Ice Ages News

May 21, 2025

Top Headlines

Clouding the Forecast: Study Reveals Why So Many Climate Models Are Wrong About the Rate of Arctic Warming

May 20, 2025 — The Arctic is one of the coldest places on Earth, but in recent decades, the region has been rapidly warming, at a rate three to four times faster than the global average. However, current climate ...

Research Team Traces Evolutionary History of Bacterial Circadian Clock on Ancient Earth

May 20, 2025 — To better understand the circadian clock in modern-day cyanobacteria, a research team has studied ancient timekeeping systems. They examined the oscillation of the clock proteins KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC ...

Glaciers Will Take Centuries to Recover Even If Global Warming Is Reversed, Scientists Warn

May 19, 2025 — New research reveals mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries -- even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5 C limit, having exceeded ...

Rising Temperatures Lead to Unexpectedly Rapid Carbon Release from Soils

May 16, 2025 — How sensitively does organic carbon stored in soils react to changes in temperature and ...

Latest Headlines

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Ancient Ocean Sediments Link Changes in Currents to Cooling of Northern Hemisphere 3.6 Million Years Ago

May 16, 2025 — New research from an international group looking at ancient sediment cores in the North Atlantic has for the first time shown a strong correlation ...

Sharp Depletion in Soil Moisture Drives Land Water to Flow Into Oceans, Contributing to Sea Level Rise

May 14, 2025 — The increasing frequency of once-in-a-decade agricultural and ecological drought has underscored the urgency of studying hydrological changes. A ...

Satellites Observe Glacier Committing 'Ice Piracy'

May 8, 2025 — A glacier in Antarctica is committing 'ice piracy' -- stealing ice from a neighbor -- in a phenomenon that has never been observed in such a short time frame, say ...

Waxing and Waning Prairie: New Study Unravels Causes of Ancient Climate Changes

May 8, 2025 — A long period of drought in North America has been recognized by scientists for decades. A new study links the severe climate to a change in Earth's ...

All of the Biggest U.S. Cities Are Sinking

May 8, 2025 — A new study of the 28 most populous U.S. cities finds that all are sinking to one degree or another. The cities include not just those on the coasts, where relative sea level is a concern, but many ...

Loss of Sea Ice Alters the Colors of Light in the Ocean

May 2, 2025 — The disappearance of sea ice in polar regions due to global warming not only increases the amount of light entering the ocean, but also changes its color. These changes have far-reaching consequences ...

Biological Particles May Be Crucial for Inducing Heavy Rain

May 5, 2025 — Atmospheric and climate scientists show that biological particles may induce rain events that could contribute to flooding and snowstorms, owing to their ability to precipitate ice formation in ...

Elephant Instead of Wild Boar? What Could Have Been in Europe

Apr. 28, 2025 — Even under today's climatic conditions, the long-extinct straight-tusked elephant could still live in Europe. This is the conclusion of a recent study. For this finding, the research group combined ...

'Cryosphere Meltdown' Will Impact Arctic Marine Carbon Cycles and Ecosystems, New Study Warns

Apr. 25, 2025 — A new study has found worrying signs that climate change may be undermining the capacity of Arctic fjords to serve as effective carbon sinks. The ...

How to Break Through Climate Apathy

Apr. 24, 2025 — A new study finds that presenting the same continuous climate data, such as incremental changes in temperature, in binary form -- such as whether a lake did or did not freeze in the winter -- ...

World on Course to Trigger Multiple Climate 'Tipping Points' Unless Action Accelerates

Apr. 23, 2025 — Multiple climate 'tipping points' are likely to be triggered if global policies stay on their current course, new research ...

Why Are Patagonian Glaciers Rapidly Losing Mass?

Apr. 23, 2025 — Over the past two decades, satellite-based planetary observations have recorded rapid mass loss of Patagonian glaciers, contributing approximately 0.07 mm per year to global sea-level rise. A study ...

Melting Glaciers at the End of the Ice Age May Have Sped Up Continental Drift, Fueled Volcanic Eruptions

Apr. 23, 2025 — Scientists believe that the motion of Earth's continents through plate tectonics has been largely steady over millions of years. New research, however, suggests this drift can speed up or slow ...

Pioneering Research Reveals Arctic Matter Pathways Poised for Major Shifts Amidst Climate Change

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study has shed unprecedented light on the highly variable and climate-sensitive routes that substances from Siberian rivers use to travel across the Arctic Ocean. The findings raise fresh ...

Sophisticated Pyrotechnology in the Ice Age: This Is How Humans Made Fire Tens of Thousands of Years Ago

Apr. 14, 2025 — Whether for cooking, heating, as a light source or for making tools -- it is assumed that fire was essential for the survival of people in the Ice Age. However, it is puzzling that hardly any ...

8 Million Years of 'Green Arabia'

Apr. 9, 2025 — A new study reveals the modern arid desert between Africa and Saudi Arabia was once regularly lush and green with rivers and lakes over a period of 8 million years, allowing for the occupation and ...

Climate Change and Prehistoric Human Populations: Eastward Shift of Settlement Areas at the End of the Last Ice Age

Apr. 3, 2025 — An archaeological study of human settlement during the Final Palaeolithic revealed that populations in Europe did not decrease homogenously during the last cold phase of the Ice Age. Significant ...

New Computer Model Reveals How Bronze Age Scandinavians Could Have Crossed the Sea

Apr. 2, 2025 — People living in Bronze Age-era Denmark may have been able to travel to Norway directly over the open sea, according to a new study. To complete this study, the research team developed a new computer ...

Thinner Arctic Sea Ice May Affect Global Ocean Circulation

Mar. 31, 2025 — One of the ocean currents in the Arctic Ocean is at risk of disappearing this century because of climate change, according to a new study. As a result, the North Atlantic could be flooded with ...

Global Patterns in Seed Plant Distribution Over Millions of Years

Mar. 28, 2025 — Why do some plants thrive in specific regions but not in others? A study explores the factors shaping plant distributions and how these patterns have changed over millions of years. Analyzing nearly ...

Drone Experiment Reveals How Greenland Ice Sheet Is Changing

Mar. 28, 2025 — A new study measured water vapor in Greenland's air, collecting data crucial for improving climate models and forecasting Arctic ...

Melting Ice, More Rain Drive Southern Ocean Cooling

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers found increased meltwater and rain explain 60% of a decades-long mismatch between predicted and observed temperatures in the ocean around ...

5,700-Year Storm Archive Shows Rise in Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the Caribbean

Mar. 24, 2025 — A storm, even once it has passed, can leave traces in the ocean that last for thousands of years. These consist of sediment layers composed of coarse particles, which are different from the finer ...

Shrinking Andean Glaciers Threaten Water Supply of 90 Million People, Global Policy Makers Warn

Mar. 20, 2025 — Scientists will warn policymakers that the shrinking glaciers of the Andes threaten the water supply of 90 million people on the South American continent at the first-ever World Day for Glaciers ...

Aotearoa Once Home to Elephant Seals

Mar. 20, 2025 — Southern elephant seals are the 'canary in the coal mine' for the Southern Ocean, offering insight into how the ecosystem may react to future climate change and human impact, new research ...

Without Oxygen: How Primordial Microbes Breathed

Mar. 17, 2025 — A team of scientists have elucidated an ancient mechanism of cellular respiration. To that end, they studied bacteria that feed on the gases carbon dioxide and hydrogen, and turn them into acetic ...

Arctic Sea Ice Loss Drives Drier Weather Over California and Wetter Over Spain and Portugal

Mar. 11, 2025 — On decadal timescales, the loss of Arctic ice favors the climate of the south-west of the United States -- and California in particular -- becoming drier on average, especially in winter. This ...

Tracking Polar Bears During Their Most Secretive Stage of Life

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have combined satellite collar data with specialized cameras to shed light on one of the most mysterious and important stages in polar bears' lives -- maternal denning, when bears ...

Researchers Quantify the Way Rivers Bend, Opening Up the Possibility for Identifying Origins of Channels on Other Planets

Mar. 5, 2025 — Whether it's rivers cutting through earth, lava melting through rock, or water slicing through ice, channels all twist and bend in a seemingly similar back-and-forth manner. But a new study has ...

Melting Antarctic Ice Sheets Will Slow Earth's Strongest Ocean Current

Mar. 3, 2025 — Melting ice sheets are slowing the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), the world's strongest ocean current, researchers have found. This melting has implications for global climate indicators, ...