http://www.physorg.com/space-news/earth-sciences/ en-us PhysOrg.com provides the latest news on earth science, astronomy and space exploration. (PhysOrg.com) -- A research team led by the University of Colorado at Boulder has found a clever way to use traditional GPS satellite signals to measure snow depth as well as soil and vegetation moisture, a technique expected to benefit meteorologists, water resource managers, climate modelers and farmers. http://www.physorg.com/news177948533.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:20:07 EST news177948533 Scientists from the Marine Biogeochemistry and Geology and Geophysics sections of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) organized and led a team of university and government scientists on an Arctic expedition to initiate methane hydrate exploration in the Beaufort Sea and determine the spatial variation of sediment contribution to Arctic climate change. http://www.physorg.com/news177948181.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:08:11 EST news177948181 From a devastating food crisis in Guatemala to water cuts in Venezuela, El Nino has compounded drought damage across Latin America this year. http://www.physorg.com/news177921078.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:50:11 EST news177921078 Arnie Miller, University of Cincinnati professor of paleontology in the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences, and co-author Michael Foote of the University of Chicago publish their research in the Nov. 20 issue of Science with their paper, "Epicontinental Seas Versus Open-Ocean Settings: The Kinetics of Mass Extinction and Origination." http://www.physorg.com/news177873594.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:23:28 EST news177873594 (PhysOrg.com) -- Much of our planet's mineral wealth was deposited billions of years ago when Earth's chemical cycles were different from today's. Using geochemical clues from rocks nearly 3 billion years old, a group of scientists including Andrey Bekker and Doug Rumble from the Carnegie Institution have made the surprising discovery that the creation of economically important nickel ore deposits was linked to sulfur in the ancient oxygen-poor atmosphere. http://www.physorg.com/news177863954.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:30:01 EST news177863954 (PhysOrg.com) -- Roughly 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, North America's vast assemblage of large animals -- including such iconic creatures as mammoths, mastodons, camels, horses, ground sloths and giant beavers -- began their precipitous slide to extinction. http://www.physorg.com/news177864298.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:45:49 EST news177864298 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis of ice core records suggests that Antarctic temperatures may have been up to 6°C warmer than the present day. http://www.physorg.com/news177773495.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:32:16 EST news177773495 The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial era suggests the oceans are struggling to keep up with rising emissions -- a finding with potentially wide implications for future climate. The study appears in this week's issue of the journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news177772960.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:23:43 EST news177772960 Anja has continued to weaken over the last 24 hours, and NASA's QuikScat satellite has confirmed that the once mighty Category 4 Cyclone is now a tropical storm in the southern Indian Ocean. Two instruments on NASA's Aqua satellite have also helped forecasters determine Anja's location and change of shape. http://www.physorg.com/news177765379.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:17:36 EST news177765379 (PhysOrg.com) -- El Nino, a warming event of the tropical Pacific Ocean that affects weather patterns in the United States and elsewhere, has strengthened in recent months and already appears to have influenced Colorado's fall weather, says Klaus Wolter, an atmospheric scientist with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.physorg.com/news177701606.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:50:07 EST news177701606 This morning, Cyclone Anja was a powerful Category 4 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Wind shear has now giving Anja a strong "punch in the gut" as the storm has weakened to a Category 1 cyclone. http://www.physorg.com/news177693888.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:40:02 EST news177693888 PIC=32536:left]Increasing temperatures at high altitudes are fueling the post-1950 growth spurt seen in bristlecone pines, the world's oldest trees, according to new research. http://www.physorg.com/news177608541.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:30:01 EST news177608541 NASA's Terra satellite captured a stunning image of Anja, the first tropical cyclone of the southern Hemisphere cyclone season. When Anja formed on Saturday, November 14, in the Southern Indian Ocean, about 330 miles south-southwest of Diego Garcia it was designated Tropical Cyclone 01S ("S" for south). By Sunday, November 15, 01S had strengthened into a tropical storm and was named Anja. http://www.physorg.com/news177606562.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:10:02 EST news177606562 A dangerous level of carbon dioxide and methane gas haunts Lake Kivu, the freshwater lake system bordering Rwanda and the Republic of Congo. http://www.physorg.com/news177606996.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:50:02 EST news177606996 The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as "TRMM" has the ability to measure rainfall from space, and assessed the heavy rainfall from last week's coastal low pressure area, formerly known as "Ida" that drenched the U.S. east coast. http://www.physorg.com/news177606500.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:20:07 EST news177606500 The Antarctic system comprises of the continent itself, Antarctica, and the ocean surrounding it, the Southern Ocean. In a study for a doctoral degree by geophysicist Kai Rasmus, University of Helsinki, Finland, measurements were made during three Austral summers to study the optical properties of the Antarctic system and to produce radiation information for additional modeling studies. http://www.physorg.com/news177597461.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:38:39 EST news177597461 Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren. http://www.physorg.com/news177515344.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:53:30 EST news177515344 Taiwan plans to build its first undersea seismic station, designed to improve the island's early warning system and save valuable seconds when earthquakes strike, officials said. http://www.physorg.com/news177493478.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:46:26 EST news177493478 A state-of-the-art underwater robot called BOB may hold the key to protecting millions of people around Turkey's biggest city against a massive earthquake scientists say is all but inevitable. http://www.physorg.com/news177394319.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Sat, 14 Nov 2009 04:40:01 EST news177394319 Satellite imagery and weather ground station readings today along the Mid-Atlantic indicate "Ida the coastal low pressure area" is finally moving away from the U.S. east coast. http://www.physorg.com/news177359826.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:03 EST news177359826 Cyclone Phyan broke a 43 year record when it made landfall north of the city of Mumbai, India during the evening hours on November 11. NASA's Aqua satellite captured Phyan's landfall with one instrument, and a day later, another of Aqua's instruments show the storm's remnants raining Tibet as Phyan continues to dissipate. http://www.physorg.com/news177359486.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:32:30 EST news177359486 The coastal low, formerly known as Ida, is currently quasi-stationary off the North Carolina coast, adding more rain on top of what it has already brought. The low is creating serious flooding from northeast North Carolina to coastal Virginia. http://www.physorg.com/news177325804.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:20:01 EST news177325804 (PhysOrg.com) -- The latest image from the U.S./French Jason-2 satellite finds a strong wave of warm water heading toward the Americas, fueling El Nino. http://www.physorg.com/news177322493.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:15:31 EST news177322493 Russia, the world's largest country, has grown even larger recently thanks to an earthquake and a volcanic eruption in its seismically active far eastern regions, a scientist said on Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news177311648.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:14:50 EST news177311648 Scientists from NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have been using Pavilion Lake as a testing ground for the future human exploration of other worlds. http://www.physorg.com/news177269052.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:40:03 EST news177269052 Satellite observations and a state-of-the art regional atmospheric model have independently confirmed that the Greenland ice sheet is loosing mass at an accelerating rate, reports a new study in Science. http://www.physorg.com/news177258173.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:23:32 EST news177258173 Alberta is crisscrossed with hidden glacial valleys that hold both resource treasures and potential danger. University of Alberta researcher Doug Schmitt discovered a 300 metre deep, valley hidden beneath the surface of the ground near the community of Rainbow Lake in northwestern Alberta. http://www.physorg.com/news177254204.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:40:01 EST news177254204 Spurred by a warming climate, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows over the last decade across the continental United States, new research shows. The ratio of record highs to lows is likely to increase dramatically in coming decades if emissions of greenhouse gases continue to climb. http://www.physorg.com/news177254019.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:14:32 EST news177254019 Sea Education Association (SEA) is preparing to conduct the first-ever research expedition dedicated solely to examining the accumulation of plastic marine debris in the North Atlantic Ocean. http://www.physorg.com/news177253062.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:00:08 EST news177253062 The calculation of variations in the sea level is relatively simple. It is by far more complicated to then determine the change in the water mass. A team of geodesists and oceanographers from the University of Bonn, as well as from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and the Alfred-Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Sciences, two centres of the Helmholtz Association, have now, for the first time succeeded in doing this. The researchers were able to observe short-term fluctuations in the spatial distribution of the ocean water masses. Their results are, amongst others, important for improved climate models. http://www.physorg.com/news177250706.html Space & Earth - Earth Sciences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:40:01 EST news177250706