Keeping Global Warming At 2 Degrees Celsius May Not Be Enough

Medicine & Technology Mar 27, 2015

The world has a set a goal of limiting global warming to just 2 degrees Celsius of average temperature rise, but according to one climate scientist that may not be enough, and he is not alone.

Antarctica's Ice Shelves Melting Faster Than Originally Thought

Mar 27, 2015

Times are tough for the massive ice sheets of Antarctica these days with the latest report that the giant floating ice shelves that form a fringe along the continent's coast are beginning to melt and deteriorate much faster than scientists once believed.

Gulf Stream Slowed by Greenland Ice Sheet Melting

Mar 26, 2015

The 2014-15 winter was one of the warmest ever recorded in history according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. However, there is one area of the North Atlantic that hasn't been affected by this warming trend and the phenomenon has been the same since around 1970.

China Seeks Cleaner Air Without an Environmental Movement

Mar 16, 2015

China's latest stance on the environment can be called contradictory even for them. A powerful documentary on air pollution, produced with official support, went viral after it was released online only to be blocked and wiped clean on the Chinese Internet by the government days later. Then, President Xi Jinping vowed to punish "violators" who damage the environment "with an iron hand" and Premier Li Keqiang calling pollution "a blight on people's quality of life" and promising significant cuts in emissions.

Arctic Winter Ice Reaches All Time Low

Mar 14, 2015

While much of the northeastern and central United States froze to death this snowy winter, the cold chill didn't extend to the north as scientists have discovered that the winter ice levels are at record lows.

Climate Change Helped Fuel Syrian Civil War

Mar 06, 2015

By now it is pretty clear that we are beginning to experience visible effects resulting from climate change. Melting ice sheets, extreme drought and even heavy rain and snowfall can all be attributed to climate change. But one of the most terrifying results of climate change is the increased threat of war. A new study has found evidence that climate change stoked the fires and helped plunge Syria into civil war.

ESA Mars Express Orbiter Reveals Place for Caffè on Mars’ Southern Icecap

Feb 13, 2015

Thanks to some clever innovation, and one determined Italian astronaut currently stationed aboard the International Space Station, espresso and aroma of dark-roasted coffee beans has finally reached outer space. But what about the far off planet of Mars? Though the planet may be desolate, and according to current reports, completely absent of life, a new image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) looks like the red planet may have a place for caffè.

NASA Satellite Reveals ‘Cloud Streets’ Over Bering Sea

Feb 03, 2015

While NASA researchers are still waiting for the initial readings from their newest mission, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission which plans to give researchers and farmers vital information about the moisture of any given soil on the face of the Earth, another mission has its sights set on the seas this week. Releasing a new image courtesy of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite, researchers at the space agency reveal that while all may seem calm below, the clouds above the Bering Sea tell a tale much more interesting than the waters it hides.

SMAP Launch Promises New View of Earth’s Soil—From Space

Jan 31, 2015

As climate change issues intensify, and many countries face continuing droughts, NASA’s newest mission plans to offer a bit of assistance in confronting a drying Earth. Sent into orbit just this morning, Saturday Jan. 31 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission plans to give researchers and farmers vital information about the moisture of any given soil on the face of the Earth.

When It Comes to Controversy, Science and the American Public Disagree

Jan 30, 2015

While most of the general public may not want to spend their life crunching numbers or mixing chemicals in a lab, often science breaches the great divide. While there may be a few points of contention, the good news at least is that most Americans believe that science and scientists are invaluable resources for information. In fact in a new public opinion poll released yesterday by the Pew Research Center and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 79 percent of those interviewed said that they believed in the important nature of science. But when it came to controversial topics like climate change and GMOs, the stats and the public opinion were not nearly as generous.

NASA Climate Research Satellite Launch Postponed Due to Fast Winds

Jan 29, 2015

Fast winds over California postponed a NASA satellite launch today, but researchers with the space agency say that the mission is far from over. Set to launch this morning, Jan. 29, the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) spacecraft developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory may have had a setback but it still has plans to map the world in a way researchers have never done before.

SMAP Craft Set to Move to Launch Pad

Jan 27, 2015

NASA has moved the Soil Moisture Active Passive spacecraft to the launch pad in preparation for a January 29 launch, in its first ever attempt to take scientific measurements of the Earth on a global scale.

Planets Outside Our Solar System May Be More Hospitable to Life Than Originally Believed

Jan 20, 2015

A study by astrophysicists at the University of Toronto suggests that exoplanets - planets that are outside our solar system - are more likely to have liquid water, and therefore may be more hospitable to life than researchers originally thought.

Can You Really Smell When It’s About to Rain? Scientists Now Know Why

Jan 20, 2015

Do you always know before and after it rains simply because of the smell? Now, researchers have discovered the origin of the earthy, sweet smell that lingers in the air. And though scientists have been baffled by the source of this aroma, known as Petrichor, for many years now researchers from MIT have found its origin with the help of high-speed photography.

2014 Is Officially the Warmest Year on Record

Jan 18, 2015

Scientists from both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA calculated that in 2014 the world experienced its hottest year in the 135 total years of record keeping. The Japanese weather agency and an independent group from the University of California Berkeley also measured 2014 and determined it was the hottest year on record.