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Ice cores reveal signs of Arctic climate change

Scientists in the Arctic are drilling into ice covering the land to find out more about how the region's climate has changed over thousands of years.

Researchers say sea ice cover has dropped by about 20 per cent in the Canadian Arctic in the last three decades ... CBC News

Detritus of life abounds in the atmosphere

Could dandruff be altering the world’s climate? Along with fur, algae, pollen, fungi, bacteria, viruses and various other “bio-aerosols” wafting around in the atmosphere, it may well be.

A global study has found that tiny fragments of biological detritus are a major component of the atmosphere, controlling the weather and forming a previously hidden microbial metropolis in the skies. Besides their climatic influence, they may even be spreading diseases across the globe ... New Scientist Breaking News

Skin Cells, Pollen Contribute to Air Pollution

When modeling climate, scientists must account for a large number of variables. One of the most challenging is the effect of small particulates suspended in the atmosphere, which can either reflect or absorb incoming radiation from the sun and thus alter its influence. The most common types of aerosols are soot, ash and other man-made particles as well as naturally derived dust and salt. Until now, plants and animals have been considered a small source of particulate pollution. But a new study suggests that up to 25 percent of aerosols worldwide could be coming from biological sources, including fur, skin, pollen and bacteria ... Scientific American.com

Strains on Nature Are Growing, Report Says

Humans are damaging the planet at a rapid rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones" in the seas ... The New York Times > Science

Changes in Earth's tilt control when glacial cycles end

Scientists have long debated what causes glacial/interglacial cycles, which have occurred most recently at intervals of about 100,000 years. A new study reported in the March 24 issue of Nature finds that these glacial cycles are paced by variations in the tilt of Earth's axis, and that glaciations end when Earth's tilt is large ... EurekAlert!

Research team casts doubts on global warming Research team casts doubts on global warming Research team casts doubts on global warming

A team of UW researchers are helping scientists from around the nation solve the mysteries of climate change by analyzing data from Antarctic ice cores.

Braving sub-zero temperatures, researchers were able to extract a 3,000-foot section of Antarctica, in hopes that the core would lead to key advances in how climate changes.

"There is no [climate] data before 1950, so we have to use the ice cores," said Ed Waddington, UW professor of Earth and space sciences.

The researchers have found that the amount of ice near the Ross Ice Shelf has changed very little in the last 20,000 years, contradicting theories of an altered Earth's climate ... The UW Daily Online

Scientists collaborate to assess health of global environment

For the first time, a group of scientists has accomplished the daunting task of evaluating the status of all of the ecosystems on Earth, and the outlook is troubling.Commissioned by the United Nations in 2001, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment program will issue its primary report on March 30 during press conferences in Washington and other cities around the world ... EurekAlert!

Call for action on climate change

The UK government is not doing enough to tackle climate change, according to a report by a parliamentary committee.

The Environmental Audit Committee attacked ministers for believing that new technology and market mechanisms will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The committee says Britain and the developed world need to reduce emissions by 60-80% by 2050 ... BBC NEWS

Ice core 'dipstick' indicates West Antarctic ice has thinned less than believed

New research using a thousand-meter ice core shows a key section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet probably never contained as much ice as scientists originally thought it did, so it couldn't have contributed as much as believed to higher sea levels 20,000 years ago ... EurekAlert!

No stopping rising sea levels, study says

Even if all industrial pollution and auto emissions suddenly ceased today, Earth's climate will warm at least 1 degree by the year 2100 and seas will rise 4 inches (11 centimeters), according to a new study ... MSNBC