Science Images of the Week
Rising Levels of Human-Caused Water Vapor in Troposphere will Intensify Climate Change Projections
When it comes to greenhouse gases that contribute most to global warming, most people think of substances such as carbon dioxide, methane or even hydrofluorocarbons. But did you know that, for a while now, scientists have considered the vapor of the most important ingredient in sustaining life on Earth – water – as one of […]
Study: Sun Plays Role in Lightning Strikes
Lightning is one of nature’s most spectacular and mysterious phenomena, yet there is much scientists still don’t know about it. British researchers have found evidence that high-energy particles, which are blown toward Earth on the solar wind, play a role in triggering lightning on Earth. These energized solar particles can travel from the sun at […]
Astronomers Spot Square-shaped Hole in Sun
NASA astronomers recently noticed an odd looking, square shaped hole in the sun. What they saw is called a coronal hole, something that occurs on a regular basis. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for the Solar Dynamics Observatory at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, says the coronal hole is an area within the corona […]
Scientists Identify Four New Ozone Depleting Gases in Atmosphere
Scientists have identified four new man-made gases in the atmosphere that they say are helping to destroy Earth’s protective ozone layer. Writing in Nature Geoscience, the researchers said that there are about 74,000,000 kilograms of three newly identified chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) – compounds that only contain the atoms of carbon, fluorine and chlorine – and one […]
Report Provides Further Evidence People Cause Climate Change
New evidence suggests climate change is human caused and that if the release of greenhouse gases continues unabated, changes to the world’s climate will greatly exceed those that have taken place so far. The new joint report from the US National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society, the national science academy of the UK, […]
Evidence of Water Vapor Found on Dwarf Planet Ceres
Scientists have found signs of water vapor on the dwarf planet known as Ceres. “This is the first time water vapor has been unequivocally detected on Ceres or any other object in the asteroid belt and provides proof that Ceres has an icy surface and an atmosphere,” said Michael Küppers of the European Space Agency. […]
Global Precipitation Changes Linked to Human-induced Climate Change
A new study shows changes in precipitation are affected by human activities and can’t be explained by natural phenomena, such as El Niños and La Niñas. Scientists from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California published the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers suggest two mechanisms will probably cause […]
Far-away Planet Found to be Same Color as Earth
The Hubble Space Telescope has helped scientists determine the color of a planet outside of our Solar System for the first time. Located about 63 light years from Earth, the planet known as HD 189733b would be a deep cobalt blue if viewed at close range, similar to Earth’s color as seen from space. Despite […]