Atmospheric

Soil-Carbon Cycle Model: The Carbon Stores In Soil Freed By CO2 Could Be Substantial

An increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could initiate a chain reaction between plants and microorganisms that would unsettle one of the largest carbon reservoirs we have; soil. Citing a new model, researchers say that the carbon in soil, which co ...

Article - News Staff - Dec 31 2014 - 5:26pm

How Does The IPCC Know Climate Change Is Happening?

Extreme weather is more common than ever. EPA, CC BY-NC By Mark Maslin, University College London Climate change is one of the few scientific theories that makes us examine the whole basis of modern society. It is a challenge that has politicians arguing, ...

Article - The Conversation - Dec 29 2014 - 6:23pm

80 Percent Of Coal Must Stay In The Ground To Avoid Dangerous Climate Change

80 percent of current coal reserves, 50 percent of gas reserves and 33 percent of oil reserves should remain in the ground by 2050 to avoid the 2°C target established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and used as a benchmark by policy maker ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 8 2015 - 2:29pm

Emissions-Free Hydrogen Cars Get A Little More Viable

Hydrogen fuel cells may be the best option for powering zero-emission vehicles, Toyota will make them available in the United States in 2015, but those fuel cells require an electrocatalyst-- a platinum surface-- to increase the reaction rate, and the cos ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 9 2015 - 9:30am

Did Climate Change Play A Role In The AirAsia Crash?

Could climate change be making flying more unsafe? KamrenB Photography, CC BY By Todd Lane, University of Melbourne ...

Article - The Conversation - Jan 9 2015 - 12:46am

Western US Higher Temperatures At Higher Elevations Blamed On Biased Sensors

Recent results of a study finds that that sensor changes have significantly biased temperature observations from the Snowpack Telemetry (SNOTEL) station network. More than 700 SNOTEL sites monitor temperature and snowpack across the mountainous western U. ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 12 2015 - 6:56pm

Petrichor: Raindrops Release Clouds Of Aerosols On Impact

People love that earthy smell after it rains. It turns out there is a good science reason for it, and it's been captured using high-speed imaging. Petrichor is the  phenomenon first characterized by Australian scientists as the smell released after a ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 14 2015 - 1:32pm

2014 Was Warmest Since 1880

The 10 warmest years in the instrumental record, with the exception of 1998, have now occurred since 2000, which continues a long-term warming of the planet, according to an analysis of surface temperature measurements by NASA's Goddard Institute of S ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 16 2015 - 9:08pm

Death By Boiling Air: The Asteroid Impact Wasn't The Only Thing Killing Dinosaurs

Credit: Don Davis By Claire Belcher, University of Exeter and Rory Hadden, University of Edinburgh The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs set off an intense heat wave that briefly boiled the Earth’s atmosphere – but it didn’t burn off all the plants. ...

Article - The Conversation - Jan 22 2015 - 2:56pm

Climate Change May Shape Languages Too

Researchers have determined that languages with a wide range of tone pitches are more prevalent in regions with high humidity levels while languages with simpler tone pitches are mainly found in drier regions. They explain this by noting that the vocal fol ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 23 2015 - 1:11pm