Climate swings in northern hemisphere linked with changes in tropicsSeptember 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists have found evidence that climate swings in the northern hemisphere over the past 12,000 years have been tightly linked to changes in the tropics. The scientists found that a prolonged cold spell that caused glaciers in Europe and North America to creep forward several hundred years ago may have affected climate patterns as far south as Peru, causing tropical glaciers there to expand as well.
Satellite lasers show rapid thinning of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheetsSeptember 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Using satellite lasers, scientists have made the most comprehensive picture of the rapidly thinning glaciers along the coastline of both the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. Researchers from British Antarctic Survey and the University of Bristol describe how analysis of millions of NASA satellite measurements from both of these vast ice sheets shows that the most profound ice loss is a result of glaciers speeding up where they flow into the sea.
Antarctica's secret water network far more dynamic than believedSeptember 15th, 2009 LONDON - The first complete map of the lakes beneath Antarctica's ice sheets reveals the continent's secret water network is far more dynamic than we thought, and could be acting as a powerful lubricant beneath glaciers, contributing to sea level rise. According to a report in New Scientist, Ian Joughin at the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues developed the map.
American glaciers shrinking dramatically in response to global warmingSeptember 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Reports indicate that most glaciers in Washington and Alaska in the US are dramatically shrinking in response to a warming climate. During the past 50 years, USGS (US Geological Survey) scientists have measured changes in the mass (length and thickness) of three glaciers: Alaska's Gulkana and Wolverine Glaciers and Washington's South Cascade Glacier.
Vast farming projects eroding earth's surfaceSeptember 4th, 2009 TORONTO - Mammoth farming projects can erode the earth's surface at rates comparable to those of the world's largest rivers and glaciers. A new University of British Columbia (UBC) study offers stark evidence of how humans are reshaping the planet.
Humans causing erosion comparable to world's largest rivers and glaciersSeptember 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has found that large-scale farming projects by humans can erode the Earth's surface at rates comparable to those of the world's largest rivers and glaciers. The research offers stark evidence of how humans are reshaping the planet.
Shrinking glaciers in North America tell story of climate changeSeptember 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - A long-term study of key glaciers in western North America has shown that glacial shrinkage is rapid and accelerating, and that it is a result of climate change. William Shilts, a geologist at the University of Illinois, spent nearly two decades studying glaciers on Bylot Island, an uninhabited island about 300 miles southwest of Thule, Greenland.
Why Himalayan glaciers grew while Asia heated up 9,000 years agoAugust 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study by scientists at Brigham Young University (BYU), US, has pieced together the chain of events surrounding the unexpected glacial growth in the Southeast Himalayas 9,000 years ago, when the rest of Asia was heating up. While most other Central Asian glaciers retreated under hotter summer temperatures, this group of glaciers advanced from one to six kilometers.
Antarctic glacier thinning four times faster than it was 10 years agoAugust 14th, 2009 LONDON - A new research has determined that one of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is thinning four times faster than it was 10 years ago. Professor Duncan Wingham of University College London (UCL) led the research team.
World beginning to pull out of recession, says IMFJuly 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world is beginning to pull out of its first recession since World War II, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. In an updated economic forecast, the IMF said the global economy was already stabilising, the financial crisis has eased and the recession will end in the second half of this year.
Glaciers can shrink "in a geologic instant"June 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new research by scientists has revealed that modern glaciers in deep ocean water can undergo periods of rapid retreat, where they can shrink even more quickly than has recently been observed. According to new findings by paleoclimatologists at the University at Buffalo (UB), US, modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat.
Glaciers in Southern Hemisphere are growing out of step with those in NorthMay 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has found that for the last 7,000 years, glaciers south of the equator in South America and New Zealand have often moved out of step with glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere, pointing to strong regional variations in climate. "This research should provide much more accurate reconstructions of glacial advances worldwide, allowing us in turn to make climate models more accurate," said Paul Filmer, program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
World plunging into ever-deeper recession: IMFApril 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Wednesday offered its most dire picture yet of a world that is plunging into by far its deepest recession since World War II. The IMF further slashed its economic forecast from just one month ago, predicting the global economy will shrink by 1.3 percent in 2009 and recover to only 1.9-percent growth in 2010.
Antarctic dust helps scientists unravel details of past climate changeMarch 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, dust trapped deep in Antarctic ice sheets is helping scientists unravel details of past climate change. The study, carried out by the Universities of Edinburgh, Stirling and Lille, has found that the very coldest periods of the last ice age correspond with the dustiest periods in Antarctica's past, thus establishing a link between the two.
Glaciers in and around Tibet shrink at alarming rateFebruary 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A three-year study shows that glaciers in the Yangtze source area, central to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau in south-western China, have receded 196 square kilometres over the past 40 years. Glaciers at the headwaters of the Yangtze, China's longest river, now cover 1,051 square km compared to 1,247 square km in 1971, a loss of nearly a billion cubic metres of water.
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