The discovery of planets orbiting stars other than the Sun has accelerated over the past decade, and this trend will continue as new space- and ground-based observatories employ next-generation instrumentation […]
climate
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Press Release
Ancient Plankton Help Researchers Predict Near-future Climate
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 […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Effects Of Primitive Photosynthesis On Earth's Early Climate System
The evolution of different forms of photosynthetic life has profoundly altered the activity level of the biosphere, radically reshaping the composition of Earth’s oceans and atmosphere over time. However, the […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Organic Carbon Hides In Sediments Keeping Oxygen In Earth's Atmosphere
A new study from researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Harvard University may help settle a long-standing question–how small amounts of organic carbon become locked away in […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Plankton As A Climate Driver Instead Of The Sun?
The climate history of the earth is marked by periodic changes that are usually ascribed to the solar radiation reaching the surface of the earth. This insolation is not constant […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
An Axisymmetric Limit For The Width Of The Hadley Cell On Planets With Large Obliquity And Long Seasonality
Hadley cells dominate the meridional circulation of terrestrial atmospheres. The Solar System terrestrial atmospheres, Venus, Earth, Mars and Titan, exhibit a large variety in the strength, width and seasonality of […]
Posted inPress Release, Space Weather & Heliophysics
Solar Total and Spectral Irradiance Reconstruction Over The Last 9,000 Years
Changes in solar irradiance and in its spectral distribution are among the main natural drivers of the climate on Earth. However, irradiance measurements are only available for less than four […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Rotational 'Goldilocks' Zones for Fractional Habitability and Silicate Weathering
Planetary rotation rate has a significant effect on atmospheric circulation, where the strength of the Coriolis effect in part determines the efficiency of latitudinal heat transport, altering cloud distributions, surface […]
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 inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Missing Link between Exploding Stars, Clouds, and Earth's Climate
A breakthrough in the understanding of how cosmic rays from supernovae can influence Earth’s cloud cover and thereby climate has been published in the journal Nature Communications. The study reveals […]