Global warming
Scientists discover biggest breach of Earth’s solar storm shield
Dec 17th
A NASA and National Science Foundation sponsored research has identified the biggest breach of Earth’s solar storm shield, in the form of two holes that allow the largest leaks.
The research determined that Earth’s magnetic field, which shields our planet from particles streaming outward from the Sun, often develops two holes that allow the largest leaks.
According to Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles, Principal Investigator for NASA’s THEMIS mission (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms), “The discovery overturns a long-standing belief about how and when most of the solar particles penetrate Earth’s magnetic field, and More >
Climate warming causing ecosystem changes in temperate lakes
Dec 17th
A new study has linked ecosystem changes in many temperate North American and Western European lakes to climate warning.
The study, conducted by researchers at Queen’s University and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment in Canada, reports that striking changes are now occurring in many temperate lakes similar to those previously observed in the rapidly warming Arctic, although typically many decades later.
“Our findings suggest that ecologically important changes are already under way in temperate lakes,” said Queen’s Biology research scientist, Dr. Kathleen Ruhland, from the university’s Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab (PEARL) and lead author of the study.
The scientists studied More >
Sea levels will rise much faster than predicted
Dec 17th
A new study has found that sea levels will rise much faster than previously predicted, as the world’s glaciers and ice sheets are melting at an alarming rate.
According to a report in The Times, the study, commissioned by the US Climate Change Science Program, said that the rises will substantially exceed forecasts that do not take into account the latest data and observations.
The adjusted outlook suggests that recent predictions of a rise of between 7 inches and 2 feet over the next century are conservative.
The study predicts that sea level rises will be far higher than the levels that were More >
Holes in Earth’s magnetic cloak let the sun in
Dec 17th
The Earth’s protective magnetosphere has two large holes that are letting in disruptive solar winds, scientists said on Tuesday.
Understanding how these holes form will help them better predict the electrical storms that cause power grid blackouts and the aurora, activity that will peak in 2012 as sunspots hit their maximum level.
Scientists at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco said they had been entirely wrong about how solar particles that cause the storms were entering the Earth’s magnetosphere.
The magnetosphere is a bubble of magnetism that surrounds Earth and protects us from solar wind.
Scientists once believed that the particles entered More >
Global meltdown dampens Christmas celebrations
Dec 15th
Kochi, Dec 15 (ANI): The Christmas approaching, the Christians here are worried about the tightening strings to their purses. The effects of global meltdown have already trickled down.
Most sought after commodities during the Christmas celebrations are the cakes and the gift articles. The shops of Kochi are all decked up but wear a deserted look with the customers staying away.
“The recent crisis has really affected us a lot. We have started feeling it. Till last year, the customers during Christmas used to come and do a lot of cash business, but this year may be because of the financial slowdown More >
Wildfires Cause Ozone Pollution To Violate Health Standards, New Study Shows
Nov 2nd
Wildfires can boost ozone pollution to levels that violate U.S. health standards, a new study concludes. The research, by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), focused on California wildfires in 2007, finding that they repeatedly caused ground-level ozone to spike to unhealthy levels across a broad area, including much of rural California as well as neighboring Nevada.
The study was published today in Geophysical Research Letters. It was funded by NASA and by the National Science Foundation, which sponsors NCAR.
“It’s important to understand the health impacts of wildfires,” says NCAR scientist Gabriele Pfister, the lead author. “Ozone can More >
Probing Antarctic Glaciers For Clues To Past And Future Sea Level
Nov 2nd
Scientists from the U.S., U.K. and Australia have teamed up to explore two of the last uncharted regions of Earth, the Aurora and Wilkes Subglacial Basins, immense ice-buried lowlands in Antarctica with a combined area the size of Mexico. The research could show how Earth’s climate changed in the past and how future climate change will affect global sea level.
Scientists believe the barely observed Aurora Subglacial Basin, which lies in East Antarctica, could represent the weak underbelly of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the largest remaining body of ice on Earth. Until recently the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which covers More >
Recent Hurricane History Provides Diverging Interpretations On Future Of Hurricane Activity
Nov 2nd
In a paper published in the journal Science, scientists Gabriel A. Vecchi of NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Kyle L. Swanson of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Atmospheric Sciences Group and Brian J. Soden from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science teamed up to study hurricane data observed over more than 50 years. The study explores the relationship between sea surface temperature (SST) and seasonal hurricane activity, and show how differing interpretations of the observational record can imply vastly different futures for Atlantic hurricane activity due to global warming. The two interpretations arise from More >
Eco rating a major issue now
Oct 13th
Ecology has become a critical issue in India with a lot of organisations and the Union Government showing particular interest in it. The key element, of course, is global warming and the steady erosion of ozone layer because of carbon di oxide emissions from several sources into the atmosphere. The main culpable sources are automobile, realty and raw materials sectors. With crude oil price ruling high its impact on fuel and the prices of essential commodites is considerable. Inflation is 11 per cent now and the steady grabbing of farm land in the outskirts of every city – Tier 1 More >
Investing in global warming
Oct 13th
Environmental sustainability has become the catchword now. And green stocks have caught the eye of investors though they are necessarily slow burn out funds. It will pay in the long run, say over 15 year period. RETIREES For those on the verge of superannuation choosing the right firms matter, because the returns after 10-15 years must be substantial. Some smaller firms may burn out in due course and investing in them in these environment-conscious times might backfireas the returns in 4-5 years could be slow or nothing. One has to go in for firms that have top of the list More >