Coastal Los Angeles losing fog to urban sprawl
Science News, February 2015Morning fog along parts of coastal Southern California is disappearing due to nearby urbanization, new research suggests.
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Scientists confirm amassing CO2 heats Earth’s surface
Science News, February 2015For the first time, scientists have witnessed a direct connection between rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide and an increase in the amount of thermal radiation striking Earth’s surface. The work affirms a cornerstone of the theory that humans have contributed to worldwide warming in recent decades, the researchers report online February 25 in Nature.
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Glassy blue iceberg goes belly up
Science News, February 2015Roughly 90 percent of an iceberg’s volume hides beneath the waves. But every so often an iceberg’s underbelly makes an appearance above the waterline.
Steam bubbles carry gold and sulfur up from Earth’s depths
Science News, February 2015Dense mixes of sulfur and metals such as gold and copper can catch a lift to the top of magma reservoirs on the undersides of rising steam bubbles, new research suggests.
On East Coast, sea levels lean southward
Science News, February 2015Sea levels along North America’s East Coast tilt downward as you travel north up the coastline, concludes new research to be published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Ice ages boost production of new ocean crust
Science News, February 2015Lowered sea levels during ice ages can increase the amount of magma bubbling up at mid-ocean ridges, researchers propose online February 5 in Science. The work suggests that long stretches of thick oceanic crust called abyssal hills, among the most common landforms on the planet, are the result of worldwide climate changes.
Geologists discover tectonic plate’s slippery underbelly
Science News, February 2015Using ricocheted vibrations from dynamite blasts, researchers have glimpsed a layer of gooey material sandwiched between the Pacific tectonic plate and the underlying mantle. If present beneath all plates, the layer of partially melted rock could help explain how tectonic plates slide around Earth’s surface so easily, the researchers report in the Feb. 5 Nature.
Central American fires may intensify U.S. tornadoes
Science News, January 2015Smoke wafting across the Gulf of Mexico from Central America can help spawn intense twisters in and around North America’s Tornado Alley, new research suggests.
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The continental divide of 2014 temperature
Science News, January 2015While last year was the hottest on record worldwide, the contiguous United States experienced extremes on both ends of the thermometer.
Warming could nearly double rate of severe La Niña events
Science News, January 2015Thanks to climate change, El Niño’s meteorological sister will strike more intensely over the next century, a new study predicts.