It’s a treasure trove of data: the global geodatabase of vegetation plots “sPlotOpen” is now freely accessible. It contains data on vegetation from 114 countries and from all climate zones […]
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Neptune
Possibilities for an Aerial Biosphere in Temperate Sub Neptune-Sized Exoplanet Atmospheres
The search for signs of life through the detection of exoplanet atmosphere biosignature gases is gaining momentum. Yet, only a handful of rocky exoplanet atmospheres are suitable for observation with […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
Microbes In Earth's Ocean Play An Important Role In Moderating Earth's Temperature
Methane is a strong greenhouse gas that plays a key role in Earth’s climate. Anytime we use natural gas, whether we light up our kitchen stove or barbeque, we are […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
Extreme CO2 Greenhouse Effect Heated Up The Young Earth
Very high atmospheric CO2 levels can explain the high temperatures on the still young Earth three to four billion years ago. At the time, our Sun shone with only 70 […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
An Ancient Volcanic Eruption Destroyed Earth's Ozone Layer
A catastrophic drop in atmospheric ozone levels around the tropics is likely to have contributed to a bottleneck in the human population around 60 to 100,000 years ago, an international […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Icy Worlds, Neptune, Press Release, Uranus
Deep Water On Neptune And Uranus May Be Magnesium-rich
While scientists have amassed considerable knowledge of the rocky planets in our solar system, like Earth and Mars, much less is known about the icy water-rich planets, Neptune and Uranus. […]
Posted inAriel Mission, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Ariel: Enabling Planetary Science Across Light-years
Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, was adopted as the fourth medium-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme to be launched in 2029.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
Triggering A Climate Change Dominated "Anthropocene": Is It Common Among Exocivilizations?
We seek to model the coupled evolution of a planet and a civilization through the era when energy harvesting by the civilization drives the planet into new and adverse climate […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
The Physics of Falling Raindrops in Diverse Planetary Atmospheres
The evolution of a single raindrop falling below a cloud is governed by fluid dynamics and thermodynamics fundamentally transferable to planetary atmospheres beyond modern Earth’s. Here, we show how three […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return
Astrobiologist Kennda Lynch Uses Analogs On Earth to Find Life On Mars
If we find life on the Red Planet, we’ll have astrobiologists like Dr. Kennda Lynch to thank. Lynch is an astrobiologist and geomicrobiologist studying life in extreme environments on Earth […]