ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE

Climate Change Helped Fuel Syrian Civil War

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.

“Alien of the Deep” Makes Its Way to the Australian Museum

A rare sea creature found off the coast of Australia in January has finally made its way to the Australian Museum for study. The creature, a rare goblin shark often referred to as an "alien of the deep" was originally found off the coast of Australia by a fishermen that has since donated it to the museum.

Genes Show Where Penguins Called Home During the Ice Age

Surviving an Ice Age may sound like an easy task for a penguin. However, a new study of how climate change has affected emperor penguins over the last 30,000 years found that only three different populations of penguins survived during the last ice age, and the Ross Sea in Antarctica was likely the refuge for one of the populations.

Solar Activity Impacts Climate More During “Cool Periods”

New research published in the Journal Geology suggests there is a link between the activity of the sun and sea temperatures and its effects are more significant when the Earth is cooler. The sun is already known to play a part in variations of our weather but this is the first time that scientists have observed that solar activity also affects sea surface temperatures.

‘Skeletorus’ and ‘Sparklemuffin’ Species Discovered—Seriously Colorful Spiders

Add two more to the list. Not the species list, silly; the list of creatures to avoid when I’m visiting down-under. As it is, Australia has some pretty interesting, and sometimes terrifying, species unique to that region of the world. But with a new study recently published in the journal Peckhamia, researchers are adding two new arachnid species to the list. And they’re quite the colorful bunch.

How the Oceans Could Be Our Salvation from Global Warming

A new study published in the journal Science brings us closer to understanding the role our oceans play and how they have influenced our climate. Scientists hope this knowledge will help them learn how the oceans can help us cool down the planet and neutralize global warming.

Carbon Dioxide Caught Red Handed By Scientists

It is no secret that greenhouse gas emissions, and especially carbon dioxide, are on the rise much to the alarm of governments, scientists and environmentalists around the globe. These gases get their name from their effect of trapping the suns energy inside the atmosphere causing temperatures to rise. However, scientists had not directly observed this effect, until now.

DNA Evidence of Wheat Upsets Archeological History of the Crop in Early England

When British researchers went diving in Bouldnor Cliff, a submarine archaeological site near the Isle of Wight in the UK, it would fit to assume that they hadn’t quite banked on finding evidence of wheat beneath the waters. But when the researcher analyzed a core sample obtained from sealed sediments, microfossils with sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) of wheat species revealed that there might be far more to the story of the cash crop and trade in ancient Britain—perhaps even 2,000 years more than what the current history predicts.

Humpback Whale Freed From Entanglement Along Hawaiian Coast

If you were in the area of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii last week and thought that you were fortunate enough to catch a glimpse of humpback whale, you were probably right. But the sighting wasn’t such as a rare sight, with the more than 25 ton mammal acting as a sitting duck along the Big Island’s Kona Coast.

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