Scientists have known for years that warming global climate is melting the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second largest ice sheet in the world. A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), however, shows that the rate of melting might be temporarily increased or decreased by two existing climate patterns: the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO).
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A Key to Climate Stabilization Could Be Buried Deep in the Mud, FSU Researchers Suggest
Earth’s peatland soils store a lot of carbon — about as much as currently flows freely through the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. As global temperatures rise, scientists worry that the planet’s grip on these carbon reservoirs could weaken, unleashing a “carbon bomb” that could further destabilize Earth’s climate systems.
Global Trade in Exotic Pets Threatens Endangered Parrots Through the Spread of a Virus
Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) in wild parrot populations has been detected in eight new countries, raising concerns for threatened species.
Surviving Plants and Insects Are Tougher Than We Think
Insect pollinators that have survived the impacts of agricultural intensification may have a greater ability to resist future environmental changes than previously thought, a new study has found.
The Nocturnal Pollinators: Scientists Reveal the Secret Life of Moths
Scientists have discovered that moths may play a much broader role as plant pollinators than previously suspected.
Increasing the Performance and Useful Service Life of Lithium Batteries in Renewable Energy Facilities
Variations in power generation using renewable sources, such as solar and wind power, lead to control problems in the electricity grid. The technology of lithium batteries is a candidate offering great potential in solving these problems. An industrial engineer at the Public University of Navarre (NUP/UPNA) has come up with a new management system that allows good performance of these batteries to be achieved and their useful service life to be preserved when they are connected to a renewable facility for the purposes of storing the electrical power produced.