Global warming tipping point could trigger ice age
Temperatures in Western Europe could fall by 5 to 10 degrees Celsius over the course of the century. While this may sound good in an era of rising temperatures around the world, such a climate event would have devastating consequences for agriculture. As one climate scientist told Inside Climate News, it would be like “trying to grow potatoes in Northern Norway.” According to Slate, other places (such as Norway) will simply become too cold for human habitation.
New natural sources of greenhouse gases and associated climate control technologies
Layers of methane are locked under permafrost in Arctic regions, but if they were released it could cause problems for the rest of the world. Researchers also discovered intense methane emissions deep in the Baltic Sea. Methane can be a real problem for the environment. The greenhouse gas, made up of carbon and hydrogen and about 80 percent more potent than carbon dioxide, occurs naturally in sedimentary layers of the seafloor and is responsible for about 30 percent of global temperature rise.
Climate control technologies and critical points of no return are on the agenda
Experts examined the problem of so-called critical points, in which the behavior of natural systems changes in an unpredictable way. According to one hypothesis, if the atmosphere overheats, the collapse of the Gulf Stream and the death of the Amazon forests, an important carbon dioxide sink, are possible. The threshold is unknown, but as noted in the report, the likelihood of crossing it increases.
The Government of the Russian Federation has approved an action plan for adaptation to climate change. February was the warmest on record
The message on the approval of the national action plan for the second stage of adaptation to climate change was published on the website of the Government of the Russian Federation. February 2024 on Earth became the warmest on record. Sea ice on both the top and bottom of the planet continued to decline in 2024.
Global warming leads to a change in the speed of rotation of the Earth and a change in the length of the day
The melting of polar ice leads to a change in the planet’s rotation speed, which in turn affects the global calculation of time, a study from the University of California showed, reports the scientific journal Nature. Geophysicists from the University of California have found evidence that the slowing rotation of the Earth’s core, combined with the melting of the Antarctic and Greenland glaciers, will lead to the fact that in 2029, humanity will have to shorten, rather than increase, the length of the day for the first time.
The Arctic could become ice-free in the 2030s, Antarctica and Greenland are melting at record rates
The Arctic will be ice-free within a decade during the summer months. A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder says the Arctic could become ice-free in August or September as early as the 2020s or 2030s. The Arctic could then remain ice-free for nine months of the year, as predicted by worst-case climate scenarios. This is largely due to the fact that sea ice, which reflects solar radiation, melts into the open ocean, which absorbs solar radiation.
Global warming has accelerated 4 times compared to expectations and the Paris Agreement
Faster warming in the Arctic will result in a global temperature rise of 2° being reached 8 years earlier than if the region had warmed at the global average, UCL researchers have found. The Arctic is currently warming almost 4 times faster than the global average.
2023 was the warmest year on record
According to NASA analysis, the average surface temperature of the Earth in 2023 was the highest on record. Global temperatures last year were about 2.1 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) above the average for NASA’s baseline period (1951-1980), scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York reported.
Antarctica: Humanity still has time to prepare for rapidly rising sea levels
Antarctica’s glaciers are melting at a catastrophic rate, but humanity still has time to prepare for rapidly rising sea levels. An international team of oceanologists has discovered that quite strong and warm currents move through large cracks in the bases of Antarctic sea glaciers, which accelerate the process of melting of these ice masses, preventing the continental glaciers of Antarctica from quickly “sliding” into the sea. The retreat of Antarctic glaciers due to rising summer temperatures has led to the melting of ancient mosses. Fossil mosses, buried under ice for several thousand years, became accessible to microorganisms and became a source of the greenhouse gas methane.
Getting closer to Jurassic Park – Harvard scientists clone mammoths
The woolly mammoth shares 99.6% of its DNA with the Asian elephant, leading scientists to believe they are well on their way to achieving their goal. “In the minds of many, this animal has disappeared forever. But not in the minds of our scientists and not in the laboratories of our company. We are already in the process of resurrecting the woolly mammoth. Our teams have collected viable DNA samples and are editing genes that will allow this remarkable megafauna to roam the Arctic again.” The long-extinct woolly mammoth will return from oblivion by 2027, according to Colossal, a biotech company actively working on the reincarnation of the ancient beast.
Glaciers in northern Greenland have shrunk by more than a third in volume, and Greenland was ice-free a million years ago
Even if the world stopped emitting greenhouse gases today, the ice sheet would lose more than 110 trillion tons of ice, causing global sea levels to rise by nearly 30 cm. Greenland currently contains enough ice to raise sea levels by about 7 meters. Complete melting of the ice sheet will not happen in our lifetime, but the potential consequences for future generations will be catastrophic.
Scientists observe increased amounts of salt in water bodies
The global salt cycle in nature is disrupted, which leads to salinization of fresh water, and the distribution of salt by ocean currents plays a role in regulating surface water temperature and sea level.
The average tropopause heights of the Earth’s atmosphere have changed
The tropopause is a powerful retaining layer that prevents the vertical transport of aerosols and water vapor. The height of the tropopause is increasing due to climate change.
The Earth’s South Pole is melting and cracking, and many new faults have opened in recent years
The Glenzer-Conger Glacier collapsed in East Antarctica, an area long considered stable and not greatly affected by climate change.
Anomalous temperatures were simultaneously recorded in the Arctic and Antarctica
Simultaneous significant warming was recorded at the North and South poles of the planet – the temperature at the Antarctic Concordia station, located at an altitude of 3234 meters above sea level, reached −12.2°C the day before, which is 40°C above average.
Warming continues to accelerate on its own
The accumulation of sea salt and the seepage of warm, salty seawater under ice sheets as glaciers melt accelerate the warming process.
A database of the sea coasts of the Russian Arctic has been created, and plans include a digital model of the World Ocean
More than sixty percent of Russia is permafrost zone. More than 15 million people live in this territory, and there is an infrastructure developed that is not found anywhere else in the world on permafrost soils.
Global warming is accelerating itself
On the Pacific islands, entire cities are retreating inland under the pressure of water. Melting permafrost is changing landscapes, destroying animal habitats, releasing carbon and releasing dangerous microorganisms that have been trapped in the ice for millennia.
Extremely high temperatures occur in half of the world’s oceans
At the end of the 19th century, only 2% of the ocean surface experienced extremely high temperatures, so-called “heat waves.” In 2019, “heat waves” were already observed on 57% of the ocean surface.
The Greenland ice sheet preserves the impact crater of a two-kilometer asteroid and ancient vegetation
The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest on Earth after the Antarctic Ice Sheet and covers 1.5 million square meters, with ice depths reaching 3,000 meters
Tropical Pacific heat waves spread to mid- and polar latitudes
Abnormal July 2021: record heat in the Northern Hemisphere and record cold in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth.
Melting ice contributes to the shift of the Earth’s poles and tropical zones
The Earth’s poles have already shifted by four meters, and this process will continue in the future. Scientists believe the reasons for the displacement are melting glaciers and excessive consumption of groundwater.
Researchers predict methane explosions, fires and thunderstorms in the Arctic and tundra
Methane explosions can affect the climate of the entire planet. Hundreds of millions of tons of methane may be hidden under the ocean floor, which is currently contained by the “cap” of the permafrost zone.
Global warming contributes to severe storms and floods
The World Meteorological Organization warns that high water temperatures are leading to rising sea levels, which in turn increases the risk of flooding.
Seasons have shifted by about 10-20 days
The Main Geophysical Observatory named after Voeikov confirmed the shift of seasons by a month due to climate change.
By the middle of the 21st century, Arctic ice may completely melt in summer
The planet’s “refrigerator” has broken down. The Arctic Ocean will be completely free of summer ice by 2030. This assumption was put forward by scientists in connection with the noticeable warming of the Arctic Ocean and the melting of Arctic ice.