Warm | Common News Update

Mar292020 by adminNo Comments

Whales face more fatal ship collisions as waters warm

Technology

PORTLAND, Maine -- Climate change is imperiling the world's largest animals by increasing the likelihood of fatal collisions between whales and big ships that ply the same waters. Warming ocean temperatures are causing some species of whales in pursuit of food to stray more frequently into shipping lanes, scientists say. The phenomenon already has increased ship strikes involving rare North Atlantic right whales on the East Coast and giant blue whales on the West Coast, researchers say. The number of strikes off California increased threefold in 2018 — to at least 10 — compared to previous years. When whales are killed in a ship collision, they often sink and don't always wash ashore. So scientists and conservationists say fatal ship strikes are dramatically under-reported. Vessels strik...

Feb42020 by adminNo Comments

Hot pots helped ancient Siberian hunters stay alive, warm

Science

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Without heat-resistant pots, ancient Siberian hunters might have disappeared during the last ice age. According to a new study, these hardy humans survived the frigid temps with the help of hot pots. For the new study, scientists extracted and analyzed fats and lipids from some of the oldest pieces of pottery in the world, fragments sourced from dig sites across Russia and ranging in age from 12,000 to 16,000 years old. The research, published over the weekend in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, suggests hunters living in Siberia as early 16,000 years ago were using clay pots resistant to heat. The technology would have allowed ancient hunters to take advantage of a variety of nutritional resources. "This study illustrates the exciting potential of new methods in a...

Jan132020 by adminNo Comments

Mars loses water to space during warm, stormy seasons

Science

Jan. 10 (UPI) -- All kinds of geological formations on Mars, alluvial fans, dry lake beds and eroded river valleys, suggest the Red Planet once hosted an abundance of water. Today, the water is mostly gone. What's left is largely locked up in the planet's polar ice caps. Scientists have been trying to figure out where all the water went and how fast it disappeared. New research, published this week in the journal Science, suggests Mars' seasonality may have dictated the rate at which water vapor was able to escape from the atmosphere and into space. In addition to the water trapped in the Red Planet's ice caps, trace amounts of water vapor persist in the Martian atmosphere. If these tiny water crystals rise high enough into the atmosphere, they can dissipate into space. To better underst...

Dec272019 by adminNo Comments

Climate change: Migrant species do well in warm and wet UK in 2019

Science

It's been a good year for migrant butterflies, moths and dragonflies in the UK, according to a review of 2019 by the National Trust. The charity says warm and wet weather saw the biggest influx of painted lady butterflies in a decade. But the impacts of drought and wildfires in some parts mean it's not been a good year for natterjack toads and water voles.The fires saw the habitats of mountain hares impacted as well. The changeable nature of the weather in 2019 meant there were mixed outcomes for species around the country. The warm spells in the earlier part of the year saw lots of moths, butterflies and dragonflies from Europe arrive en masse. Chief among them was the painted lady butterfly. This orange and black spotted specie...

Oct222019 by adminNo Comments

Warm air shrinks ozone hole to smallest size on record

Science

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The ozone hole is the smallest its been since scientists first began monitoring the human-caused phenomenon in 1982. After reaching an annual maximum measuring 6.3 million square miles in early September, the smallest maximum ever, the ozone hole quickly shrank. By early October, the ozone hole measured 3.9 million square miles. Scientists expect the hole to continue to dissipate in the coming weeks before closing completely -- for now. In a pair of news releases published Monday, scientists at NASA and NOAA confirmed that the ozone hole was the smallest in recorded history. Weather systems near the South Pole triggered an influx of warm air into the stratosphere during September and October, curbing the depletion of ozone gas. Similar climate patterns produced unusually...