Climate Change, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 30, 2014

Why Asia's Glaciers Are Mysteriously Expanding, Not Melting

Updated on Oct. 13 at 11:33 a.m. ET. Glaciers around the world are melting, retreating and even vanishing altogether. But in the mountainous Karakoram region of Asia — home to K2, the second-highest peak on Earth — the glaciers aren't melting. If anything, some are expanding. Now, scientists have found...

Aug 31, 2014

NASA Space Shuttle Data Tapped to Combat Climate Change

The White House is looking to data from NASA's space shuttle program to help in the fight against climate change. At the United Nations Climate Summit in New York this week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a suite of new initiatives to help people around the world prepare for drought,...

Jun 30, 2014

Who Will Save Earth? The Ingenious Human Mind (Op-Ed)

Raghu Murtugudde is executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Forecasting System at the University of Maryland Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center (ESSIC) and a professor in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science. Murtugudde contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. I wake up every morning...

Apr 30, 2014

Massive Citizen-Powered Climate Simulation Links Winter Floods to Global Warming (Op-Ed)

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Britain’s warm, wet winter brought floods and misery to many living across southern England, with large parts of Somerset lying underwater for months. When in January rainfall was double...

Feb 28, 2014

Greenland Ice Sheet Loses Its Last Grip

Greenland is losing the battle against rising air and ocean temperatures, a new study finds. The last bulwark to fall is the northeast corner of the Greenland Ice Sheet, which started shrinking rapidly in 2003, according to a new study. My guess is this is a new record for Greenland,...

Oct 31, 2015

U.S. Agencies Agree: October Was Crazy Warm

On the heels of the news from NASA that October’s global temperature this year spiked more than any other month in 135 years, virtually assuring that 2015 will be the warmest year on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Wednesday that their data showed similarly remarkable numbers. The...

Jul 31, 2015

Why California's Droughts are Just Going to Get Worse (Op-Ed)

Jeremy Proville, senior GIS specialist and economic analyst at Environmental Defense Fund, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. California is now well into its fourth consecutive year of drought. This is not without consequences. Tensions in the state have mounted as urban and agricultural water...

May 31, 2015

Real Climate Change as World Does More Than 'Show Up' (Op-Ed)

Lynn Scarlett, managing director of public policy at The Nature Conservancy, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Actor and comedian Woody Allen is often quoted as saying 80 percent of life is showing up. During the past 20 years, the United Nation's (UN) annual climate...

Dec 31, 2014

Lake Erie Dead Zone: Don't Blame the Slime!

Lake Erie's ecological calamities occur under different conditions, a new study finds. The lake's central dead zones are most strongly linked to drought years, when rivers that bring water into the lake run lower, researchers reported today (Jan. 6) in the journal Environmental Science & Toxicology. Conversely, the toxic algae...

Dec 31, 2014

New Lakes Discovered Under Greenland's Ice Hint at Warming

The discovery of two large lakes hidden beneath Greenland's ice suggests that climate change now cuts all the way to the bottom of the ice sheet, according to two new studies. The lakes, on opposite coasts, were only spotted because meltwater from Greenland's surface triggered gushing floods in the fall...

Dec 31, 2014

Americans Will Vote for Climate-Loving Politicians, New Poll Suggests

Most Americans support government action to combat the effects of global warming and will likely vote for candidates who put forth a promising stance on environmental issues, a new poll has found. The telephone poll — conducted by The New York Times, Stanford University and the nonpartisan environmental research group...

Nov 30, 2016

Unfrozen: Greenland Was Once Ice-Free for 280,000 Years

More than a million years ago, frosty Greenland was ice-free, its bare bedrock exposed for 280,000 years, researchers have found. During this exposed stint, the island's overall ice cover could have dropped by more than 90 percent, the scientists reported today (Dec. 7) in the journal Nature. Previous studies have...

Nov 30, 2016

Cold War-Era Satellites Spy on Himalayan Glaciers

SAN FRANCISCO — The Cold War may have ended decades ago, but spy satellites' data from that era are now being used for a new mission: tracking environmental change in the Himalayas. Using declassified spy satellite data, researchers have created 3D images of glaciers across the Himalayas, scientists said. These...

Mar 31, 2016

Earth Gets Greener as Globe Gets Hotter

The excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has created a greener planet, a new NASA study shows. Around the world, areas that were once icebound, barren or sandy are now covered in green foliage. All told, carbon emissions have fueled greening in an area about twice the size of the...

Feb 29, 2016

Arctic Sea Ice Is at Near Record Lows, NASA Says

The ice covering the Arctic is at near record lows this year, and this icy deficit may impact weather around the world, NASA reports. Every March, the Arctic's sea ice reaches its maximum cover, both in area and thickness, before it recedes to its yearly minimum in September. Live Science...