The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawai’i recently recorded the highest concentration of carbon dioxide, or CO2, levels in human history. In fact, the last time CO2 levels surpassed 400 parts […]
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release
A Family Of Comets Reopens The Debate About the Origin Of Earth's Water
Where did the Earth’s water come from? Although comets, with their icy nuclei, seem like ideal candidates, analyses have so far shown that their water differs from that in our […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Press Release
Abrupt Global Events In The Earth's History: A Physics Perspective
The timeline of the Earth’s history reveals quasi-periodicity of the geological record over the last 542 Myr, on timescales close, in the order of magnitude, to 1 Myr. What is […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Press Release
Long-Term Cyclicities in Phanerozoic Sea-Level Sedimentary Record and their Potential Drivers
Cyclic sedimentation has varied at several timescales and this variability has been geologically well documented at Milankovitch timescales, controlled in part by climatically (insolation) driven sea-level changes. At the longer […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Atmospheric Tides In Earth-like Planets
Atmospheric tides can strongly affect the rotational dynamics of planets. In the family of Earth-like planets, such as Venus, this physical mechanism coupled with solid tides makes the angular velocity […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Milankovitch Cycles of Terrestrial Planets in Binary Star Systems
The habitability of planets in binary star systems depends not only on the radiation environment created by the two stars, but also on the perturbations to planetary orbits and rotation […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Press Release
Early Earth's Air Weighed Less Than Half of Today's Atmosphere
The idea that the young Earth had a thicker atmosphere turns out to be wrong. New research from the University of Washington uses bubbles trapped in 2.7 billion-year-old rocks to […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Sample Return
Hydrothermal Systems Show Spectrum of Extreme Life on Earth
The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the most inhospitable places on Earth. Hydrothermal system at the Danakil Depression. The yellow deposits are a variety of sulphates and the […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
SET-E: The Search for Extraterrestrial Environmentalism
There is currently no evidence for life on any known exoplanet. Here, we propose a form of “galactic anthropology” to detect not only the existence of life on transiting exoplanets, […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Moon, Press Release
Phase of the Moon affects Amount of Rainfall
When the moon is high in the sky, it creates bulges in the planet’s atmosphere that creates imperceptible changes in the amount of rain that falls below.