Climate change Archives

Making a digital Twin of Earth -- Astrobiology.com

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Creating A Digital Twin Of A Planet’s Weather: Earth

by Keith CowingMarch 6, 2024March 6, 2024

New ‘digital twin’ Earth technology could help predict water-based natural disasters before they strike

A Schematic for viral participations in key MMP steps via encoding seven AMGs that exclusively participate in MMP. Viruses encoded seven AMGs (fwdF, fae, frhB, cofE, cofF, mtrA, and pmoC; as colored in purple text) to impact the key steps in both methane production and oxidation. The methanogenesis pathway from CO2 to methane is indicated by orange arrows. More information for 17 additional AMGs that could potentially participate in both MMP and other types of metabolism pathways is provided in Supplementary Figs. S1, S2, and Data 5. -- Nature Communications

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Microbial Viruses Act As Secret Drivers Of Planetary Climate Change

by Keith CowingMarch 3, 2024March 3, 2024

In a new study, scientists have discovered that viruses that infect microbes contribute to climate change by playing a key role in cycling methane, a potent greenhouse gas, through the […]

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Press Release

Global Deep Freeze Periods During Snowball Earth Events

by Keith CowingFebruary 19, 2024February 19, 2024

A Yale-led research team has picked a side in the “Snowball Earth” debate over the possible cause of planet-wide deep freeze events that occurred in the distant past.

The Pacific Ocean As Seen From Space -- NASA

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Oxygen Increased In Earth’s Tropical Ocean During The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

by Editor PostedFebruary 16, 2024August 19, 2024

Oxygenation in the tropical North Pacific Ocean increased during a warm climatic interval that occurred roughly 56 million years ago, despite high global temperatures, according to a new study.

During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum recorded in marine sediments, nitrogen isotopes and body size of microfossils reveal an increase in the oxygenation of the tropical ocean. The magnifier shows the foraminifera fossils. International Ocean Discovery Program and Simone Moretti

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Searching For Clues In The History Book Of Earth’s Oceans

by Keith CowingFebruary 16, 2024February 16, 2024

Oxygen is fundamental to sustaining life on Earth. The ocean gets its oxygen from its uppermost layers in contact with the atmosphere. As our planet continues to warm, the ocean […]

Illustration of the uncertainty of Earth's orbit 56 million years ago due to a potential past passage of the Sun-like star HD7977 2.8 million years ago. Each point's distance from the center corresponds to the degree of ellipticity of Earth's orbit, and the angle corresponds to the direction pointing to Earth's perihelion, or closest approach distance to the Sun. 100 different simulations (each with a unique color) are sampled every 1,000 years for 600,000 years to construct this figure. Every simulation is consistent with the modern Solar System's conditions, and the differences in orbital predictions are primarily due to orbital chaos and the past encounter with HD 7977. Credit: N. Kaib/PSI.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Stellar Cartography: Passing Stars Altered Orbital Changes For Earth And Other Planets

by Keith CowingFebruary 15, 2024February 15, 2024

Stars that pass by our Solar System have altered the long-term orbital evolution of planets, including Earth, and by extension modified our climate.

Magnification: 160x, bright field (negative image), stacked image Fundort / Site: Barbados Alter / Age: approx. 32-35 million years (late Eocene - early Oligocene) Präparation / Preparation: Andreas Drews Radiolarians are unicellulars of diameter 0.1–0.2 mm that produce intricate mineral skeletons, typically with a central capsule dividing the cell into the inner and outer portions of endoplasm and ectoplasm.The elaborate mineral skeleton is usually made of silica. They are found as zooplankton throughout the ocean, and their skeletal remains make up a large part of the cover of the ocean floor as siliceous ooze. Due to their rapid turn-over of species, they represent an important diagnostic fossil found from the Cambrian onwards. -- Wikipedia

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Stellar Cartography, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Cosmic Radiation Drives Quasi-periodic Changes In The Diversity Of Siliceous Marine Microplankton

by Keith CowingFebruary 15, 2024

Radiolarians are significant contributors to the oceanic primary productivity and the global silica cycle in the last 500 Myr. Their diversity throughout the Phanerozoic shows periodic fluctuations.

The standard deviation of Earth’s orbital eccentricity is plotted against time for 100 back-integrations of solar system clones. Four batches of solar system simulations are run. Two only consider the Sun, its eight planets, and Pluto (blue lines), and the other two (orange lines) also include 5 large asteroids: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Iris, and Bamberga. Half of our batches also perturb the solar system with passing field stars (dashed lines), while the others do not include this perturbation (solid lines). -- astro-ph.EP

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Status Report, Stellar Cartography

Passing Stars As An Important Driver of Paleoclimate And The Solar System’s Orbital Evolution

by Keith CowingFebruary 15, 2024February 15, 2024

Reconstructions of the paleoclimate indicate that ancient climatic fluctuations on Earth are often correlated with variations in its orbital elements.

Snowball Earth - Artist's concept - NASA.gov

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

What Turned Earth Into A Giant Snowball 700 Million Years Ago?

by Keith CowingFebruary 8, 2024February 9, 2024

Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modelling to determine what most likely caused an extreme ice-age climate in Earth’s history, more than 700 million years ago.