp already living in warmer, Southern California waters, according to a study of Chilean and Californian kelp.

Neighbor peer pressure may be linked to increases in yard fertilization and irrigation across several distinct climate regions of the US, according to a new study.

Location matters when talking about how climate might or might not be driving migration from Central America. Climate research in the dry corridor region revealed a complex pattern of change. If you average across the entire region you wouldn't see a trend going either way.