http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Abrupt average temperature changes of as much as 4 or 5 degrees Celsius over a few decades may have profoundly affected human civilization for cultures that occupied western Greenland over the past 5,000 years. http://phys.org/news226142090.html Space & Earth Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:15:40 EST news226142090 The first comprehensive study of the biological effects of Antarctic icebergs shows that they fertilize the Southern Ocean, enhancing the growth of algae that take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and then, through marine food chains, transfer carbon into the deep sea. This process is detailed in 19 new research papers published electronically in a special issue of the journal Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography. http://phys.org/news224336808.html Space & Earth Wed, 11 May 2011 12:47:15 EST news224336808 Rapidly warming climate is likely to seriously alter crop yields in the tropics and subtropics by the end of this century and, without adaptation, will leave half the world's population facing serious food shortages, new research shows. http://phys.org/news150646556.html Other Sciences Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:15:56 EST news150646556 New research indicates that the ocean could rise in the next 100 years to a meter higher than the current sea level - which is three times higher than predictions from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC. The groundbreaking new results from an international collaboration between researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, England and Finland are published in the scientific journal Climate Dynamics. http://phys.org/news150645386.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:56:26 EST news150645386 Flooding like that which devastated the North of England last year is set to become a common event across the UK in the next 75 years, new research has shown. http://phys.org/news150637156.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:39:16 EST news150637156 HIAPER, one of the nation's most advanced research aircraft, is scheduled to embark on an historic mission spanning the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic. http://phys.org/news150572564.html Space & Earth Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:42:44 EST news150572564 A new way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change had been unveiled by leading economists. http://phys.org/news150446777.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:46:17 EST news150446777 In a recently conducted study, a multidisciplinary French-American research team with expertise in archaeology, past climates, and ecology reported that Neanderthal extinction was principally a result of competition with Cro-Magnon populations, rather than the consequences of climate change. http://phys.org/news149769271.html Other Sciences Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:34:31 EST news149769271 Future increases in wind strength along the California coast may have far-reaching effects, including more intense upwelling of cold water along the coast early in the season and increased fire danger in Southern California, according to researchers at the Climate Change and Impacts Laboratory at the University of California, Santa Cruz. http://phys.org/news148911966.html Space & Earth Fri, 19 Dec 2008 12:26:06 EST news148911966 The United States could suffer the effects of abrupt climate changes within decades—sooner than some previously thought--says a new government report. It contends that seas could rise rapidly if melting of polar ice continues to outrun recent projections, and that an ongoing drought in the U.S. west could be the start of permanent drying for the region. Commissioned by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, the report was authored by experts from the U.S. Geological Survey, Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and other leading institutions. It was released at this week's meeting of the American Geophysical Union. http://phys.org/news148907969.html Space & Earth Fri, 19 Dec 2008 11:19:29 EST news148907969 (PhysOrg.com) -- It's no simple matter to figure out how regional changes in precipitation, expected to result from global climate change, may affect water supplies. Now, a new analysis led by MIT researchers has found that the changes in groundwater may actually be much greater than the precipitation changes themselves. http://phys.org/news148836122.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:22:02 EST news148836122 Former inhabitants of the Amazon Basin enriched their fields with charred organic materials-biochar-and transformed one of the earth's most infertile soils into one of the most productive. These early conservationists disappeared 500 years ago, but centuries later, their soil is still rich in organic matter and nutrients. Now, scientists, environmental groups and policymakers forging the next world climate agreement see biochar not only as an important tool for replenishing soils, but as a powerful tool for combating global warming. http://phys.org/news148758064.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:41:04 EST news148758064 The common wisdom is that the invention of the steam engine and the advent of the coal-fueled industrial age marked the beginning of human influence on global climate. http://phys.org/news148753200.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:20:00 EST news148753200 (PhysOrg.com) -- It’s no simple matter to figure out how regional changes in precipitation, expected to result from global climate change, may affect water supplies. Now, a new analysis led by MIT researchers has found that the changes in groundwater may actually be much greater than the precipitation changes themselves. http://phys.org/news148752865.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:14:25 EST news148752865 A report released today at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union provides new insights on the potential for abrupt climate change and the effects it could have on the United States, identifying key concerns that include faster-than-expected loss of sea ice, rising sea levels and a possibly permanent state of drought in the American Southwest. http://phys.org/news148705615.html Space & Earth Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:06:55 EST news148705615 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered that the ocean's chemical makeup is less stable and more greatly affected by climate change than previously believed. The researchers report in the December 12, 2008 issue of Science that during a time of climate change 13 million years ago the chemical makeup of the oceans changed dramatically. The researchers warn that the chemical composition of the ocean today could be similarly affected by climate changes now underway – with potentially far-reaching consequences for marine ecosystems. http://phys.org/news148227653.html Space & Earth Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:20:53 EST news148227653 Climate change can have significant impacts on high-elevation lakes and imperiled Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged frogs that depend upon them, according to U.S. Forest Service and University of California, Berkeley, scientists. http://phys.org/news148223511.html Biology Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:11:51 EST news148223511 Biochar, similar to charcoal used by pre-Columbian Amazonian cultures to boost crop yields, could help the fight against climate change by securely locking carbon away in soils for thousands of years, according to the December-January issue of ECOS magazine. http://phys.org/news148053279.html Space & Earth Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:54:39 EST news148053279 In the rainforests of equatorial Asia, a link between drought and deforestation is fueling global warming, finds an international study that includes a UC Irvine scientist. http://phys.org/news147979472.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Dec 2008 17:24:32 EST news147979472 Research at the Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) has led to better understanding of clouds, the unknown quantity in current climate models. The Delft researcher Thijs Heus has tackled this issue with a combination of detailed computer simulations and airplane measurements. He charted data including cloud speed, temperature and the 'life span' of clouds to arrive at new observations. http://phys.org/news147957808.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:23:28 EST news147957808 Scientists from around the world proved their green credentials by participating in a conference on climate change and carbon dioxide storage in the virtual world, this week (3 December). http://phys.org/news147702946.html Technology Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:35:46 EST news147702946 (PhysOrg.com) -- The decline of the Roman and Byzantine empires in the Eastern Mediterranean more than 1,400 years ago may have been driven by unfavorable climate changes. http://phys.org/news147625840.html Space & Earth Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:10:40 EST news147625840 Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and their colleagues have found evidence of ancient climate change on Mars caused by regular variation in the planet's tilt, or obliquity. On Earth, similar "astronomical forcing" of climate drives ice-age cycles. http://phys.org/news147623815.html Space & Earth Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:36:55 EST news147623815 Climate change is hampering the long-term recovery of rivers from the effects of acid rain, with wet weather offsetting improvements, according to a new study by Cardiff University. http://phys.org/news147505680.html Space & Earth Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:48:00 EST news147505680 Organizations in the United States that are at the highest risk of sustaining damage from climate change are not adapting enough to the dangers posed by rising temperatures, according to a Yale report. http://phys.org/news147444502.html Space & Earth Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:48:22 EST news147444502 A study published in Journal of the American Water Resources Association states that the "Green Great Wall," a forest shelterbelt project in northern China running nearly parallel to the Great Wall, is likely to improve climatic and hydrological conditions in the area when completed. The project, which relies on afforestation (a process that changes land without dense tree cover into forest), could lead to an increase in precipitation by up to 20 percent and decrease the temperature in the area. The findings could have important implications for similar projects throughout the world. http://phys.org/news146761933.html Space & Earth Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:12:13 EST news146761933 The first comprehensive reconstruction of an extreme warm period shows the sensitivity of the climate system to changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels as well as the strong influence of ocean temperatures, heat transport from equatorial regions, and greenhouse gases on Earth's temperature. http://phys.org/news146755017.html Space & Earth Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:16:57 EST news146755017 Plants that range northward because of climate change may be better at defending themselves against local enemies than native plants. http://phys.org/news146328549.html Biology Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:49:09 EST news146328549 (PhysOrg.com) -- A detailed analysis of black carbon -- the residue of burned organic matter -- in computer climate models suggests that those models may be overestimating global warming predictions. http://phys.org/news146244148.html Space & Earth Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:22:28 EST news146244148 In a study to be published next week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists led by a team at the University of New Hampshire show that forests may influence the Earth's climate in important ways that have not previously been recognized. http://phys.org/news146162049.html Space & Earth Mon, 17 Nov 2008 16:34:09 EST news146162049