Lack of Arctic winter ice recovery explained: thermal inversion prevents infrared cooling to space

Is it the albedo effect? Is it increased ice dynamics? Dutch researchers add a third player to better understand why Arctic melting is happening as fast as it is.

The clue is in the winter polar night skies, they say.
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Coral is losing its chemical war with seaweeds

coralAs if anthropogenic pollution and overfishing isn’t damaging enough for coral reefs worldwide, now certain seaweeds seem determined to see the end of reefs as well. These macroalgae produce chemicals that inhibit the growth of reef-building coral or even kill them.

Normally the growth of seaweed on reefs is kept in check by plant-eating fish, but as overfishing has resulted in a strong decline in these fish, seaweed is gaining the upper hand in the competition between coral and seaweed, at least in Fiji.

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Metastudy shows current climate change makes flora and fauna shrink

The paleoclimatic record shows it has happened before – and now two well-read researchers illustrate it is already happening again: species across life’s kingdoms are decreasing in size, due to warming, droughts and acidification.

Species shrink climate change
It’s a sign ecology is feeling sick – bad enough, poor little things. Smaller fish and smaller potatoes could also be a little hindering trying to feed the 7 billion. If however the shrinkage serves as indicator of a general biomass decrease, the worst bit of the bad news is the positive climate feedback this seems to pose. Don’t underestimate the amount of carbon nature cycles. (Disturb one single breath of it and those overworked IPCC contributors will have to rethink their 21st century emissions scenarios all over – again.)

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Study shows binary switches between forest, savanna, desert: macro-scale climate-biodiversity tipping points

Researchers of Wageningen University find in South America, Africa and Australia under climatic change forest, savanna and treeless systems don’t gradually phase across, but rather tip over.

climate change biodiversity Amazon rainforest
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Climate models underestimate Arctic melting – ice dynamics feedback not taken into account

Arctic ice model forecastYes, indeed, we’re a couple of days late bringing you the news. But this could be an important update to our Arctic melting coverage. It’s feedback-driven (after all), American and French researchers say.

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Life had a small surprise just after the end-Cretaceous mass extinction

Earthworms survived C-T extinctionYou may have felt really lonely walking the face of Earth. Until you looked closer. [Btw: who needs peer-reviewed literature when you’ve got the annual festival of presentations at the Geological Society of America?]

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Ice age riddle nr2: If Lake Agassiz drained at wrong time, what caused Younger Dryas?

Younger Dryas ice age Gulf StreamIn our first ice age riddle a couple of days ago we looked at the link between CO2 rise and ice retreat, after the last ice age had reached its max, some 18,000 years ago.

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