New Atlas

Environment Audio available

Can tropical tectonic activity trigger ice ages?

Michael Irving March 14, 2019

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a major driver of shifts in the Earth’s climate, and in the past too little CO2 has been associated with triggering ice ages. Now a team of scientists has found a surprising new mechanism that could lead to ice ages: Tropical tectonic activity.

Tropical tectonic activity, such as that occurring in Indonesia today, may have triggered ice ages in ...

Environment

2018 continued worrying warming trend according to multiple climate reports

Michael Irving February 6, 2019

Continuing a long-term upward trend, several climate reports released today have concluded that 2018 was among the hottest years on record. In independent analyses, NASA, NOAA and WMO have all found the past year to be dotted with broken records.

This map shows the differences in average temperatures, with yellow, orange and red indicating the largest ...

Science Audio available

Fossil fats reveal how complex life kicked off after Snowball Earth phase

Michael Irving January 31, 2019

About 700 million years ago, basically the entire planet iced over in a period often called “Snowball Earth.” Now researchers have found fossil fats that help fill in the story of how life bounced back after this global cataclysm, and how we humans might owe our very existence to them.

Fossil fats have shown how complex life arose after Earth's "snowball" phase

Environment Audio available

Giant cavity found eating away at Antarctic glacier from underneath

Michael Irving January 30, 2019

NASA’s ongoing Operation IceBridge has found a gigantic cavity underneath Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, which shows that the area has suffered even more drastic ice loss in recent years than previously thought – and it’s accelerating.

Energy Audio available

Carbon capture system turns CO2 into electricity and hydrogen fuel

Michael Irving January 21, 2019

Inspired by the ocean’s role as a natural carbon sink, researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) and Georgia Tech have developed a new system that absorbs CO2 and produces electricity and useable hydrogen fuel.

Scientists have developed a new device that can absorb CO2 and produce electricity and hydrogen fuel

Environment Audio available

State of the Climate report paints 2018 as a devastating, record-breaking year

Michael Irving November 29, 2018

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released a Statement on the State of the Climate in 2018. Temperature records were shattered, sea ice shrank and extreme weather events devastated every continent in one of the hottest years on record.

According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization, 2018 was one of the hottest ...

Environment

Extreme heat events on the rise in US and Canada, as cold incidents decline

Anthony Wood November 27, 2018

A new study has revealed that extreme heat events are happening more often across the US and Canada, while extreme cold events are on the decline. The research could one day be used to provide an early warning for such weather events.

Animals, humans and the environment are all damaged by extreme heat events

Environment Audio available

White House quietly releases a comprehensive climate assessment report – and it's not good news

Michael Irving November 25, 2018

The Fourth National Climate Assessment report has been published. Based on decades of environmental research by scientists from 13 federal agencies, the report outlines the findings of ongoing climate studies, their impact and what we should be doing about it.

The Fourth National Climate Assessment report has been published, and the results are worrying

Space Audio available

Climate simulations forecast the weather on all seven TRAPPIST exoplanets

Michael Irving November 22, 2018

Among the almost-4,000 exoplanets found so far, none really capture the imagination like TRAPPIST-1. Now a team of astronomers led by the University of Washington has simulated the climates that could be found on each TRAPPIST world.

An artistic render of a temperate TRAPPIST-1 f, which could also be frozen or stifling under ...

Environment

The seafloor is dissolving, thanks to human activity

Michael Irving November 6, 2018

As the seas get warmer and more acidic, all kinds of havoc is wrought, and now a new study has identified yet another symptom. Researchers at Princeton and McGill Universities have found that the seafloor is beginning to dissolve as a result of human activity.

A new study has found that human activity is dissolving the seafloor