Climatology News | Sci.News

Tectonic Plate Movements, Not Volcanoes, Drove Major Climate Shifts Over 540 Million Years

Jan 20, 2026 by News Staff

New research challenges conventional wisdom by demonstrating that mid-ocean ridges and continental rifts, not volcanic eruptions, played the central role...

The fossilized teeth of Camarasaurus from the Morrison Formation in the United States. Image credit: Sauriermuseum Aathal.

Scientists Reconstruct Mesozoic Carbon Dioxide Levels and Photosynthesis from Dinosaur Tooth Enamel

Aug 26, 2025 by News Staff

The atmosphere of Earth during the Mesozoic era, between 252 and 66 million years ago, contained far more carbon dioxide than it does today and total photosynthesis...

This year’s ozone hole over Antarctica is one of the largest in recent years. Image credit: ESA.

Earth Will Warm More Than Expected Due to Future Changes in Ozone, Study Suggests

Aug 21, 2025 by News Staff

While banning ozone-destroying gases such as CFCs has helped the ozone layer to recover, when combined with increased air pollution the impact of ozone...

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, originating in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, is a defining mode of interannual climate variability with profound impact on global climate and ecosystems. Image credit: Li et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2404758121.

El Nino-Southern Oscillation is At Least 250 Million Years Old, New Study Suggests

Oct 24, 2024 by News Staff

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which is characterized by irregular alternations between anomalously warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) conditions,...

A geological field section reveals a desiccated (extreme dryness) land surface that was common all over the world 252 million years ago. Image credit: University of Bristol / China University of Geosciences.

Mega El Niño Events Caused End-Permian Mass Extinction, Researchers Suggest

Sep 16, 2024 by News Staff

The end-Permian mass extinction, which occurred about 252 million years ago, was the most severe extinction event in the past 540 million years, eliminating...

An artistic reconstruction of a hunter-gatherer group from the Ice Age. Image credit: Tom Björklund.

Climate Change Influenced Demography of Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers, New Research Reveals

Aug 20, 2024 by News Staff

Using a large assemblage of human fossils from Ice Age Europe, paleoanthropologists have identified a population turnover in Western Europe at 28,000 years...

Zhu et al. uncovered a nonlinear and boomerang-shape relationship between Saharan dust and tropical cyclone rainfall. Image credit: Enrique.

Study Shows Previously Unknown Link between Saharan Dust Plumes and Tropical Cyclone Rainfall

Jul 25, 2024 by News Staff

According to new research, giant plumes of Saharan dust, transported across the Atlantic Ocean by trade winds, can suppress hurricane formation over the...

Global distribution of MSIs across 9,179 language varieties from the ASJP database. Color of dots represents the MSI of the language, with redder dots indicating higher and bluer dots indicating lower indices. The fill color of land areas represents the mean annual temperature. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad384.

Climate Plays Role in Shaping Evolution of Human Languages, New Study Reveals

Dec 5, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Sounds of human languages can be affected by various factors of the natural environment. One such factor is the mean annual temperature. In new research,...

Pangea Ultima temperature and habitability: (a) mammalian species diversity without the influence of humans; (b) habitable regions (green area) in the Pre-industrial simulation; (c-h) cold month mean temperature (CMMT; degrees Celsius); (c,f) warm month mean temperature (WMMT; degrees Celsius); (d,g) and habitable regions (green area); (e,h) under two end members of our sensitivity analysis: low-pCO2 conditions (280 ppm) Pangea Ultima planetary configuration (in 250 million years); (c-e) and high-pCO2 conditions (1,120 ppm) Pangea Ultima configuration (in 250 million years); (f-h) with global land surface temperature (GLST) (grid-weighted) indicated. Image credit: Farnsworth et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-023-01259-3.

Climate Extremes Likely to Drive Mass Extinction of Land Mammals in 250 Million Years

Sep 26, 2023 by News Staff

In about 250 million years, all continents will converge to form Earth’s next supercontinent, Pangea Ultima. A natural consequence of the creation...

An artist’s impression of how astronomical forces affect the Earth’s motion, climate, and ice sheets. Image credit: NAOJ.

Astronomical Forcings Shaped Timing of Glacial Cycles during Early Pleistocene, Study Says

May 15, 2023 by News Staff

Glacial cycles during the Early Pleistocene epoch are characterized by a dominant 41,000-year periodicity and amplitudes smaller than those of glacial...

Kuitems et al. provide evidence that the Norse were active on the North American continent in the year 1021 CE. Image credit: Oscar C.R.

Vikings Abandoned Southwest Greenland Due in Part to Sea-Level Rise, New Research Suggests

Apr 18, 2023 by News Staff

The first records of Greenland Vikings date to 985 CE. Archaeological evidence yields insight into how they lived, yet drivers of their disappearance in...

A large stream of meltwater (about 5 to 10 m in width) emerges from an upstream supraglacial lake in the Greenlandic ice on July, 21 2012. The darker shapes are minor streams covered by cryoconite (a mix of dust particles, soot, meteorite dust and organic material) which covers the ice sheet. Cracks cutting through the streams are visible. Along these cracks water can flow through, enlarging them and, eventually, generating moulins that can deliver meltwater through the ice. Image credit: M. Tedesco / CCNY / NASA ICE.

Greenland Ice Sheet Very Close to Melting Point of No Return, Scientists Say

Mar 28, 2023 by News Staff

With ongoing carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels, the atmosphere of Earth heats up, which has dramatic consequences for the ice sheets....

The southern yellow-billed hornbill (Tockus leucomelas), adult female, in Mapungubwe National Park, South Africa. Image credit: Derek Keats / CC BY 2.0.

Rapid Global Warming is Driving Southern Yellow-Billed Hornbills to Local Extinction

May 20, 2022 by News Staff

In a study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, a team of scientists in South Africa assessed the effects of air temperature and...

This image, taken with the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument onboard NOAA’s GOES-18 weather satellite, shows the western hemisphere of Earth. Image credit: NOAA.

NOAA’s GOES-18 Satellite Provides Beautiful Image of Earth

May 13, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

GOES-18 (also known as GOES-T) is a new next-generation weather satellite of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This image, taken...

Long-lived lakes of water vapor in the atmosphere are observed to occur over the western Indian Ocean. Their dynamics resemble those of a well-studied theoretical and simulation paradigm for tropical disturbances called self-aggregation. Image credit: Mapes & Tsai.

New Meteorological Phenomenon Discovered: Atmospheric Lakes

Dec 30, 2021 by News Staff

Atmospheric lakes are long-lived pools of water vapor that occur over the western Indian Ocean and bring water to dry lowlands along East Africa’s coastline. Long-lived...

Wind and solar farms are known to have local effects on heat, humidity and other factors that may be beneficial to the regions in which they are situated. Image credit: Erich Westendarp.

Large-Scale Solar and Wind Farms in Sahara Would Increase Rain and Vegetation

Sep 10, 2018 by News Staff

Energy generation by wind and solar farms could reduce carbon emissions and thus mitigate anthropogenic climate change. A new climate-modeling study, published...

A study of the inhabitants of Easter Island served in part as the basis for a mathematical model showing the ways a technologically advanced population and its planet might develop or collapse together. Image credit: Michael Osadciw / University of Rochester.

How Do Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations Solve Climate Change?

Jun 7, 2018 by News Staff

As the population of a technologically advanced civilization grows, it uses more and more of its planet’s resources. By consuming the resources, the...

A day in Ancient Rome, being a revision of Lohr’s ‘Aus dem alten Rom,’ with numerous illustrations, by Edgar S. Shumway. Image credit: Internet Archive Book Images.

Lead Pollution Recorded in Deep Greenland Ice Shows Rise and Fall of Ancient Civilizations

May 18, 2018 by News Staff

Annual lead emissions in Europe closely varied with historical events, including imperial expansion, wars, and major plagues, according to new research...

Periods of extreme cold winter weather and perilous snowfall could be linked to the solar cycle. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Extreme Cold Winter Weather Can Be Linked to Solar Cycle

Mar 26, 2018 by News Staff

Pioneering new research from the University of Exeter, UK, has revealed when the 11-year solar cycle is in its ‘weaker’ phase, there are warm spells...