Higher temperatures on the earth’s surface at higher latitudes cause an increase in the emission of methane, a greenhouse gas that plays an important role in global warming. Therefore, higher temperatures are not just a consequence of climate change but can also worsen cause of it, conclude climate researchers in an article published inScience. During [...]

There is increased evidence that the Arctic could face seasonally ice-free conditions and much warmer temperatures in the future. Scientists documented evidence that the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas were too warm to support summer sea ice during the mid-Pliocene warm period (3.3 to 3 million years ago). This period is characterized by warm temperatures [...]

Foundation comment: This is an important semantic on the communication of an idea for change to a greater public. The study detailed below should be widely distributed, understood and adopted. The Foundation supports the introduction of a tariff on carbon emissions at the point of emission source in order to maximise the opportunity for the [...]

The increase in temperature in the Arctic has already caused the sea-ice there to melt. According to research conducted by the University of Gothenburg, if the Arctic tundra also melts, vast amounts of organic material will be carried by the rivers straight into the Arctic Ocean, resulting in additional emissions of carbon dioxide. Several Russian [...]

A Special Feature of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences presents the latest scientific insights on so-called tipping elements in the planetary environment. These elements have been identified as the most vulnerable large-scale components of the Earth System that may be profoundly altered by human interference. If one or more of those components [...]

Recent observations of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet document rapid changes in the mass balance of its component glaciers. These observations raise the question of whether changing climatic conditions have triggered a dynamical instability in the ice-sheet–ice-shelf system. The dynamics of marine ice sheets are sensitive to grounding-line position and variation, characteristics that are poorly [...]

About 4.5 million years ago, during the early Pliocene period (3 to 5 million years ago), temperatures on Earth were some 3 to 4 degrees C (5.4 to 7.2 degrees F.) higher in the tropics, and perhaps 10 degrees C (18 degrees F.) warmer near the poles. To get that much warming, current climate models [...]

Excessive consumption has spread to developing countries and could wipe out efforts to slow climate change, Worldwatch Institute says The average American consumes more than his or her weight in products each day, fuelling a global culture of excess that is emerging as the biggest threat to the planet, according to a report published today. [...]

It’s cold in Kirkcaldy, freezing in Frankfurt and brass monkeys in Bryn Mawr… a winter spell with weather that’s unusually – well – wintry. But not everywhere; in fact, other places in the Northern Hemisphere are seeing weather that’s unseasonably warm. In Goose Bay in Newfoundland, it’s barely getting below 0C – bikini weather, relatively [...]

There has been lots of talk lately about Antarctica and whether or not the continent’s giant ice sheet is melting. One new paper 1, which states there’s less surface melting recently than in past years, has been cited as “proof” that there’s no global warming. Other evidence that the amount of sea ice around Antarctica [...]