Scientists have delivered the first measurements of Greenland Ice Sheet thickness change using data from ESA and NASA ice satellite missions.

With global warming causing the Greenland Ice Sheet to melt and flow more rapidly, raising sea levels and disturbing weather patterns across our planet, precise measurements of its changing shape are of critical importance for tracking and adapting to the effects of climate warming.

CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 – the ESA and NASA ice satellite missions – both carry altimeters as their primary sensor, but they make use of different technologies – radar and laser – to collect their measurements. The missions are therefore highly complementary, and combining their measurements has been a holy grail for polar science.

An Osaka Metropolitan University research team has revealed that to use the aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system safely over the long term it is crucial to investigate the groundwater quality before operating the system and to continuously monitor the water quality.

Fossilized skeletons and shells clearly show how evolution and extinction unfolded over the past half a billion years, but a new Virginia Tech analysis extends the chart of life to nearly 2 billion years ago. The chart shows the relative ups and downs in species counts, telling scientists about the origin, diversification, and extinction of ancient life. With this new study, the chart of life now includes life forms from the Proterozoic Eon, 2,500 million to 539 million years ago. Proterozoic life was generally smaller and squishier — like sea sponges that didn’t develop mineral skeletons — and left fewer traces to fossilize in the first place.  

A groundbreaking achievement by scientists at the University of Houston is changing our understanding of climate and weather on Mars and providing critical insights into Earth’s atmospheric processes as well.

La Brea Tar Pits scientists have identified a previously unknown juniper species to the La Brea Tar Pits as Juniperus scopulorum, commonly known as the Rocky Mountain juniper. The successful identification, along with the first-ever radiocarbon dating of these fossil plants in Southern California, expands our ability to track past environmental changes and highlights the vulnerability of junipers and the environments they shape in the face of modern climate change. Published in the journal New Phytologist, the study unlocks a key finding to understanding the megafaunal extinction at the Tar Pits and better understanding our own climate future. 

Andean bears carefully select the best foraging locations and plants to maximize nutrition and avoid livestock, according to a study publishing December 18, 2024, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Nicholas Pilfold at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in California, U.S., and colleagues.

A recent Colorado State University study demonstrates that climate change can affect the frequency of earthquakes, adding to a small but growing body of evidence showing that climate can alter the seismic cycle.