‘Medieval Warm Period’ May Not Have Been Global Climate Event
Some of those who argue against human causation of climate change often point to a number of Earth’s past climatic events and periods such as the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ and the ‘Little Ice Age’ as examples that climate change can be the result of natural and not necessarily anthropogenic in origin. But now a new study published in the journal ‘Science […]
Rise in the Volume of Arctic Sea Ice Noted by UK Researchers
Previous research has suggested that both the thickness and extent of Arctic summer sea ice have dramatically declined over the past 30 years. The data includes measurements taken by the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado. But now, some British scientists have found the volume of Arctic sea ice has actually increased […]
Close Call for ISS; Threat to Polar Bears; Binary System Cannibal
ISS Crewmembers Back to Work after Close Call with Space Junk Fear that a floating piece of space junk could impact the ISS sent astronauts the station’s crew scrambling onto a docked Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft on Friday (07/17). Luckily, the debris passed the station harmlessly, and the crew was back at work. Houston’s Mission Control […]
Science Images for September, 2014
Arctic Bacterium Offers Clues to Life on Mars
A permafrost microbe has been discovered growing at –15°C, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth. A team of scientists from Montreal’s McGill University made the discovery on Ellesmere Island, located in the Canadian High Arctic. Researchers said they found the living strain of bacteria growing in the extreme cold of the permafrost, which […]
GROVER Robot Provides New tool for Exploring Greenland
NASA‘s newest rover could help scientists better understand changes in the massive Greenland ice sheet. Last summer, higher-than-normal temperatures caused surface melting across about 97 percent of the ice sheet. Scientists expect the robot to detect the layer of the sheet, which is buried beneath two miles of ice, that formed after last year’s extreme […]
Arctic Sea Ice Melts More Each Year
The Arctic sea ice cover has melted to its lowest extent since satellite observations of it began more than three decades ago, breaking a previous record low set in 2007. NASA and scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder report the Arctic sea ice extent – the amount of ice covering the sea surface – […]