Tag: the earth

Less ice in Greenland 3,000 years ago than today

A new method for dating ancient sea shells reveals that the Greenland Ice Sheet was smaller between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago than it is today. The new study also indicates that the inland ice is more robust than previously thought.

Oxygenated Earth much older than we thought

The discovery of the world’s oldest soil suggests that Earth’s atmosphere contained oxygen as early as three billion years ago. That’s 700 million years earlier than previously thought.

How algae slime impacts the climate

Algae in the sea ice around the Arctic and the Antarctic convert CO2 into micro-gels. This makes it possible to see whether this cold slime actually counteracts climate change.

Greenland icebergs may have triggered the Younger Dryas

Just as the last Ice Age was drawing to a close, Greenland icebergs changed the temperature in the Atlantic and triggered a 1,000-year-long extension of the Ice Age.

First known Uranian Trojan companion found

A Danish astronomer and his colleagues have discovered a little space rock that circles the sun in the same orbit as Uranus. This is the first time that astronomers observe a so-called ‘Trojan’ asteroid companion for Uranus.

Early Earth was pounded into pieces

Scientists have found evidence of a previously unknown meteor bombardment of Earth some 4.3 to 4.1 billion years ago.

Proof: Our climate has become more extreme

The climate has not only become warmer – it has also become more extreme, new research shows.

Danish pollen reveals new interglacial period

New analysis of rare Danish soil layers reveals a hitherto unknown temperate period during the Ice Age.

Fungi and rust can stifle smell of slurry

New study shows how fungal spores and rust can help reduce the stench of slurry in biofilters, which help prevent harmful substances from being released into the atmosphere.

Surprisingly few major Ice Ages in southwest Greenland

The waters off southwest Greenland have escaped extremely large and thick ice sheets during most of the Ice Ages, new research reveals.

Melting sea ice makes deep-sea animals grow

Scientists are now able to film and observe how life at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean is affected by global warming.

Thunderclouds challenge laws of nature

Well-defined and detached clouds such as thunderclouds violate the laws of thermodynamics when it comes to the amount of precipitation.

Sea ice regulates greenhouse gases on land

Atmospheric levels of CO2 and methane above land are mainly determined by sea ice melting to water.

Storm clouds are full of live bacteria

Hailstones are brimming with microscopic life, but mostly from plants, new study reveals.

Huge eruption adds new perspective to past climate

Scientists have found matching traces of a giant prehistoric volcanic eruption in ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica. The discovery sharpens our understanding of past climate.

Newly discovered planetary system alters our view of planet formation

New data from NASA’s Kepler mission has revealed what was thought to be difficult: a planetary system that orbits around two stars. We need to modify our theories, says Danish astronomer.

Aerial photos from Greenland topple climate models

Greenland’s ice sheet is not behaving as scientists have expected, and the climate models must be revised, new research suggests.

Study casts doubt on popular mass extinction theory

A new study casts doubt on a popular theory about the mass extinction that occurred in the transition between two geological periods, the Triassic and the Jurassic. The findings give us a better understanding of today’s climate changes, scientists claim.