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Taking Measure of the Greenhouse Effect

By Guest PostOctober 15, 20101 commentEnvironment, Scienceaerosols, andrew lacis, atmosphere, carbon dioxide, climate change, climate models, climate science, clouds, CO2, CO2 emissions, computer simulations, earth, gases, gavin schmidt, goddard institute for space studies, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, heat-absorbing components, heat-trapping gas, methane, mining activities, NASA, nitrous oxide, ozone, planet, reto ruedy, ron miller, trace gases, water vapor

WASHINGTON — Scientists have long known that heat-absorbing components of Earth’s atmosphere, such as clouds and certain gases, prevent our planet from being an ice-covered ball. Now a study, for the first time, comprehensively calculates the relative contributions of the components responsible for that heating, known as the greenhouse effect.

Besides clarifying an important aspect of climate science, the study also demonstrates that rising concentrations of one heat-trapping gas — carbon dioxide — leads to much more greenhouse warming than just the heat the gas absorbs directly itself.

Various studies have looked at the contributions of water vapor, CO₂, and other greenhouse gases. But none had systematically estimated the contributions of each of the main players, says climate scientist Gavin Schmidt of NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and lead author of the new research. (more…)

Earth’s Highest Coastal Mountain on the Move

By Guest PostSeptember 20, 20101 commentScienceagustin cardona, camilo montes, caribbean sea, coastal mountain, Colombia, earth, ecopetrol energy company, geological basin, geological evolution, german ojeda, paleomagnetic, panama, peru, santa marta, sierra nevada de santa marta, smithsonian scientists, smithsonian tropical research institute, stri, volcanoes

The rocks of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta—the highest coastal mountain on Earth—tell a fascinating tale: The mountain collides and then separates from former super-continents. Volcanoes are born and die. The mountain travels from Peru to northern Colombia and finally rotates in a clockwise direction to open up an entirely new geological basin. Smithsonian scientists were part of a four-year project to study Santa Marta’s geological evolution. Their findings are published in the October 2010 special issue of the Journal of South American Earth Sciences.

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Arctic Sea Ice Reaches Lowest 2010 Extent, Third Lowest in Satellite Record

By Guest PostSeptember 17, 2010Environmentarctic sea, atmosphere, earth, greenhouse gases, ice, NASA, natural climate, satellites, serreze, shrinking arctic sea ice, snow and ice data center, university of colorado at boulder

The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest recorded since satellites began measuring sea ice extent in 1979, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center.

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New Hubble Observations of Supernova 1987A Reveal Composition of ‘Star Guts’ Pouring Out

By Guest PostSeptember 4, 20101 commentScience13.7 billion years ago, astronomer, big bang, dwarf galaxy, earth, emission, hubble repair mission, Hubble Space Telescope, kevin france, large magellanic cloud, milky way galaxy, NASA, observations, richard mccray, Space, star guts, string of pearls, supernova, supernova 1987A, university of colorado at boulder

Observations made with NASA’s newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope of a nearby supernova are allowing astronomers to measure the velocity and composition of “star guts” being ejected into space following the explosion, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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Arctic Rocks Offer New Glimpse of Primitive Earth

By Guest PostAugust 16, 2010Sciencebaffin island, baffin island lavas, baffin island rocks, canadian arctic, carnegie institution, don francis, earth, geochemical evidence, helium-3, helium-4, mantle, matthew jackson, new window, radioactive, reservoir, richard carlson, thorium, uranium

Scientists have discovered a new window into the Earth’s violent past. Geochemical evidence from volcanic rocks collected on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic suggests that beneath it lies a region of the Earth’s mantle that has largely escaped the billions of years of melting and geological churning that has affected the rest of the planet. Researchers believe the discovery offers clues to the early chemical evolution of the Earth.

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Expedition to Mid-Cayman Rise Identifies Unusual Variety of Deep Sea Vents

By Guest PostJuly 22, 2010Scienceaist, autonomous underwater vehicles, auvs, black smoker, caribbean sea, cayman trough, chris german, ctd, dana yoerger, earth, hybrid vehicle, hydrothermal vents, interior, Japan, jon copley, ko-ichi nakamura, lost city, louis whitcomb, max coleman, mcr, mid-cayman rise, NASA, nereus, north american plate, piccard and walsh, r/v cape hatteras, woods hole oceanographic institution

*Method included first use of Nereus hybrid vehicle in ‘autonomous’ mode*

The first expedition to search for deep-sea hydrothermal vents along the Mid-Cayman Rise has turned up three distinct types of hydrothermal venting, reports an interdisciplinary team led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Microsoft and NASA Bring Mars Down to Earth Through the WorldWide Telescope

By Guest PostJuly 13, 20102 commentsScience, Technologyames research center, Baltimore, california, california institute of technology, earth, energy, Environment, fay, high resolution imaging science experiment, hirise, hubble, intelligent robotics group, irg, mars, mars orbiter laser altimeter, martian surface, michael broxton, Microsoft, mola, NASA, nebula, pasadena, red planet, san josé, WorldWide Telescope

*Dramatic imagery from NASA Mars missions creates new user experiences in the Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope.*

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Research and NASA are providing an entirely new experience to users of the WorldWide Telescope, which will allow visitors to interact with and explore our solar system like never before.

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Plant’s role in global warming

By Guest PostApril 30, 2010Environment, Scienceandy mcleod, atmosphere, Bangladesh, campus, carbon dioxide, earth, forestry and agriculture, global warming, methane, moulana bhashani science and technology university, ozone, percent of earth’s emission, plants, santosh, school of geosciences, tangail, university of edinburgh

Plants remain an effective way of tackling global warming despite emitting small amounts of an important greenhouse gas, a study has shown.

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