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Geology News
Global Warming Current Events

Scientists have been investigating theories regarding the greenhouse effect and global warming since at least the 19th century. This is a timeline showing some of the major landmarks in the field of climatology.

“Over millions of years, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have been moderated by a finely-tuned natural feedback system – a system that human emissions have recently overwhelmed.” Quoted from the NASA release.

Last year, the amount of Arctic sea ice that melted had an area equal to that of Texas and California combined. The forecast for 2008 is even more severe - the worst year yet for Arctic ice melting.

NASA Image

An archive of NASA news releases, image galleries and articles on a variety of topics related to planetary geology, earth observation, global climate change, monitoring volcanoes, looking beyond our solar system, monitoring the oceans and more. A few of the most popular ones are:

• Monitoring Volcanoes from Space
• Photograph of Avalanches on Mars
• Glacial Sediments Add to Louisiana Coastal Subsidence
• Satellite Images of Marine Phytoplankton Blooms
• Sahara Dust Storms Lower Sea Surface Temperatures
• Satellite Measures Pollution From East Asia to North America

Urban coastal flood exposure will increase enormously if sea levels rise as expected. This article at Strategic Risk explores the geographic distribution of this problem along with some mitigation and adaptation that might accompany it.

Scientists have theorized that one way to combat global warming would be to release sulphate particles into the atmosphere. The particles would help block sunlight and cool the planet. However, this approach would likely cause other problems: namely, the depletion of the ozone layer.

With global warming heating up the planet, wildfires are expected to burn longer, spread farther, and occur more often than in the past. Since forests are valuable for absorbing carbon, their destruction will only worsen climate change - a vicious cycle.

NASA Image

Many areas of the world rely on glacier runoff for drinking water and agriculture. As global temperature rises, glaciers are melting faster and earlier in the year. This can cause flooding in the spring and a lack of water when it is most needed in the summer months. Additionally, smaller glaciers may completely disappear in the coming years - leaving the surrounding areas without this valuable resource altogether.

NASA Image

The world’s oceans act as a carbon sink, absorbing approximately one-fourth of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. A five-year study shows that the North Atlantic, a vital area, is absorbing only half the amount of gas it did in the mid-90s. Why is this happening?

As global warming progresses and the planet’s ice sheets melt away, many coastal regions will become flooded. Some scientists now estimated that sea level might rise by a meter in this century. This change will have an acute impact on low-lying countries like Bangladesh, where a significant portion of land is within a meter of sea level.

World Map for Various Levels of Sea Level Rise

Using the latest satellite observations, NASA researchers and others report that the Arctic is still on “thin ice” when it comes to the condition of sea ice cover in the region. A colder-than-average winter in some regions of the Arctic this year has yielded an increase in the area of new sea ice, while the older sea ice that lasts for several years has continued to decline.

There is no doubt that greenhouse gas emissions are destroying our planet. Which industries are the worst offenders? CNN has a picture slideshow that compares the emission percentages of various sectors.

Researchers find that climate change is causing summer water levels on the Mackenzie River Delta to be three times higher than normal. They are also finding water level increases in the low elevation lakes on the delta. They believe that what they see on the Mackenzie Delta is representative of the circumpolar Arctic.

Drought is forcing a million people in Uganda to move about constantly searching for food. This is an area with no infrastructure and climate change is hitting the people very hard.

FutureGen is a concept of designing, building, and operating coal-fueled, near-zero emissions power plants. A GEOTIMES article explores some recent changes in direction for this government supported initiative.

For one hour, cities around the globe dimmed their lights in observance of Earth Hour, a campaign started last year by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The goal of the campaign is to promote energy conservation and spread awareness of the danger of climate change.

The United Nations is leading a weeklong meeting in Thailand, where representatives from 163 countries are discussing replacing the Kyoto global warming pact of 1997. There is disagreement among the different nations about who should reduce their emissions the most.

“Using data from the SCIAMACHY instrument aboard ESA’s Envisat environmental satellite, scientists have for the first time detected regionally elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide – the most important greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming – originating from manmade emissions.” Quoted from the NASA release.

Earth Observatory has a satellite image pair showing before and after scenes of the Wilkins Ice Shelf collapse. A huge iceberg (25 miles x 1.5 miles) dropped from the shelf.

A huge iceberg (25 miles x 1.5 miles) appears to have dropped from the Wilkins Ice Shelf. Scientists now think that the rest of the shelf - about the size of Northern Ireland - is at risk of collapse.

A new study reveals that analysts for the property/casualty insurance industry think that climate change is the biggest risk to their industry.

Researchers have determined that soot (black carbon) is the second leading contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. For example: soot settles on ice and its black color absorbs heat, melting the ice. Most soot comes from alterable practices such as burning fuels and forests.

BBC has a special page dedicated to the topic of climate change. There you can find frequently updated news, research reports, features, video/audio clips, fact sheets, carbon calculator and more.

The extreme floods that hit the UK during 2007 were of unusual extent and severity. The UK’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology has issued a report stating that they were singular weather events and unrelated to climate change. We link to a webpage with a summary where you can choose to download the full pdf report.

Here is an article in The Canadian Press that quotes a number of energy executives who recently attended an oilsands conference. They comment on the pros and cons of carbon storage and reveal a lot of different perspectives.

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the past few decades has been associated with increasing soybean yields. How does it relate to the organic matter content of the soil? Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are finding some surprises.

An article on the GEOTIMES website by Nicholas Coch, author of numerous papers and books about environmental geology, explores the possible future of United States coastlines. Climate change, coastal dynamics and population shifts could converge to form a coastal crisis.

Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that grow in the sunlit surface waters of the ocean. When enough phytoplankton grow in one place, the bloom can be seen from space. This collection of NASA images features worldwide phytoplankton blooms.

Brightness data from last month’s lunar eclipse may reveal information on the amount of dust in our atmosphere as well as data related to climate change. Variations in brightness from one eclipse to the next can be related to atmospheric change.

Scientists from British Antarctic Survey, Durham University and Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research collected boulders deposited by three glaciers in the Amundsen Sea Embayment. They are going to study how much they have been altered by high energy cosmic rays while being exposed on the ice sheet. The data can be used to learn about the rate of ice sheet movement.

NASA has published charts, maps and data that summarize global temperature trends up through the end of 2007. Their summary: “The year 2007 tied for second warmest in the period of instrumental data, behind the record warmth of 2005.”

British Columbia is the first government to begin taxing carbon emissions. Taxes on fuels that generate carbon emissions will go into effect. To start, drivers will pay 2.4 extra cents for a liter of gasoline. They hope that this tax will promote conservation and efficiency.

Adding iron to the ocean under the right conditions can trigger enormous algal blooms. The organisms in these blooms absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and sink to the bottom upon death, removing the carbon dioxide from the environment for long periods of time. This issue of Oceanus has several articles that explore this concept.

“More than 55 million years ago, the Earth experienced a rapid jump in global carbon dioxide levels that raised temperatures across the planet. Now, researchers studying plants from that time have found that the rising temperatures may have boosted the foraging of insects.” Quoted from the NSF release.

This is a web presentation of National Geographic’s video titled: “Six Degrees of Warming”. It details the changes to Earth’s environment that would occur, degree-by-degree, for a temperature rise of up to six degrees.

Over use of water, climate change and population grown are some of the factors that are expected to seriously reduce the water levels of Lake Mead in the next few years. Researchers at San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography give it a 50% chance of going dry by 2021 and a 10 percent chance that it will not yield useable water by 2014.

“Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that natural variability in the Earth’s atmosphere could be masking the overall effect of global warming in the North Atlantic Ocean.” Quoted from the NASA release.

The Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment is trying to understand the Amazon Rain Forest. So far it has produced more questions than answers.

A new publication from USGS. “Flagstaff is becoming warmer and drier. Estimated average-daily temperatures of the Flagstaff area are 2.3-degrees warmer since 1970 and annual precipitation at Flagstaff has been below average for nine of 11 years since 1996. Rising temperatures in the area parallel those of global-surface temperatures, particularly the rapid rise since the early 1970s.” Quoted from the USGS release.

“Researchers now believe that some of the most intense winter storm activity over parts of the United States may be set in motion from changes in the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean. El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events have an influence on the most intense U.S. winter storms.” Quoted from the NASA source.