Geography News

August 20, 2016

NASA Monitors the 'New Normal' of Sea Ice

Pacific Sea Level Predicts Global Temp Changes

When Was the Atlantic Separated from Pacific?

Greenland Sharks Live for Hundreds of Years

Latest Headlines

updated 11:55am EDT

'Ecosystem Canaries' Provide Early Warning Signs of Catastrophic Changes to Ecosystems

Aug. 18, 2016 — 'Ecosystem canaries' can provide early warning signals of large, potentially catastrophic, changes or tipping points in ... read more

Mix of Marine Zones Matters Most for Prey Fish

Aug. 17, 2016 — In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists have discovered a mosaic mix of marine zones could benefit populations of prey ... read more

Climate Change Alters the Rules of Sperm Competition in the Sea

Aug. 17, 2016 — Increasing ocean acidification, brought about by humanmade carbon emissions, reduces sperm performance in a species of sea urchin, say scientists. The impact of climate change on global seawater ... read more

July 2016 Was Warmest on Record, NASA Analysis Finds

Aug. 17, 2016 — July 2016 was the warmest July in 136 years of modern record-keeping, according to a monthly analysis of global temperatures by NASA. The record warm July continued a streak ... read more

Slower Snowmelt Affects Downstream Water Availability in Western Mountains

Aug. 16, 2016 — Western communities are facing effects of a warming climate with slower and earlier snowmelt reducing streamflows and possibly the amount of water reaching reservoirs used ... read more

Sea Ice Strongly Linked to Climate Change in Past 90,000 Years

Aug. 16, 2016 — Expansion and retreat of sea ice varied consistently in pace with rapid climate changes through past 90,000 years, a new ... read more

New Antarctic Ice Discovery Aids Future Climate Predictions

Aug. 16, 2016 — A team of scientists has discovered a 65 percent reduction in sea ice during the last interglacial period around 128,000 years ... read more

Researcher Uncovers 340 Million Year-Old Oceanic Crust in the Mediterranean Sea Using Magnetic Data

Aug. 15, 2016 — Results of a new study shed new light on the tectonic architecture and evolution of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and have important implications on ... read more

New Map of World Vegetation Reveals Substantial Changes Since 1980s

Aug. 15, 2016 — A new system to map the world's 'biomes' -- large-scale vegetation formations -- has been developed that will provide an objective method for monitoring how vegetation reacts as climate changes. The ... read more

Caught in the Act: Coral's Bleaching Behavior

Aug. 12, 2016 — Coral researchers have for the first time captured the specific behavior of a coral as it's bleaching. While scientists have known for some time that coral bleaching occurs ... read more

Mexico Landslides Leave 40 Dead as New Storm Forms

North Bengal Hit by Flooding and Landslides

Study Finds Greenland Lost 1 Trillion Tons of Ice in Just 4 Years

Pianist Performs 'Elegy for Arctic' Over Ocean

Scientists Combine Satellite Data, Machine Learning to Map Poverty

Aug. 18, 2016 — The availability of accurate and reliable information on the location of impoverished zones is surprisingly lacking for much of the world. Applying machine learning to satellite images could identify ... read more

Alaska's 'Sleeping Lady'

Aug. 17, 2016 — Every year countless Alaskans and visitors gaze across Cook Inlet from Anchorage at the 'Sleeping Lady' silhouette of Mount Susitna. This scenic mountain and the more rounded Beluga ... read more

NASA Analyzes Deadly Louisiana Flooding

Aug. 15, 2016 — Record-setting rainfall and flooding in southern Louisiana have been calculated at NASA with data from ... read more

Warming Climate Likely to Have 'Minor' Impact on Power Plant Output

Aug. 15, 2016 — Future climate warming will likely cause only minor cuts in energy output at most US coal- or gas-fired power plants, a new study finds. The study -- based on records of changes in output levels and ... read more

Wind Power Fiercer Than Expected

Aug. 11, 2016 — As the US' first wind farm is installed in Rhode Island this week, a new study shows offshore wind may be even more powerful and turbulent than expected in the Northeast. The findings could have ... read more

Global Warming's Next Surprise: Saltier Beaches

Aug. 11, 2016 — Batches of sand from a beach on the Delaware Bay are yielding insights into the powerful impact of temperature rise and evaporation along the shore that are in turn challenging long-held assumptions ... read more

Ecosystems in the Southeastern US Are Vulnerable to Climate Change

Aug. 11, 2016 — At least several southeastern US ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the impacts of present and future climate change, according to two new reports. At-risk ecosystems occur in states ranging from ... read more

Morphological Analysis of a Light-Controlling Organ Suggests Two New Deep-Sea Fish Species

Aug. 10, 2016 — Two new species can be added to the bioluminescent deep-sea fish family Opisthoproctidae, or 'barreleyes' -- named for the fishes' tubular eyes -- according to a new ... read more

How Climate Change Will Hurt Humanity's Closest Cousins

Aug. 10, 2016 — The consequences of climate change are an increasing concern for humans around the world. How will we cope with rising sea levels and climbing temperatures? But it's not just humans who will be ... read more

Crude Oil Causes Heart and Skull Deformities in Haddock

Aug. 10, 2016 — Even brief exposures of the eggs of Atlantic haddock to low concentrations of dispersed crude oil can cause severe and usually deadly deformities in developing fish, an international research team ... read more

Specialized Life Forms Abound at Arctic Methane Seeps

Aug. 10, 2016 — Methane seeps have strong effects on the community structure at the bottom of the Arctic ... read more

Earth Interacted With Supernova Remnants for 1 Million Years

Aug. 10, 2016 — Physicists have succeeded in detecting a time-resolved supernova signal in the Earth's microfossil record. As the group shows, the supernova signal was first detectable at a time starting about ... read more

Climate Change Already Accelerating Sea Level Rise, Study Finds

Aug. 10, 2016 — Greenhouse gases are already having an accelerating effect on sea level rise, but the impact has so far been masked by the cataclysmic 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, according to ... read more

Warmer Climate Could Lower Dengue Risk

Aug. 10, 2016 — Health researchers predict that the transmission of dengue could decrease in a future warmer climate, countering previous projections that climate change would cause the potentially lethal virus to ... read more

Many More Species at Risk from Southeast Asia Tree Plantations, Study Finds

Aug. 9, 2016 — As more of Southeast Asia's forests are cleared for tree plantations, a study finds that 42 percent of mammal, bird and amphibian species endemic to the region's forests face a higher risk ... read more

Why Are New England's Wild Blue Mussels Disappearing?

Aug. 9, 2016 — The Gulf of Maine coastline, historically home to one of the richest shellfish populations in the US, is undergoing a dramatic change, with once-flourishing wild blue mussels all but disappearing, ... read more

Double Whammy for Important Baltic Seaweed

Aug. 9, 2016 — Rising seawater temperatures and increased nutrient concentrations could lead to a decline of the bladder wrack Fucus vesiculosus in the Baltic Sea in the future, according to experiments conducted ... read more

Rising Water Temperatures and Acidification Affect Important Plankton Organism

Aug. 9, 2016 — In an experiment with organisms from the Kiel Fjord, a team of biologists has demonstrated for the first time, that ocean acidification and rising water temperatures harms the fatty acid composition ... read more

No Major Red Tide Outbreaks on Florida's West Coast This Year, Researchers Predict

Aug. 9, 2016 — New research suggests conditions are such that no major red tide outbreaks should be expected along Florida's west coast this ... read more

Some Marine Organisms on the Seafloor Thrive in Corrosive Seawater

Aug. 9, 2016 — The sea floor is a habitat especially rich in species that produce calcium carbonate shells or skeletons – so-called marine calcifiers. Sea urchins, sea stars, coralline algae, crustaceans, and ... read more

Thursday, August 18, 2016