A new global model suggests how and where air flow in caves affects the growth of cave mineral deposits that scientists use to reconstruct ancient climates.
Climate Change
What Darkens the Greenland Ice Sheet?
Limited observational data sets and incomplete surface energy balance models constrain understanding of the driving processes for Greenland's ice sheet.
Circulation Models Cannot Simulate Organized Tropical Convection
Challenges in predicting and simulating the Madden-Julian Oscillation indicate a lack of understanding of the atmospheric circulation pattern's fundamental physics.
To Help Fix the Hole in the Ozone Layer, Just Add Ice
Computer simulations show that adding tiny droplets of ice to the atmosphere during the spring could help eliminate chlorofluorocarbons and repair the hole in the ozone layer.
Obama Uses Alaska Tour to Focus on Climate Change
In speeches and planned visits to a threatened village and a receding glacier, President Obama makes the case that global warming is happening now and warrants immediate action.
Surface Climate Processes Keep Earth's Energy Balance in Check
Models show that an abrupt increase in carbon dioxide emissions would trigger feedback processes that would change Earth's hydrological cycle.
Does U.S. Hurricane Rating Scale Get the Danger Right?
Some scientists think it's time to retire the Saffir-Simpson scale and start fresh.
Global Warming Intensifies Drought Conditions in California
The rise in global temperatures has amplified naturally occurring drought conditions in California and has increased the chance of severe droughts in the future.
Chinese Cave Inscriptions Tell Woeful Tale of Drought
Researchers use the graffiti to extrapolate future drought risk in central China.
Priorities for Antarctic Research: Glaciers, Genomes, and Cosmic Waves
The next decade of research should focus on the need to understand the changing Antarctic environment and how organisms adapt to it, a high-level report says.