... you should know :
Embedded Files
...you should know : —
i
Scientists are about to attempt to dim the Sun.
Scientists are about to attempt to dim the Sun.
The project will see scientists attempt to reduce sunlight and as a result the temperature of the earth. British scientists could experiment with techniques to block sunlight as part of a £50 million government funded scheme to combat global warming.
The geo-engineering project is set to be given the go-ahead within weeks and could see scientists explore techniques including launching clouds of reflective particles into the atmosphere or using seawater sprays to make clouds brighter.
Another method involves thinning natural cirrus clouds, which act as heat-trapping blankets.
If successful, less sunlight will reach the earth’s surface and in turn temporarily cool the surface of earth.
🌐 External Research Links - scientific community
27.04.2025
i
Scientists are taken aback by the rapid rate at which Antarctica is melting.
Scientists are taken aback by the rapid rate at which Antarctica is melting.
While a surprising discovery two years ago by Chinese researchers revealed growth in some East Antarctic coastal glaciers, prompting calls for increased regional attention, the overall picture for the continent's ice remains concerning. NASA data indicates that Antarctica is shedding approximately 136 billion tonnes of ice annually, a significant contribution to rising sea levels, though less than the nearly double 267 billion tonnes lost by Greenland each year. Together, these ice sheets hold the majority of Earth's freshwater, and their melting, driven by human-caused global warming, is a key factor in pushing sea levels higher.
Dr. Wei Wang from Shanghai's Tonji University warns that a complete collapse of Antarctic glaciers could lead to a staggering 7 meters of sea level rise. Already, global sea levels have risen by about 225mm since 1880, with a notable acceleration of this trend, as 101mm of that increase has occurred since 1993. Projections suggest a further 2.2-meter rise in the next 75 years. NASA satellite imagery corroborates the thinning ice sheets and retreating glaciers in Antarctica, which have contributed roughly a third of the estimated 63mm of global sea level rise since 2002.
Around 74 billion tonnes of ice disappeared each year from 2002 to 2010, and almost twice that, 142 billion tonnes, was lost each year between 2011 and 2020. Around 74 billion tonnes of ice disappeared each year from 2002 to 2010, and almost twice that, 142 billion tonnes, was lost each year between 2011 and 2020.
However, the dynamics of Antarctic ice melt are complex. The continent, almost twice the size of Australia and blanketed by ice averaging 2.2km thick (reaching up to 4.8km in some areas), doesn't behave like a simple melting ice cube.
🌐 External Research Links - scientific community
17.03.2025
i
Record-Breaking Sea Ice Loss Triggers NASA Alert
Record-Breaking Sea Ice Loss Triggers NASA Alert
The Arctic's winter sea ice has CRATERED to an all-time record low, hitting its annual peak on March 22, 2025. This isn't just a slight dip; it's a catastrophic collapse. NASA and the NSIDC confirm the Arctic's winter maximum has PLUMMETED to a horrifying 5.53 million square miles, obliterating the previous 2017 record. This isn't normal fluctuation—it's a screaming alarm bell. The Arctic's once-formidable ice shield is disintegrating, with a staggering 510,000 square mile deficit compared to the historical average. And to add insult to injury, global ice coverage also hit a record-breaking low in mid-February, signaling a planetary emergency. Meanwhile, Antarctic summer ice has been decimated, shrinking to a near-record low on March 1st, 2025 – a shocking 30% below pre-2010 norms. This is not a drill; the Earth's ice is vanishing at an alarming rate, and the consequences will be devastating.
🌐 External Research Links - scientific community
02.03.2025
i
Action Required: Stop hitting the snooze button
Action Required: Stop hitting the snooze button
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) just dropped a bombshell: the State of the Global Climate 2024 report confirms we've smashed every critical climate change record. This isn't a drill; it's a full-blown catastrophe. 2024 wasn't just hot – it was a searing 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels, the first year to obliterate the 1.5°C threshold. Carbon dioxide levels? Highest in 800,000 years. Ocean heat? Off the charts, fueling monstrous storms and unstoppable sea-level rise. Sea levels? At unprecedented heights. Ocean acidification? Relentless, irreversible damage to marine ecosystems, and our food supply. We're not just witnessing change; we're accelerating towards a climate apocalypse. This isn't a call for "urgent action" – it's a scream for immediate, radical transformation. Stop the excuses. Stop the delays. Stop the fossil fuel madness. The planet is burning, and we're all going down with it.
🌐 External Research Links - WMO, scientific community
19.03.2025
i
Arctic Ice changes Global Climate.
Arctic Ice changes Global Climate.
Stop ignoring the Arctic meltdown!: Arctic ice vanishing isn't just a polar bear problem. ISGlobal, with “la Caixa” Foundation backing, has proven: disappearing sea ice is weaponizing your weather. California is being desiccated, and Europe's drowning in winter humidity. They've cut through the noise, revealing the raw impact of ice loss. Published today in Communications Earth and Environment, the evidence is clear: decades of ice loss are baking California, especially in winter, while Spain and Portugal get drenched. This isn't some distant threat. Melting ice flips the Arctic's reflectivity and insulation, setting off a chain reaction that hits you where you live.
🌐 External Research Links - Artic, climate news
11.03.2025
i
World's Largest Iceberg crashes Into Remote Island.
World's Largest Iceberg crashes Into Remote Island.
The colossal iceberg, A23a, four times larger than New York City, has grounded itself near South Georgia Island after a long journey from Antarctica. This event highlights the accelerating impacts of climate change on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Previously locked in the Weddell Sea for decades, A23a began drifting in 2020 and exited Antarctic waters in 2023. After a period of spinning and being caught in currents near the South Orkney Islands, it ultimately collided with the continental shelf near South Georgia.
This remote British territory, while not permanently populated, is a frequent destination for research and polar cruises. The iceberg, once measured at 1,500 square miles and now around 1,330 square miles, is comparable in size to South Georgia Island itself and dwarfs the iceberg responsible for the Titanic's sinking.
🌐 External Research Links - climate news
06.03.2025
i
The Ice Time Bomb is Ticking: Are We Ready for the Deluge?
The Ice Time Bomb is Ticking: Are We Ready for the Deluge?
Glaciers and polar ice are melting at a terrifying, accelerating rate due to the relentless assault of climate change, a comprehensive new study confirms. These once-mighty rivers of ice, crucial freshwater supplies for vast populations and containing enough water to raise sea levels by 32cm (13in), have already surrendered a colossal 6,500 billion tonnes – a devastating 5% – of their mass in just over two decades. This melt rate is accelerating exponentially, with the last ten years witnessing a horrifying surge in ice loss, more than a third greater than the already alarming rate of the previous decade. This rapid melting, particularly at the poles, poses a severe threat to a crucial ocean current. Scientists predict this current could collapse by 2050, leading to catastrophic consequences. Some experts believe, based on current trends and the accelerating pace of climate change, that this collapse could occur even sooner, perhaps around 2030. The shutdown of this current would trigger dramatic sea level rises along the U.S. East Coast, inundating coastal cities and displacing millions. Furthermore, it would cause dangerous climate shifts in northwestern Europe, disrupting weather patterns and impacting agriculture. The implications of both glacial and polar ice loss are far-reaching and underscore the urgent need for action to mitigate the effects of climate change.
🌐 External Research Links - climate news
22.02.2025
i
Arctic Cyclones: A Missing Piece in the Climate Change Puzzle?
Arctic Cyclones: A Missing Piece in the Climate Change Puzzle?
Scientists are investigating the role of Arctic cyclones in the alarming decline of sea ice. These powerful storms appear to be contributing to ice loss in two key ways. First, their intense winds and waves break up the ice into smaller, more vulnerable pieces, making it easier for them to melt. Second, the cyclones can churn the ocean, bringing warmer water from deeper layers (a process called upwelling) to the surface, further accelerating the melting process. A recent study has connected these cyclones to periods of rapid sea ice depletion, highlighting their significant impact. Furthermore, the research suggests that improved predictions of these cyclones might be possible by studying tropopause polar vortices – large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns in the upper levels of the atmosphere. Better forecasting of cyclone activity could be crucial for understanding and potentially mitigating future sea ice loss in the Arctic.
🌐 External Research Links - climate news
17..02.2025
i
Glaciers Falling Apart Faster Than Expected.
Glaciers Falling Apart Faster Than Expected.
Alarming new research reveals a disturbing trend: Greenland's ice sheet is cracking at an alarming rate. These massive crevasses, some capable of swallowing buildings whole, are widening faster than ever due to the escalating climate crisis. This isn't just about cracks in the ice; it's a direct threat to global sea levels. A staggering 50 to 90 percent of meltwater now funnels through these fissures, accelerating the warming and lubrication of the ice sheet's base. This process, as confirmed by lead researcher Thomas Chudley, acts as a dangerous catalyst, dramatically speeding up glacial flow and hastening the inevitable melt. The implications are clear: Greenland's ice is vanishing faster than anticipated, and the world needs to take immediate action.
🌐 External Research Links - climate news
03..02.2025
i
Hottest year on record. Fact.
Hottest year on record. Fact.
2024 has been officially declared the hottest year on record, surpassing the previous record set in 2023. This conclusion is supported by seven leading international scientific organizations, each employing independent methods to analyze global temperature data. Notably, 2024 marks the first year where global temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to most of these organizations. This significant milestone underscores the accelerating pace of climate change.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
13..01.2025
i
Before We Start Mining Our Moon (and we will, in the next few years)
Before We Start Mining Our Moon (and we will, in the next few years)
In the coming years, nations and private companies will be very likely to explore the surface of the Moon.
But as space becomes accessible to more nations and corporations, we need to stop and ask ourselves what commercial activities we want to allow, including on the Moon.
Now is the time to create the rules and regulations that will protect humanity's shared future in space and ensure the Moon remains a symbol and inspiration for generations to come.
Why mine the Moon?
NASA's multibillion dollar Artemis program isn't just about sending astronauts back to the Moon. It's about paving the way for mining operations. China is also on a similar trajectory.
All of this has set in motion a new lunar race with private companies competing to figure out how to extract the Moon's resources, potentially selling it back to governments in a cosmic supply chain.
Currently, all supplies for space exploration are shipped from Earth, making essentials like water and fuel eye-wateringly expensive.
By the time a single litre of water reaches the Moon, its cost beats that of gold.
But by converting water ice on the Moon into hydrogen and oxygen, we can refuel spacecraft on-site. This could make deeper space journeys, especially to Mars, far more feasible.
The Moon's wealth of rare Earth metals, essential for technologies like smartphones, also means lunar mining could ease the strain on Earth's dwindling reserves.
Private companies might beat space agencies to the punch; a startup could be mining the Moon before NASA lands its next astronaut.
Could mining change how we see the Moon from Earth?
When material is extracted from the Moon, dust gets kicked up. Without an atmosphere to slow it down, this lunar dust can travel vast distances.
That surface material is "space weathered" and duller than the more reflective material beneath. Disturbing the lunar dust means some patches of the Moon may appear brighter where the dust has been kicked up, while other patches may appear more dull if dust resettles on top.
Even small-scale operations might disturb enough dust to create visible changes over time.
Managing lunar dust will be a crucial factor in ensuring sustainable and minimally disruptive mining practices.
Who owns the Moon?
The Outer Space Treaty (1967) makes it clear no nation can claim to "own" the Moon (or any celestial body).
However, it is less clear whether a company extracting resources from the Moon violates this non-appropriation clause. Two later agreements take up this issue.
The 1979 Moon Treaty claims the Moon and its natural resources as "common heritage of mankind". This is often interpreted as an explicit ban on commercial lunar mining.
The 2020 Artemis Accords, however, allow for mining while reaffirming the Outer Space Treaty's rejection of any claims of ownership over the Moon itself.
The Outer Space Treaty also notes the exploration of space should benefit everyone on Earth, not just the wealthier nations and corporations able to get there.
When it comes to resource extraction, some argue this means all nations should share in the bounty of any future lunar mining endeavour.
What would miners' lives be like on the Moon?
Imagine you've worked 12 hours straight in hot and dirty conditions. You are dehydrated, hungry and overwhelmed. Some of your co-workers have collapsed or been injured due to exhaustion. You all wish you could just get another job with good safety standards, fair pay and reasonable hours. But you can't. You're stuck in space.
This dystopian vision highlights the potential dangers of rushing into lunar mining without addressing the risks to workers.
Working in low gravity conditions brings health hazards. Lunar miners are more likely to suffer:
bone and muscle loss, osteoporosis, renal and cardiovascular damage, and impaired immunity.
Exposure to cosmic radiation not only carries an increased risk of various cancers but can also affect fertility.
Lunar miners will also face prolonged isolation and intense psychological stress. We'll need good laws and guidelines to protect the health and wellbeing of the space workforce.
Regulatory bodies to enforce worker rights and safety standards will be far away on Earth. Miners may be left with little recourse if asked to work unreasonable hours in unsafe conditions.
The Moon holds incredible promise as a stepping stone for human exploration and a potential source of resources to sustain life on Earth and beyond.
But history has shown us the consequences of unchecked exploitation. Prior to lunar mining operations, we must establish robust regulations prioritizing fairness, safety, and human rights and conduct intensive studies and explore all potential risks present and future, including those to our planet.
🌐 External Research Links - science
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
01..01.2025
i
The World's Largest Iceberg A23a Is On The Move.
The World's Largest Iceberg A23a Is On The Move.
With a surface area more than twice that of Greater London's, A23a is the biggest iceberg on the planet. The frozen leviathan is now on the move across Antarctica seas once more having spent the last few months going round in circles. In the first few decades of freedom until finally in 2020 it began inching towards the Southern Ocean, only to become trapped by a swirling vortex of water earlier this year.
Having escaped the Taylor column, the trillion-ton A23a can progress to the next stage of a journey, which scientists are continuing to closely monitor tracked by the ESA Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
21..12.2024
i
Seoul's apocalyptic snowstorm.
Seoul's apocalyptic snowstorm.
Seoul was pummeled by a historic blizzard in late November 2024, a cataclysmic event that dumped a staggering 28.6 centimeters (11.3 inches) of snow in just 48 hours. This unprecedented storm, a product of a violent clash between frigid air masses, crippled the city, paralyzing transportation, leveling structures, and plunging the region into chaos. While the storm wreaked havoc, it also transformed Seoul's iconic landmarks into breathtaking winter wonderlands.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
02..12.2024
i
Planetary drought.
Planetary drought.
Droughts are becoming more common as the climate warms. According to a new report by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), 3 in 4 people will have been affected by drought in the next decade. The UNCCD’s new World Drought Atlas points out that droughts are among the most expensive and deadly global hazards. Climate change and the unsustainable management of land and water resources has made them more frequent and intense, affecting communities and ecosystems.
Droughts are one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
02..12.2024
i
Extreme temperatures are rising.
Extreme temperatures are rising.
New research has identified several regions of the globe where heatwaves are increasing at a rate far higher than state-of-the-art climate models have been projecting.
These regions include eastern Australia, central China, Japan, Korea, the Arabian Peninsula, parts of South America, the Arctic, and, most intensely, northwestern Europe.
Unprecedented or record-shattering heat extremes, which are rare under current climatic conditions, are expected to become more frequent.
Recent examples include the record-breaking heat in Europe, central Russia, and Southeast Asia.
The findings also identify regions where increases in temperatures are lower than models predict.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
27..11.2024
i
Antarctic geoengineering! could ignite...
Antarctic geoengineering! could ignite...
Geoengineering – always a controversial topic – has been in the lens on Antarctic research this year, as a bold proposal to try and slow melting has captured public interest.
They’ve published their discussion of the project, known as the Antarctic curtain proposal, in International Affairs.
The Antarctic curtain idea, revolves around the installation of a “curtain” on the ocean floor, near melting ice sheets. This curtain, tens of kilometres long and raised 100m high by a buoyant float, would stop warm ocean water from reaching glaciers, slowing their melt.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
23..11.2024
i
Mangroves ‘drowning’ in Maldives due to sea level rise.
Mangroves ‘drowning’ in Maldives due to sea level rise.
An extreme rise in sea levels driven by the Indian Ocean Dipole have caused some Maldivian islands to lose more than half of their mangrove cover since 2020,
As climate change and extreme events intensify, some mangrove forests may struggle to keep up with sea level rise. They found that sea levels around the Maldives rose at an accelerated rate of more than 3cm per year between 2017 and 2020.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
13..11.2024
i
Doomsday Glacier Threatens to Flood Entire Islands and Coasts.
Doomsday Glacier Threatens to Flood Entire Islands and Coasts.
The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is called the "Doomsday Glacier" for a reason. Larger than the state of Florida, the icy mass contains so much water that scientists predict that its melting could single-handedly raise global sea levels by over two feet — and possibly over five times more that, if it triggers a broader collapse of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Scientists fear that if the Thwaites disappears, it could trigger a collapse of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS), potentially raising sea levels by over ten feet. As it stands, the Doomsday glacier already contributes to about four percent of rising levels on Earth.
The study predicted that the glacier could fully disappear by 2100.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
09..11.2024
i
Doomsday Glacier Threatens to Flood Entire Islands and Coasts.
Doomsday Glacier Threatens to Flood Entire Islands and Coasts.
The Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica is called the "Doomsday Glacier" for a reason. Larger than the state of Florida, the icy mass contains so much water that scientists predict that its melting could single-handedly raise global sea levels by over two feet — and possibly over five times more that, if it triggers a broader collapse of the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Scientists fear that if the Thwaites disappears, it could trigger a collapse of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet (WAIS), potentially raising sea levels by over ten feet. As it stands, the Doomsday glacier already contributes to about four percent of rising levels on Earth.
The study predicted that the glacier could fully disappear by 2100.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
09..11.2024
i
Mount Fuji Snowless For Longest Time In 130 Years.
Mount Fuji Snowless For Longest Time In 130 Years.
Don't panic, but Japan's Mount Fuji has officially gone all of October without any snow, CNN reports, making it the longest period — and counting! — that the mountain has been snowless since records began 130 years ago.
Typically, Mount Fuji's peak should've already been donning its iconic snowcap for weeks by now. On average, the mountain, which is the tallest in Japan, begins to form snowcaps on October 2, and last year, it started on October 5. But as of November 1 — or November 2 in Japan, which is ahead of us — it's still bare.
Prior to this season, the latest recorded snowfall occurred on October 29, in 1955 and 2016.
And there's no mystery to it, folks. The cause for the delayed snows — and a desacralizing of a winter season landmark — is almost certainly climate change.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
01..10.2024
i
Acceleration of Pacific Ocean circulation is impacting global weather.
Acceleration of Pacific Ocean circulation is impacting global weather.
Significant acceleration in the upper-ocean circulation of the equatorial Pacific Ocean over the past 30 years is impacting global weather patterns, according to a new study.
The acceleration is driven by strengthening atmospheric winds. The oceanic currents are becoming stronger and shallower. Among the effects are increased frequency and intensity of El Niño and La Niña events.
Among the findings is the roughly 20% acceleration of westward near-surface currents in the central equatorial Pacific.
North and south of the equator, currents going toward the poles have also accelerated. Currents going to the north pole have intensified by 57%, and the currents heading southward have increased 20%.
global mean sea surface temperatures have risen but parts of the tropical South Pacific have seen a cooling trend of more than –0.5°C over the past 3 decades.
🌐 External Research Links - science, nature
01..10.2024
i
Climate change is reshaping grasslands in almost real time.
Climate change is reshaping grasslands in almost real time.
The time taken for ecosystems to respond to the effects of climate change can vary, but a new study shows that, for grasslands that biodiversity change can happen in almost real time.
The researchers observed a direct correlation between rising temperatures and precipitation decline, leading A new study has revealed that the impacts of climate change on grasslands can be swift and significant. Researchers found that biodiversity shifts in these ecosystems can occur almost instantaneously, as rising temperatures and decreasing precipitation favor drought-tolerant species.
The study, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, observed a direct correlation between climate change and the composition of grassland communities. As conditions become hotter and drier, species adapted to these conditions thrive, while those that prefer cooler, wetter climates decline. This rapid transformation can have negative consequences, including the proliferation of non-native species and a loss of biodiversity.
"These shifts might have negative consequences such as dominance by non-native species and loss of biodiversity," said co-lead author Kai Zhu, an associate professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. The findings underscore the urgent need for conservation efforts and climate mitigation strategies to protect these vital ecosystems.
🌐 External Research Links - Nature ecology, science.
20..10.2024
i
Plants and forests absorbed almost no carbon last year.
Plants and forests absorbed almost no carbon last year.
The Earth's natural defenses against carbon emissions could be breaking down.
Our planet has historically been home to natural "carbon sinks," or sites like forests and oceans that naturally remove potentially atmosphere-damaging carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
In other words: in 2023, it seems that some of Earth's natural carbon sinks stopped working.
Overall, models agreed that both the land sink and the ocean sink are going to decrease in the future as a result of climate change, But there's a question of how quickly that will happen.
Most models "tend to show this happening rather slowly over the next 100 years or so," but also pointed out that most models don't incorporate seemingly consequential factors like worsening wildfires and deforestation.
🌐 External Research Links - science
16..10.2024
i
Scientists want to create a sort of Noah’s Ark on the moon.
Scientists want to create a sort of Noah’s Ark on the moon.
It would bank cells from animals and other organisms in cold storage.
As more and more species near extinction, scientists have been collecting samples of plants, animals and other organisms. They’ve been storing these cells, seeds and other materials in protected facilities across the globe. But climate change, environmental disasters and wars can threaten these modern Noah’s Arks. Now, some researchers have proposed an out-of-this-world solution: Build one of these arks on the moon.
“When it comes to saving our biodiversity and life on Earth, it’s very good to have as many plans as possible."
Think of it as a frozen Noah’s Ark, way above the Arctic Circle.
🌐 External Research Links - science
15..10.2024
i
Our Climate Is So f* Up, It Rained in the Sahara Desert.
Our Climate Is So f* Up, It Rained in the Sahara Desert.
A region of the Sahara Desert in southeastern Morocco experienced a surprise deluge of rainstorms, which has transformed some parts of the arid North African landscape into lake-filled oases.
Rain is exceptionally uncommon in the Sahara, which is one of the dryest places on the planet. It's especially uncommon during the late summer season.
The Moroccan government reported that just two days of rain September surpassed annual averages in areas that usually get less than ten inches of rain per year. One town called Tagounite got nearly four inches in one day — an eye-popping amount of water for the drought-stricken region.
The mysterious weather event marks a welcome respite from the desert's prolonged dry spell — and the palm tree-laced lagoons left in the rains' wake are a site to behold.
🌐 External Research Links - science
10..10.2024
i
Antarctic Peninsula warms five times faster than the global average.
Antarctic Peninsula warms five times faster than the global average.
This alarming rate of warming poses a significant threat to the delicate ecosystems of Antarctica and could have far-reaching consequences for the entire planet. The rapid melting of glaciers and ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula is contributing to rising sea levels, disrupt ocean currents and weather patterns, potentially leading to more extreme weather events and fenomenas such as hurricanes, droughts, and heatwaves.
Mitigate the effects of climate change and protect the Antarctic Peninsula for future generations is now imperative and crucial more then ever.
🌐 External Research Links - science
08..10.2024
i
Antarctic Peninsula has become 10 times greener in just 40 years
Antarctic Peninsula has become 10 times greener in just 40 years
Antarctica, known as the White Continent, is going green.
Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey have made a startling discovery: Antarctica, renowned for its icy landscapes, is experiencing a dramatic greening trend. Satellite data analysis reveals that vegetation cover on the Antarctic Peninsula has increased by more than 10 times over the past four decades.
In 1986, vegetation occupied a mere 1 square kilometer. By 2021, this area had expanded to nearly 12 square kilometers. Moreover, the researchers found that the rate of greening is accelerating, with a 30% increase in vegetation cover between 2016 and 2021 alone.
This unprecedented transformation is a clear indicator of climate change's far-reaching effects. Even this remote, inhospitable region is not immune to the warming temperatures that are fueling the growth of plant life.
To safeguard Antarctica's future, it is imperative that we thoroughly investigate these changes and identify their underlying causes. This knowledge is essential for developing effective conservation strategies to protect the continent's unique ecosystems.
🌐 External Research Links - science
05..10.2024
i
Wild changes in weather are imminent in next decade.
Wild changes in weather are imminent in next decade.
Dramatic changes in temperature and rainfall are coming for up to 70% of the world’s population in the next 20 years because of high greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.
Fast-changing weather extremes can have “particularly strong impacts”, such as the dangers of extreme heatwaves and flooding in areas that aren’t accustomed to them.
“We focus on regional changes, due to their increased relevance to the experience of people and ecosystems compared with the global mean, and identify regions projected to experience substantial changes in rates of one or more extreme event indices over the coming decades,” says lead author Dr Carley Iles, a researcher at the CICERO Center for International Climate Research, Norway.
🌐 External Research Links - nature geoscience
30..09.2024
i
Alarming findings under the Thwaites Ice Shelf: Scientists shocked
Alarming findings under the Thwaites Ice Shelf: Scientists shocked
"GRIM". A team of scientists have been meticulously observing the Thwaites Glacier, ominously dubbed the "Doomsday Glacier," since 2018. The Thwaites Glacier is projected to melt at an accelerating pace throughout the century, potentially collapsing entirely within two centuries.
If the Thwaites Glacier were to melt completely, it could significantly contribute to global sea level rise, potentially exceeding two feet, justifying its ominous nickname.
The Thwaites already contributes about four percent to the total current rise in sea levels. At 75 miles across and boasting an area of around 74,000 square miles, it's larger than Florida.
As stated by Lob Larter, the UK science lead from the British Antarctic Survey, the Thwaites Glacier has been steadily retreating for decades, with a dramatic acceleration in recent years. The ITGC's findings suggest that this trend will continue and intensify.
🌐 External Research Links - science
21..09.2024
i
Surprise Asteroid Strikes Earth's Atmosphere, Burning Up Over Philippines
Surprise Asteroid Strikes Earth's Atmosphere, Burning Up Over Philippines
With all of humanity's telescopic eyes on the sky, it's rare for an asteroid to take us by surprise. But that's what happened this morning in the sky over the Philippines. Only hours after it was detected, it burned up in a bright flash above the island of Luzon. Let's hope that these detections improve because we have no problems with technological solutions. NASA's Catalina Sky Survey detected the small asteroid, now named 2024 RW1, only hours before it reached Earth's atmosphere. It was only about one meter in diameter and posed no threat. Even though reports say it "struck the Earth," in reality, it only struck the atmosphere, where objects that small burn up.
🌐 External Research Links - NASA, science
05..09.2024
i
Solar Activity Intensifies: Scientists Caught Off Guard
Solar Activity Intensifies: Scientists Caught Off Guard
Contrary to previous expectations, the Sun is currently exhibiting a level of solar activity that has caught scientists off guard. This unexpected surge in activity is challenging our understanding of the sun's behavior.
Often seen as a calm celestial body, is revealing a much more dynamic nature. Its recent solar activity, characterized by eruptions and flares, has surprised astrophysicists. This heightened activity is occurring earlier than predicted in the current solar cycle.
Geomagnetic storms can spark beautiful aurora borealis and aurora australis – the Northern and Southern lights. These colorful displays have been showing up further south than usual, in states like Texas and Colorado. That's because of the Sun's increased activity.
But those high-energy particles are also like little gremlins that can cause all sorts of mayhem to high-frequency radio emissions that the military, airlines, and GPS systems rely on. Another concern is spacecraft. If there's a coronal mass ejection, and if that material gets to the Earth, it's going to make the densities in Earth's upper atmosphere higher and that's going to create more drag, and more drag is going to bring down spacecraft.
🌐 External Research Links - NOAA, science
22..08.2024
i
Svalbard Crisis: Glaciers Melt at Unprecedented Rates As Temperatures Soar
Svalbard Crisis: Glaciers Melt at Unprecedented Rates As Temperatures Soar
If Nature isn't kept healthy, humans won't survive. by AS
Summer 2024 saw Svalbard's ice caps melt at record levels, driven by high air temperatures and further exacerbated by a persistent heat dome over Scandinavia. This led to historical temperature highs and significant ice loss, alarming climatologists and environmentalists alike.
🌐 External Research Links - copernicus.eu, science
16..08.2024
i
Major Earth Systems on Track for Collapse, Scientists Find
Major Earth Systems on Track for Collapse, Scientists Find
That's gonna leave a mark.
A new study warns that Europe could face a catastrophic future. The Atlantic Ocean's vital current system, which keeps the continent warm, is at risk of collapse. This, combined with the Amazon rainforest's destruction and melting polar ice, could plunge Europe into Arctic-like conditions.
Scientists predict a 75% chance of this "tipping point" within the next 100 years, even if global warming is temporarily reduced. Once collapsed, these systems might be irreparable. Urgent action to curb carbon emissions is crucial to prevent this disaster.
Needless to say, this all sounds pretty bad. The potential collapse of the Atlantic current system is a catastrophic threat. Europe's agriculture would be devastated by the ensuing cold, exacerbated by melting ice caps and the Amazon's decline.
Scientists demand immediate action to eliminate carbon emissions, but obstacles abound. The AI boom's energy consumption and fossil fuel-dependent nations hinder progress.
While solar power and carbon capture offer hope, desperate measures like geoengineering are being explored. The future is uncertain, but the stakes couldn't be higher.
🌐 External Research Links - science
06.08.2024
i
Earth Record for Hottest Day Ever Recorded, Record Smashed the Next Day
Earth Record for Hottest Day Ever Recorded, Record Smashed the Next Day
For the second day in a row, the Earth shattered its record for the hottest day ever recorded.
On Sunday, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) found that our planet had set a new record, averaging 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just a day later, the institution announced the record had already been smashed, recording a new high of 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's a dire situation. Oceans are experiencing unprecedented temperatures, massive storms supercharged by climate change are wreaking havoc, and people are dying around the world as a result of crushing heat waves.
And it's only set to get worse, with experts warning that the Earth has already passed its point of no return.
The previous record, of 62.74 degrees Fahrenheit, was recorded back in 2016, according to the C3S.
"We are now in truly uncharted territory."
"Humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting fast," said UN
🌐 External Research Links - science
26.07.2024
i
Days on Earth grow as polar ice melts at an extraordinary velocity
Days on Earth grow as polar ice melts at an extraordinary velocity
It's well known that as far as the climate crisis goes, time is of the essence.
Now a study out Monday shows that the melting of the polar ice caps is causing our planet to spin more slowly, increasing the length of days at an "unprecedented" rate.
"The initially fast rotation becomes slower because the masses move away from the axis of rotation, increasing physical inertia."
Earth is commonly thought of as a sphere, but it's more accurate to call it an "oblate spheroid" that bulges somewhat around the equator, a bit like a satsuma.
What's more, its shape is constantly changing, from the impacts of the daily tides that affect the oceans and crusts, to longer term effects from drift of tectonic plates, and abrupt, violent shifts caused by earthquakes and volcanoes.
If the Earth turns more slowly, then the length of day increases by a few milliseconds from the standard measure of 86,400 seconds.
But "there are definitely a lot of implications for space and Earth navigation".
🌐 External Research Links - science
15.07.2024
i
New tipping point discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet
New tipping point discovered beneath the Antarctic ice sheet
Warm water seeping beneath ice sheets can melt them in a way that scientists have not accounted for in models of sea level rise, says new research from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).
“We have identified the possibility of a new tipping-point in Antarctic ice sheet melting,” says Alex Bradley, an ice dynamics researcher at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and lead author of the new paper in the journal Nature Geoscience.
“This means our projections of sea level rise might be significant underestimates.”
🌐 External Research Links - cosmos, science
27.06.2024
i
Scientists alarmed as Rivers in Alaska turn Bright Orange
Scientists alarmed as Rivers in Alaska turn Bright Orange
Climate change is doing all sorts of weird things to the planet — from increased turbulence on plane trips to more stinging jellyfish in the ocean. Now, remote rivers in the Alaska backcountry are turning from a pristine glacier blue to an alarming rusty bright orange, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications: Earth & Environment. Why?
Thawing permafrost, caused by global warming, is releasing minerals like iron and toxic metals into rivers. Researchers studied 74 streams in Brooks Range, a spectacular swath of mostly uninhabited mountains in the north of Alaska's arctic region. Setting aside their unsettling color, the impact on the local environment is enormous, according to the researchers. The thawing permafrost and mineral runoff — which includes lead, iron, zinc, copper, nickel, cadmium, and mercury — make the streams more cloudy and hence block more light, and are more acidic.
"THERE ARE CERTAIN SITES THAT LOOK ALMOST LIKE A MILKY ORANGE JUICE."
🌐 External Research Links - science
01.06.2024
i
Volcano In Iceland Erupts Apocalyptic 150-Foot Tidal Wave Of Lava
Volcano In Iceland Erupts Apocalyptic 150-Foot Tidal Wave Of Lava
A gigantic volcanic eruption has warranted spectacular, terrifying videos alongside evacuations of nearby towns and tourist attractions in Iceland — and not, unfortunately, for the first time. This was the fifth eruption at the Sundhnjukar crater row that sits atop the country's southwestern Reykjanes Peninsula since December. The last one that took place in March had just finished leaking magma three weeks prior.
The fissure that emitted the magma, meanwhile, has grown to more than two miles long, per the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
"A DAUNTING PERIOD OF UPHEAVAL HAS BEGUN."
🌐 External Research Links - futurism, science
29.05.2024
i
Largest Ice Shelf in Antarctica is behaving oddly
Largest Ice Shelf in Antarctica is behaving oddly
The Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica, roughly the size of France, is dislocated daily by an ice stream. This movement, caused by a sudden slip in the ice stream, could influence icequakes and shelf fractures, raising concerns about ice shelf stability in a warming world.
This finding is significant because of the scale of the Ross Ice Shelf: It is the largest ice shelf in Antarctica, about the same size as the country of France.
“We found that the whole shelf suddenly moves about 6 to 8 centimeters (or 3 inches) once or twice a day, triggered by a slip on an ice stream that flows into the ice shelf”, “These sudden movements could potentially play a role in triggering icequakes and fractures in the ice shelf.”
🌐 External Research Links - scitech
25.05.2024
i
Solar Storm so Powerful it shut down farm equipment across the Us and...
Solar Storm so Powerful it shut down farm equipment across the Us and...
A massive solar storm rocked the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles this weekend, triggering spectacular auroras in the night sky across a substantial swath of both North America and Europe.
The storm reached "extreme" levels — Category G5 — on Friday and Saturday, enough to wreak havoc on communications equipment and even the power grid, believed to be the strongest storm of its type in over 20 years.
And as the New York Times reports, the storm was particularly devastating for farmers in the US and Canada, whose tractors and other equipment broke down in the middle of planting season — a fascinating and rare example of just how fearsome space weather can become despite our planet's protective shell..
🌐 External Research Links - science
13.05.2024
i
Sky in Athens turns Red
Sky in Athens turns Red
Dust Till Dawn. Wednesday, 24 April, residents in Athens, Greece were greeted with a surreal sight: the city's blue skies and famous landmarks like the Acropolis were bathed in an ominous glow of red, yellow and orange, all due to an epic dust storm from the Sahara Desert.
Strong winds blew fine sand from the arid region to the Mediterranean area and choked up not just the skies over Athens but also other areas in Greece, according to the newspaper, prompting local officials to call this episode one of the worst dust storms since 2018.
Dramatic scenes played out that were more reminiscent of the "Dune" franchise, as people took to social media to document the orange and red skies blanketing the historic city.
🌐 External Research Links - Science
26.04.2024
i
Chinese cities are sinking into The Earth
Chinese cities are sinking into The Earth
According to the study, which was conducted by a team of over 50 Chinese scientists using radar observations and published this week in the journal Science, almost half of China's 82 major cities are experiencing rapid subsidence. Subsidence isn't just a problem in China. Countries worldwide are experiencing a concerning level of land sink, and in January, a satellite-based study revealed that US' major East Coast population centers are similarly caving into the Earth, as are gulf cities like New Orleans and Houston.
"This is a big problem," Robert Nicholls, a professor of climate adaptation at the University of East Anglia in England who wasn't involved with the study, told NPR. "The scale is large."
"Without doubt," he added, this new study "brings home that this is not a local problem. This is a national, or even international, problem."
🌐 External Research Links - Science
20.04.2024
i
Satellite Capture Extraordinary Flooding in the United Arab Emirates
Satellite Capture Extraordinary Flooding in the United Arab Emirates
A slow-moving storm system pummeled the United Arab Emirates and dropped more than a year’s worth of rain on some cities in April 2024. Heavy rain triggered flash flooding across eastern parts of the country, inundating roads and disrupting transportation. The system first hit Oman on April 14 and continued to batter the UAE through most of the day on April 16. The strong low-pressure system delivered multiple rounds of high winds and heavy rain to the northern and eastern parts of the country. Some areas remained flooded on April 20, when Landsat 9 passed over the region for the first time since the storms.
Government Denies Dubai Flooding Was Due to Cloud-Seeding Experiments
🌐 External Research - Landsat 9
20.04.2024
i
Scientists Test Sun-Dimming Device Using Decommissioned Aircraft carrier
Scientists Test Sun-Dimming Device Using Decommissioned Aircraft carrier
In an effort to halt the worst effects of climate change, scientists are experimenting with a device built atop a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the San Francisco Bay that would dim the Sun by salting the clouds.
Yes, you read that right — researchers from the University of Washington are, seeking to introduce salt to the clouds over the ocean, which would theoretically deflect the Sun's light back upwards and keep the Earth below cooler.
While it's a somewhat outlandish gambit, it's not without scientific precedent. "Solar geoengineering," as the scientists behind the concept of sun-dimming call the burgeoning approach, has for years been theorized as a way to temporarily stall climate change while humans both try to figure out how to reverse its worst effects.
In particular, the UW experiment taking place aboard the USS Hornet is looking into what is known as "marine cloud brightening," which takes a similar approach to so-called "cloud seeding" by introducing tiny aerosol particles to clouds. Instead of seeking to make it rain, as cloud seeding does, however, cloud brightening aims to reflect solar radiation outward and back up. In UW's case, they're using salt as their aerosol of choice.
And they just fired it up for the first time. Per the NYT, they activated the spraying device that would be used to salt the clouds over the Pacific Ocean to make sure it could consistently output the plume of saline spray that would, as the experiments continue, need to make it up to the clouds to work.
🌐 External Research Links - Science
06.04.2024
i
Greenland’s Largest Floating Ice Tongue Is Melting
Greenland’s Largest Floating Ice Tongue Is Melting
The Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier – also known as the 79° North Glacier – on the northeast coast of Greenland flows directly into a fjord, where it forms an 80-kilometre-long tongue of floating ice. Although the tongue hasn’t lost much length during the past several decades, it has grown thinner and thinner. A team from the Alfred Wegener Institute can now tell us why.
Greenland’s massive ice sheet contains nearly 3 million cubic kilometers of water. If it were to melt completely, the global sea level would rise by more than 7 meters. Part of the ice sheet – the Northeast Greenland Ice Stream – flows into two major marine outlet glaciers on the country’s coast: the Nioghalvfjerdsfjorden Glacier (or 79NG) and the Zachariae Isstrom (or ZI). Here, the two glaciers flow into the Greenland Sea, where they formed two huge floating glacier tongues 20 years ago. While the ZI glacier lost its floating tongue back in the 2010s, ice from 79NG continues to flow toward the sea through a fjord, in a swathe roughly 20 kilometers wide and 80 kilometers long.
🌐 External Research Links - Science, Greenslandnews
05.04.2024
i
So much polar ice is melting that it’s slowing down earth’s rotation
So much polar ice is melting that it’s slowing down earth’s rotation
Climate change is causing so much polar ice melt that it's slowing down Earth's rotation and — here's the kicker — it will alter how we measure time in the future.
That's the outrageous conclusion that Duncan Agnew, geophysicist and professor at University of California, San Diego, reached by analyzing data from satellite imagery, as detailed in a new study published in the journal Nature.
Basically, as polar ice melts into the ocean, there's less mass overall at the poles and the middle of the planet becomes a little heavier, hence slowing down Earth's rotation.
And that raises a problem for the measurement of time itself. If Earth's rotation is slowing down, that means timekeepers all over the world will have to adjust. This has impacts reaching far beyond our watches. It touches the functioning of satellites, computers, financial institutions and everywhere else where every second counts.
Institutions will likely have to adjust. The global time standard, known as Coordinated Universal Time or UTC, almost matches the Earth's rotation — but because the rotation speed can be variable, this has at times necessitated timekeepers to add or subtract a leap second to the clock, Agnew explains in his paper.
🌐 External Research Links - Science
31.03.2024
i
Government Scientists propose plan to dry out the Stratosphere.
Government Scientists propose plan to dry out the Stratosphere.
A group of government scientists are suggesting a strategy to literally dehydrate the stratosphere to help cool the planet — while admitting that it'd only do so much.
In a press release, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explained that the strategy, if built out, would work to a degree because water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas in our atmosphere. Drying it out, so to speak, could cool the atmosphere and counteract the harmful warming effects of carbon dioxide.
Dubbed "intentional stratospheric dehydration" or ISD, this approach, as proposed by NOAA researchers at the agency's Chemical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, involves "seeding" the wettest parts of the stratosphere with tiny "ice nuclei" particles to increase ice formation that would then fall to the ground hail-style.
Using super high altitude aircraft, these ice particles seem to operate much like other cloud-seeding efforts, except in this case, scientists are more interested in soaking up water rather than making it rain.
🌐 External Research Links - Science
01.03.2024
i
Scientists Alarmed by spike in Ocean temperatures
Scientists Alarmed by spike in Ocean temperatures
"IT'S JUST ASTONISHING. LIKE, IT DOESN'T SEEM REAL."
As last year's record-breaking ocean temperatures refuse to slow down, warming waters around the globe continue to alarm scientists — Reports, seem just about as bewildered by the speed of the rising temperatures as the next person.
"The North Atlantic has been record-breakingly warm for almost a year now," Brian McNoldy, a senior researcher and hurricane formation expert at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, told. "It's just astonishing. Like, it doesn't seem real."
"It's quite scary, partly because I'm not hearing any scientists that have a convincing explanation of why it is we've got such a departure," added Rob Larter, a Cambridge, England-based marine geophysicist who studies arctic ice levels. "We're used to having a fairly good handle on things."
"But the impression at the moment is that things have gone further and faster than we expected,". "That's an uncomfortable place as a scientist to be."
🌐 External Research Links - Science
29.02.2024
i
AI data centers need so much power they may need built-in nuclear reactors
AI data centers need so much power they may need built-in nuclear reactors
"Data centres are power hungry things, but with AI we're moving into a new level of power requirements."
It's no secret that keeping an AI data center running requires an immense amount of power.
To meet those skyrocketing energy demands, experts are now looking for alternative sources, the BBC reports — including small nuclear reactors that could power individual data centers.
For years, scientists have been developing small modular reactors (SMR), which are scaled-down power plants that can provide power in situ and thereby dramatically reduce companies' dependence on the grid.
Despite an entire burgeoning industry dedicated to their realization, there still aren't any commercial ones in operation anywhere in the world.
🌐 External Research Links - Science
18.02.2024
i
the Atlantic Will “Soon” Enter Its Declining Phase
the Atlantic Will “Soon” Enter Its Declining Phase
Recent research employing computational simulations predicts that the subduction zone presently beneath the Strait of Gibraltar will extend further into the Atlantic, playing a key role in the development of an Atlantic subduction system – essentially an Atlantic ring of fire. In geological timeframes, this event is anticipated to occur ‘soon’, roughly in the next 20 million years.
Oceans seem eternal to our lifespan, but they are not here for long: they are born, grow, and one day close. This process, which takes a few hundred million years, is called Wilson Cycle. The Atlantic, for example, was born when Pangea broke up, around 180 million years ago, and will one day close. And the Mediterranean is what remains from a big ocean – the Tethys– that once existed between Africa and Eurasia.
🌐 External Research Links - Mr. Elliot Lim, CIRES, NOAA/NCEI, Science
20.02.2024
i
AI data centers need so much power they may need built-in nuclear reactors
AI data centers need so much power they may need built-in nuclear reactors
"Data centres are power hungry things, but with AI we're moving into a new level of power requirements."
It's no secret that keeping an AI data center running requires an immense amount of power.
To meet those skyrocketing energy demands, experts are now looking for alternative sources, the BBC reports — including small nuclear reactors that could power individual data centers.
For years, scientists have been developing small modular reactors (SMR), which are scaled-down power plants that can provide power in situ and thereby dramatically reduce companies' dependence on the grid.
Despite an entire burgeoning industry dedicated to their realization, there still aren't any commercial ones in operation anywhere in the world.
🌐 External Research Links - Science
18.02.2024
i
Scientists say the Atlantic current appears to be on the verge of collapse.
Scientists say the Atlantic current appears to be on the verge of collapse.
"PEOPLE WOULD SEE SEVERE AND CASCADING CONSEQUENCES AROUND THE WORLD."
The Atlantic Ocean is heading towards a tipping point, researchers warn, which could staunch the flow of heat to the northern hemisphere in what could be yet another consequence of climate change.
At the precipice is the ocean's churning network of cold and hot currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). As detailed in a new study published in the journal Science Advances, warming temperatures and melting ice sheets could cause this circulation to shut down within a century, causing entire continents to dramatically drop in temperature.
🌐 External Research Links - Science, Nature
15.02.2024
i
Hurricanes are becoming so strong that a new category is needed
Hurricanes are becoming so strong that a new category is needed
Scientists propose new category 6 rating to classify ‘mega-hurricanes’, becoming more likely due to climate crisis. Hurricanes are becoming so strong due to the climate crisis that the classification of them should be expanded to include a “category 6” storm, furthering the scale from the standard 1 to 5, according to a new study.
Over the past decade, five storms would have been classed at this new category 6 strength, researchers said, which would include all hurricanes with sustained winds of 192mph / 309 kmh or more. Such mega-hurricanes are becoming more likely due to global heating, studies have found, due to the warming of the oceans and atmosphere.
The scale classifies any hurricane with a sustained maximum wind speed of 74mph / 120 kmh or more to be a category 1 event, with the scale rising the faster the winds. Category 3 and above is considered to include major hurricanes that risk severe damage to property and life, with the strongest, category 5, including all storms that are 157mph / 253 kmh or more.
🌐 External Research Links - Nature
07.02.2024
i
Groundwater resources are declining
Groundwater resources are declining
Groundwater resources are declining across the globe, dropping in 71% of aquifers, according to a new study in Nature. Groundwater provides drinking water to billions of people and supplies nearly half of all water used for irrigation, but excessive use has depleted this vital water resource. The findings provide the most comprehensive analysis of global groundwater levels to date. They indicate that the decline in water resources is especially widespread in dry regions with extensive croplands. The authors of the new report says the problem is increasing, with groundwater depletion speeding up in 30% of the studied aquifers in the 21st century. But the study also highlights where efforts to remedy the problem are succeeding. It focuses on policy changes and improved aquifer management.
🌐 External Research Links - Nature
01.02.2024
i
The moon is shrinking (very slowly)
The moon is shrinking (very slowly)
Earth’s moon is a constant in the night sky, following predictable phases in its orbit. However, its size likely has been changing over time. A study published January 25 in the Planetary Science Journal found that the moon has shrunk more than 150 feet / 45.72 meters in circumference as its core gradually cooled over.
The fault formation caused by this continued shrinking often comes with seismic activity like moonquakes. Any locations near these moon fault zones could pose a threat to human exploration there, the same way that those living near fault lines on Earth face a greater risk of earthquakes.
🌐 External Research Links - Cosmos, Science
27.01.2024
i
How useful is the air quality index?
How useful is the air quality index?
While the air quality index is a useful tool, it has its limitations. There’s still a greater need for robust monitoring to ensure cleaner air.
Air pollutants are categorised as primary pollutants (environmentally damaging materials produced by man-made or natural processes) and secondary pollutants (products of chemical changes of the primary pollutants). Usually colourless and odourless, air pollutants are an invisible threat which poses a grave risk to public health, our ecosystems, and the delicate equilibrium of our planet.
A way to keep track of air pollution daily is by understanding how to minimise our exposures using readings of the Air Quality Index (AQI), also sometimes referred to as Air Pollution Index (API). This is the global language used for assessing air quality conditions. It informs people how clean or polluted the air is based on a simple number from a scale of 0-500 with known impact to human health.
🌐 External Research Links -
27.01.2024
i
Insane satellite image reveals heat leaking from Iceland's new fissures
Insane satellite image reveals heat leaking from Iceland's new fissures
The centuries-old volcanic fissures opening up in Iceland, oozing out red-hot lava, have had residents on edge, and spectators elsewhere transfixed. Lava flowing from one fissure engulfed several places. The danger appears to be subsiding, with seismic activity decreasing and hazard warnings downgraded though still high.
But is still at risk of fault movements, lava flow, and more fissures erupting without warning, as of January 19 when the Icelandic Met Office issued its last update.
NASA's Landsat 9 satellite captured 🖱️ the unfolding crisis by using a thermal infrared sensor. A recently released map depicts the substantial heat emanating from the fractured land surface. The image vividly shows the massive fissures filled with intensely hot lava, a faultline that had been quiet for 800 years before this sudden spell of volcanic activity. the below-ground intrusions of magma that flowed toward and the flurry of earthquakes that prompted authorities to evacuate.
🌐 External Research Links - earthobservatory
24.01.2024
i
Point of No Return:
Point of No Return:
Major Antarctic Glacier Has Gone Through an Irreversible Retreat
Major Antarctic Glacier Has Gone Through an Irreversible Retreat
The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica has experienced an irreversible retreat, crossing a tipping point in the past 80 years. The findings, which were published in the influential journal Nature Climate Change, emerged when world leaders gathered in Dubai to debate the impacts of climate change at the COP28 conference. While numerical model simulations have been used for some time to study the behavior of glaciers and ice sheets, researchers from Northumbria University and Bangor University combined these for the first time with real-world satellite observations to identify whether a tipping point has been crossed in the past. They have now been able to confirm that Pine Island Glacier underwent a rapid, unstable retreat at some point between the 1940s and 1970s, leading to an irreversible loss of ice over several decades.
Pine Island Glacier, together with its neighbor Thwaites Glacier, has been called the ‘underbelly’ of the West Antarctic ice sheet. Pine Ice Glacier is one of the fastest-flowing outlets of ice in West Antarctica and has contributed more to global mean sea-level rise in recent decades than any other Antarctic glacier.
“Whilst the phase of retreat that we modeled may have finished, we cannot rule out similar irreversible mass loss from this part of the ice sheet in the near future and we should not risk the consequences associated with these types of retreat and mass loss.”
🌐 External Research Links - “Recent irreversible retreat phase of Pine Island Glacier” by Brad Reed, J. A. Mattias Green, Adrian Jenkins and G. Hilmar Gudmundsson, 4 December 2023, Nature Climate Change.
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-023-01887-y
Researchers from Northumbria University are leading major studies assessing changes in Antarctica, including TiPACCs (Tipping Points in the Antarctic Climate System).
22.01.2024
i
36.8 Billion Tons – Fossil CO₂ Emissions Reach Record High
36.8 Billion Tons – Fossil CO₂ Emissions Reach Record High
The latest carbon budget report from the Global Carbon Project reveals that global CO2 emissions remain significantly higher than the reductions required to achieve our climate targets.
The time left to reach the climate goals of the Paris Agreement is running out fast. This is the conclusion of the latest Global Carbon Budget, which is published annually by the Global Carbon Project (GCP). The GCP is an association of international scientists with a large German contingent, including LMU geographers Julia Pongratz and Clemens Schwingshackl, who are part of the core writing team. According to the report, global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use will amount to 36.8 billion metric tons in 2023, a record high that exceeds the 2022 level by 1.1%.
Regionally, the trends varied greatly: Whereas fossil emissions increased in India and China (+8.2% and + 4.0%), they fell in Europe and the United States (-7.4% and -3.0%) and decreased marginally in the rest of the world (-0.4%). The authors attribute the decline in Europe to the expansion of renewables and the effects of the energy crisis. Meanwhile, they attribute the growth in China partly to delayed recovery from the effects of the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Global CO2 emissions are a long way off the reductions needed
Adding in emissions from land use, the report finds that global carbon dioxide emissions will amount to some 40.9 billion metric tons in 2023. This is a long way off the significant reductions that are needed to reach the Paris Agreement climate goals. Although the estimates for the remaining carbon budget come with substantial uncertainties, it is clear nevertheless that time is running out fast: If current levels of carbon dioxide emissions continue, the remaining carbon budget for a 50% chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C could be used up in seven years, and of limiting warming to 1.7°C in 15 years.
🌐 External Research Links -
22.01.2024
i
EU and UK Face an 872 Billion Euro Battle Against Rising Waters
EU and UK Face an 872 Billion Euro Battle Against Rising Waters
Sea level rises could cost the EU and UK up to 872 billion Euros by 2100, indicating a need for region-specific economic strategies.
Damage caused by sea level rises could cost the EU and UK economies up to 872 billion Euros in total by the end of the century, according to a modeling study published on January 18 in Scientific Reports. Ignasi Cortés Arbués, Theodoros Chatzivasileiadis, Tatiana Filatova, and colleagues modeled the potential economic impacts of sea level rises for 271 European regions by 2100 under a high emissions scenario (SSP5-RCP8.5) with no new coastal protection measures implemented after 2015. They combined a previously developed economic model with data on projected sea-level rise impacts, investment trends, and the distribution of economic losses caused by 155 flooding events across Europe between 1995 and 2016. They estimated potential economic losses and gains compared to a scenario with no sea level rises and 2% annual economic growth across all regions. They also modeled the impact of targeted investment in different economic sectors on regional economies following sea level rises.
🌐 External Research Links - scitechdaily
22.01.2024
i
Extreme cold snaps could get worse as climate warms
Extreme cold snaps could get worse as climate warms
In fact climate instability may be disrupting the polar vortex.
Extremely cold Arctic air and severe winter weather swept southward into much of the U.S. in mid-January 2024, breaking daily low temperature records from Montana to Texas. Tens of millions of people were affected by dangerously cold temperatures, and heavy lake-effect snow and snow squalls have had severe effects across the Great Lakes and Northeast regions.
These severe cold events occur when the polar jet stream – the familiar jet stream of winter that runs along the boundary between Arctic and more temperate air – dips deeply southward, bringing the cold Arctic air to regions that don’t often experience it.
After Earth just experienced its hottest year on record, it may seem surprising to set so many cold records. But does this cold snap contradict human-caused global warming? As a atmospheric and climate scientist can tell you, absolutely and unequivocally, it does not.
So, while the world can expect fewer of these severe cold events in the future, many regions need to remain prepared for exceptional cold when it does occur.
🌐 External Research Links - the conservation
22.01.2024
i
Huge Iceberg falling apart as it drifts away from Antarctica
Huge Iceberg falling apart as it drifts away from Antarctica
It's one of the grand wonders of the world, and it's eroding before our eyes.
a23a, billed as the largest iceberg in existence right now, is falling apart as it slowly drifts away from antarctica towards relatively warmers waters, reports say.
Photographers on a ship run by travel company eyos captured spectacular photos of the iceberg on sunday, revealing that large waves have sculpted dramatic caverns, arches, and flying buttresses into the edges of the frozen leviathan. Its area is about 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), which made it one of the largest icebergs in the world until it was temporarily surpassed in size by A76 and a It's a trillion tons of ice.
"it's mind-bogglingly big," eyos videographer Richard Sidey told. "i actually don't think we can fathom just how big it is; we can only know how big it is from science. It's certainly too big to photograph. it stretches as far as you can see in both directions."
a23a had broken off antarctica's filchner-ronne ice shelf back in 1986 and then immediately became stuck in the sea floor. the first hint of movement away from its icy prison was picked up back in 2020, but it really started moving quickly late last year, with strong ocean currents and fierce winds pushing it along. In the date of this article A23a is being propelled it towards the South Atlantic along a trajectory commonly referred to as ‘iceberg alley’, because of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
Is the iceberg moving due to climate change? after all, the earth's southernmost continent is undergoing dramatic changes due to global warming — leading to record falls in sea ice cover and scores of dead emperor penguin chicks.
🌐 External Research Links - vorian, www
17.01.2024
i
Dubai Importing Glacier ICE from Greenland to serve in drinks
Dubai Importing Glacier ICE from Greenland to serve in drinks
Thanks to climate change, and now an apparent demand for exotically sourced ice cubes, the future of our world's precious glaciers is literally on the rocks. A startup in Greenland called Arctic Ice, is making cold cash by extracting glacier ice from the country's fjords and then shipping them over 9,000 nautical miles to the United Arab Emirates, where "exclusive" bars in cities like Dubai serve the ice in drinks.
To the climate conscious, Greenland is chiefly known for its massive ice sheet, from which news of its regularly melting glaciers is an existential reminder of our rising sea levels.
🌐 External Research Links -
15.01.2024
i
2024 will break the extreme temperatures of 2023
2024 will break the extreme temperatures of 2023
The elements that conspired to make 2023 so unusually warm are likely to push the dial even further in 2024, with meteorologists already warning about extreme heat. Ocean reaches its full strength on top of warming driven by greenhouse gases.
🌐 External Research Links - www by Vorian
15.01.2024
i
The Connection Between CO2 and Global Warming — Understanding.
The Connection Between CO2 and Global Warming — Understanding.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a naturally occurring greenhouse gas that plays a vital role in regulating Earth's temperature. However, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels for energy, have led to a significant increase in atmospheric CO2 levels. This increase is trapping more heat from the sun, leading to a gradual warming of Earth's climate.
The connection between CO2 emissions and global warming is well-established by scientific evidence. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading international body for the assessment of climate change, has concluded that it is extremely likely that human activities caused more than half of the observed increase in global mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2010.
The effects of global warming are already evident around the world. These include:
Rising sea levels: As the Earth warms, glaciers and ice sheets melt, causing sea levels to rise. This threatens coastal communities and low-lying islands.
More extreme weather events: Global warming is increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods, and wildfires.
Changes in plant and animal life: Global warming is disrupting ecosystems and causing some species to move to cooler areas or to die out.
To address the issue of climate change, it is essential to reduce CO2 emissions. This can be achieved by transitioning to renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal power, improving energy efficiency, and adopting sustainable practices in agriculture and forestry.
Take Action to Protect Our Planet
Individuals can also play a role in reducing CO2 emissions by making changes in their daily lives. Here are some simple things you can do:
Conserve energy: Turn off lights and electronics when not in use, and use energy-efficient appliances.
Drive less: Walk, bike, or take public transportation whenever possible. If you must drive, carpool or use fuel-efficient vehicles.
Eat less meat: Meat production is a major source of CO2 emissions. Consider reducing your meat consumption or switching to plant-based alternatives.
Support sustainable businesses: Choose products and services from companies that are committed to sustainability.
Every action, no matter how small, can make a difference. By working together, we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and protect our planet for present and future generations.
Additional Resources:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) website: https://www.ipcc.ch/
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) climate change website: https://climate.nasa.gov/
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) climate change website: https://www.epa.gov/climatechange
🌐 External Research Links - vorian research ™. Text created and written by google AI.
14.01.2024
i
To what extent did the COVID-19 pandemic reduce global CO2 emissions?
To what extent did the COVID-19 pandemic reduce global CO2 emissions?
The Temporary Drop in Global CO2 Emissions During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant decline in global CO2 emissions in 2020, with an estimated reduction of 5.4%. This marked the largest annual decline in emissions since the 1940s and was primarily driven by a sharp drop in economic activity, particularly in the transportation and energy sectors.
At the peak of the pandemic in April 2020, global CO2 emissions from sectors responsible for approximately 90% of fossil fuel emissions reached a minimal level. Aviation saw a 75% decline in emissions, surface transport experienced a 50% reduction, electricity generation fell by 15%, and industry's emissions decreased by 35%.
Despite the temporary decline, global CO2 emissions rebounded in 2021 and are expected to continue rising in the coming years unless there are significant changes in energy consumption patterns. According to researchers, world carbon dioxide emissions are projected to surpass 40 billion tons in 2023, with nearly 37 billion tons coming from fossil fuels. This represents an increase of 1.1% compared to 2022 levels and 1.5% compared to pre-pandemic levels, continuing a plateau that has persisted for the past decade.
The temporary nature of the CO2 emission decline during the pandemic highlights the ongoing challenge of reducing emissions in the long term. Addressing climate change requires a concerted effort to transition to a more sustainable energy system, one that relies less on fossil fuels and more on renewable sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal power.
🌐 External Research Links - Vorian, www, google AI
14.01.2024
i
Climate change behind sharp drop in snowpack since 1980s
Climate change behind sharp drop in snowpack since 1980s
The world hasn't been this warm in 100,000 years. Water security is only one dimension of snow loss, and scientific data from ground observations, satellites, and climate models do not agree on whether global warming is consistently chipping away at the snowpacks that accumulate in high-elevation mountains, complicating efforts to manage the water scarcity that would result for many population centers. "We were most concerned with how warming is affecting the amount of water stored in snow. The loss of that reservoir is the most immediate and potent risk that climate change poses to society in terms of diminishing snowfall and accumulation,". "Snow is very sensitive to within-winter variations in temperature and precipitation, and the risks from snow loss are not the same in New England as in the Southwest, or for a village in the Alps as in high-mountain Asia."
🌐 External Research Links - voian research ™ and phys.org
12.01.2024
i
James Hansen, a climate scientist for his 1988 Congressional testimony
James Hansen, a climate scientist for his 1988 Congressional testimony
"We are not moving into a 1.5C world, we are briefly passing through it in 2024. We will pass through the 2C (3.6F) world in the 2030s unless we take purposeful actions to affect the planet’s energy balance.”
🌐 External Research Links - vorian research ™ and earth.org
09.01.2024
i
War's and her cost in the climate change
War's and her cost in the climate change
Among the world's biggest consumers of fuel, militaries account for 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a actual estimate by international experts.
U.S military emissions since the beggining of the Global War on terror in 2001 is 1.2 Biliion metric tons greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to the annual emissions at 257 Million passenger car, more than then double the current number of cars on the road in U.S.
How much would it cost to fight climate change?
Estimates of how much money it would take to end global climate change range between $300 billion and $50 trillion over the next two decades.
🌐 External Research Links - vorian research ™, globalgiving, Watson Institute
09.01.2024
i
What is XAI ?
Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) is a set of processes and methods that allows human users to comprehend and trust the results and output created by machine learning algorithms. Explainable AI is used to describe an AI model, its expected impact and potential biases.
🌐 External Research Links - vorian research ™
08.01.2024
i
Do you know the cost of training one AI transformer model?
According to a University of Massachusetts Amherst study published in 2019 by Emma Strubell, Ananya Ganesh, and Andrew McCallum, the cost of training one AI transformer model with neural architecture search via a GPU results in over 626,000 lbs. of CO2 emissions. In comparison, this is the equivalent to the CO2 emissions generated during the entire life spans of five average cars, including the fuel, which is roughly 26,000 lbs. of CO2 emissions per car, per Strubell et al.
🌐 External Research Links - vorian research ™
08.01.2024
i
Technology Is Secretly Stealing Your Time.
Technology Is Secretly Stealing Your Time.
Technology is supposed to make our lives easier. Smartphones provide a palm-size window to the world, enabling us to do almost anything at the touch of a button. Smart homes look after themselves, and virtual meetings mean that for many, time spent commuting is a thing of the past.
So we should have more free time. Time which is now spent sleeping, relaxing or simply doing nothing – right?
If the idea that you have more time than ever before is making you choke on your coffee, you are not alone. There is growing evidence that while digital technology may help us to save some time, we end up using that time to do more and more things.
Whether it was waiting for a bus, waking in the morning, or lying in bed at night, that time which would previously be "empty" was now filled with brain training apps, creating lists of things they should do or try based on their social media feed, and other life admin. It seems that quiet moments of people watching, imagining and daydreaming are now filled with tech-based tasks.
The growth in digital tasks is happening, in part, because technology appears to be changing our perception of what free time is for. For many people, it is no longer enough to simply eat dinner, watch TV or maybe do an exercise class.
Instead, in an attempt to avoid wasting time, these activities are performed while also browsing the web in search of the ingredients for a more perfect life and trying to develop a sense of achievement.
On the face of it some of these tasks may seem like examples of tech saving us time. In theory, online banking should mean I have more time because I no longer need to go to the bank in my lunch break. However, our research suggests that this is not the case. Technology is contributing to a denser form of life.
Social media may at times inspire, motivate or relax people. But our research suggests people often feel a sense of guilt, shame and regret after filling their free time with online activities. This is because they perceive online activities to be less authentic and worthwhile than real-world activities.
It seems that people still see going for a walk or actually being with friends as more valuable than being online. Maybe if we put down the phone a little more, we would have the time to actually cook those recipes we watch online.
How do we slow down and take back our time?
How do we slow down and take back our time?
Reclaiming the time "saved" by technology may require a shift in the way in which we proportion time. To break free of the habit of filling time with more and more tasks, we must first accept that sometimes it is OK to do little or nothing.
In the work environment, employers and employees need to create an environment in which disconnection is the norm and not the exception. This means having realistic expectations about what can and should be achieved in a normal working day.
But developing legislation that enshrines the right to disconnect may be the only way to ensure that technology stops taking over our time. Several European countries such as France and Italy already have right to disconnect legislation.
This specifies that employees are under no obligation to be contactable outside of their working hours, and that they have the right to refuse to take digital work home with them.
It is also possible that technology itself may hold the key to reclaiming our time. Imagine if, rather than telling you to stand up and move around (yet another task), your smartwatch told you to stop working because you'd completed your contracted hours.
Maybe when technology starts to tell us to do less, we will finally regain time.
🌐 External Research Links - science alert
08.01.2024
i
Earth on Brink of Five Catastrophic Climate Tipping Points
Earth on Brink of Five Catastrophic Climate Tipping Points
It is now almost inevitable that 2023 will be the hottest year ever recorded by humans, probably the hottest in at least 125,000 years. Several temperature records have been broken, with global average temperatures in some periods well above 1.5°C. Antarctic sea ice loss is accelerating at frightening rates, along with many other indicators of rapid climate change. Does this mean that 2024 will be the year that parts of the climate reach a much more dangerous state? The climate system has many potential tipping points, such as disappearing ice sheets or dense tropical forests becoming significantly drier and more open. It would be very difficult, indeed impossible, to recover these systems once they have passed a breaking point. Having examined the scientific evidence of past and current changes, and taken into account projections from computer models, we have identified more than 25 inflection points in the Earth system.
🌐 External Research Links - scientealert
04.01.2024
i
Earth has just had its hottest year on record
Earth has just had its hottest year on record
The Earth had its hottest year on record in 2023, according to preliminary data from the US government and other climate research bodies. Scientists across the world have been warning for months that the past year would smash previous records due to the ongoing climate crisis caused by humanity's greenhouse gas emissions.
Now, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has said that it is “all but certain” that 2023 will indeed rank as the warmest year in 174 years.
We are engaged in an unprecedented experiment with our planet, There is still time to prevent devastating climate consequences, but the window of opportunity is shrinking.
🌐 External Research Links - independent.co.uk
03.01.2024
i
Google fired up a experimental new geothermal plant
Google fired up a experimental new geothermal plant
Google has officially fired up an advanced, first-of-its-kind geothermal project in Nevada, providing carbon-free power to its massive data centers nearby.
The plant, made in partnership with the energy firm Fervo, is part of Google's grand plan to operate entirely on carbon-free energy by 2030.
While this plant is set to provide only a modest 3.5 megawatts of energy, the true splash is the experimental techniques it uses to harness geothermal power — which, if borne out here, could be used more widely to provide climate-friendly energy across the globe.
🌐 External Research Links - futurism
01.01.2024
i
Gigantic Wave in Pacific Ocean
Gigantic Wave in Pacific Ocean
The ocean's tallest waves are getting taller Wind-driven waves are growing fastest in the Ocean's, new study says after the gigantic Wave in Pacific Ocean Was Most Extreme 'Rogue Wave' on Record. In November of 2023, a freak wave came out of the blue, lifting a lonesome buoy off the coast of New Zeland 16.5 meters high (54.17 feet). his wave was detected using a buoy that is part of the Coastal Ocean Wave Measurement (COWM) network, which is coordinated by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand. The buoy is equipped with sensors that measure wave height, direction, and period.
The 16.5-meter rogue wave is the second-largest rogue wave ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is the largest wave ever recorded in the South Pacific Ocean.
And unless the buoy had been taken for a ride, we might never have known it even happened.
🌐 External Research Links - sciencealert.com
25.11.2023
i
A23a : World's biggest iceberg on the move after 30 years
A23a : World's biggest iceberg on the move after 30 years
The largest iceberg in the world is moving again after 3 decades grounded at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of Antarctica. A23a, as it is called by scientists, is around 4000 km² in area and 400 meters thick. Think of an ice floe with the Portugal, Algarve area wandering through the waters...
The relocation of the A23a creates uncertainty. It is possible that it will anchor again, this time near South Georgia Island.
This situation could be problematic for Antarctic wildlife, as millions of seals, penguins and seabirds breed on the island and feed in its waters.
🌐 External Research Links - space.com
23.11.2023
i
World's largest supercomputer for training AI revealed
World's largest supercomputer for training AI revealed
Cerebras Systems, in collaboration with G42, has revealed Condor Galaxy – a network of nine interconnected supercomputers, which together will provide up to 36 exaFLOPs for training AI.
In recent years, and particularly the last year 2023, major strides have been achieved in artificial intelligence (AI). Large language models (LLMs) and other subsets of generative AI, for example, have reached unprecedented new heights. Leveraging advancements in machine learning and natural language processing, these programs are now creating realistic and coherent text, images, and music. Alongside this, AI is helping to accelerate research in areas such as medicine.
The progress lately has been phenomenal, prompting many in the futurist community to reconsider their predictions for a technological singularity and the likely date of its arrival. In order for such momentum to be sustained, however, AI requires exponential improvements in computer processing power.
Cerebras Systems has just unveiled a gigantic new supercomputer, designed for next-generation LLMs, which promises to significantly reduce AI model training times. The Condor Galaxy, named after a real galaxy, will combine nine supercomputers into one. The first, Condor Galaxy 1 (CG1), is being deployed this year, with additional machines following in 2024.
CG-1 will feature a massive 54 million cores, 82 terabytes (TB) of memory, and 388 Tbps of fabric bandwidth. Its AI compute will be 4 exaFLOPS, which is a shorthand way of saying four quintillion (4,000,000,000,000,000,000) calculations a second. When the final machine in the series is deployed, the Condor Galaxy will have a combined compute of 36 exaFLOPS.
🌐 External Research Links - Cerebras
i
Visible Naked Eye Comet: Green Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura)!
Visible Naked Eye Comet: Green Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura)!
The naked-eye comet Nishimura is shining brightly now for your viewing pleasure! To find it in the sky, use stargazing apps.
🌐 External Research Links - starwalk.space
09.09.2023
i
Asteroid worth 700 quintillion
Asteroid worth 700 quintillion
Asteroid 16 Psyche has enough gold to give everyone on Earth $93 billion. But it won’t remain precious if it hits the markets in large quantities. But in fact, there’s a more fundamental reason why a giant golden asteroid wouldn’t make the world fabulously rich. It’s because wealth mostly doesn’t come from big hunks of metal. It comes from the ability to create things that satisfy human desires.
03.08.2023
i
A brief resume about the Voyager's "glitch's"
A brief resume about the Voyager's "glitch's"
Here are some dates regarding notable glitches or technical incidents that occurred with Voyager 2 dont fogetting the fact of the existance of the Voyager 1:
- July 19, 1978: Voyager 2 experienced a "memory overrun" glitch that caused the spacecraft's computer to repeatedly restart. This resulted in a temporary loss of data transmission and scientific observations for a few days until engineers resolved the issue.
- August 22, 1981: Voyager 2 encountered a communication problem where the spacecraft was unable to transmit data back to Earth. Engineers traced the issue to a faulty command in the spacecraft's computer memory and were able to correct it, restoring normal communication.
- May 11, 1998: An anomaly occurred with the propulsion system, causing the spacecraft to unexpectedly shutdown its science instruments. This was caused by a glitch in the spacecraft's flight data system, but engineers quickly diagnosed the problem and restored functionality within a few days.
- January 28, 2020: Voyager 2 experienced a glitch in its data transmission system, resulting in a temporary communication loss with Earth. Mission control successfully resolved the issue, and the spacecraft resumed regular operations after a repair procedure was implemented.
- July, 28, 2023: A series of planned commands sent to NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft July 21 inadvertently caused the antenna to point 2 degrees away from Earth. AS a result, Voyager 2 is currently unable to receive commands or transmit data back to Earth.
The pattern by me : The two events occurred in the fourth quadrant of the ecliptic coordinate system. The ecliptic coordinate system is a system of celestial coordinates that is based on the ecliptic, the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. The fourth quadrant is the quadrant that is located in the lower right-hand portion of the ecliptic.
The distance between Voyager 2 and Earth at the time of the second event was 15.2 billion miles (24.5 billion kilometers). This distance is equivalent to 12.4 light-years.
As you can see, the distance between Voyager 2 and Earth increased by about 0.6 billion miles (1 billion kilometers) between the two events. This is because Voyager 2 is continuing to travel away from Earth at a speed of about 38,000 miles per hour (61,000 kilometers per hour).
The points of the two events are also different. one event occurred when Voyager 2 was in the heliosphere, the bubble of charged particles that surrounds the sun. The second event occurred when Voyager 2 was in interstellar space, the region of space beyond the heliosphere.
The difference in distance and points between the two events is important because it shows that Voyager 2 is continuing to travel through space and is getting closer to interstellar space. It also shows that the spacecraft is still functioning, even though it is nearing the end of its mission.
Despite these glitches, the Voyager 2 mission has been highly successful, with engineers on Earth capable of troubleshooting and rectifying most technical issues to ensure the spacecraft's continued operation.
🌐 External Research Links - zorie, Nasa
01.08.2023
i
Wormholes Could Enable Time Travel and Physicists Just Figured Out How
Wormholes Could Enable Time Travel and Physicists Just Figured Out How
Shortcuts through spacetime known as wormholes aren't recognized features of the cosmos. But for the better part of a century, scientists have wondered if the weft and warp instructed by relativity prescribe ways for quantum ripples – or even entire particles – to break free of their locality.
At their most fantastic, such reconfigurations in the fabric of the Universe would allow human-sized masses to traverse light-years to cross galaxies in a heartbeat or perhaps move through time as quickly as one might move through their kitchen. On much larger scales, spacetime can shrink and expand in relation to gravity in ways that are impossible to appreciate without a whole bunch of equations to guide you. For example, cram enough mass in one place (conveniently ignoring any charge it might have, or if it spins around), spacetime will bend in ways that give it two exterior surfaces. What connects them? A wormhole, of course.
Before you pack for a paradoxical round trip to the future and back, many obstacles could easily prevent such a loop. The late physicist Stephen Hawking certainly thought so.
This research is available on preprint server arXiv and has been accepted to be published in Physical Review D.
🌐 External Research Link - preprint server arXiv
17.07.2023
i
NASA may build more than one moon base for Artemis lunar missions
NASA may build more than one moon base for Artemis lunar missions
NASA may work with its international partners to establish a series of moon camps spread across the lunar surface to maximize science and exploration. The agency, Free said, is studying whether it is a better idea to have a distributed approach with multiple moon bases, including some potentially contributed by international partners like the European Space Agency, Canada or Japan, who have all signed on as Artemis program partners.
🌐 External news Link - space
19.04.2023
⚠️
i
Anomaly on the Lunar Orbit
Anomaly on the Lunar Orbit
Independent experiments show a large anomaly in measurements of lunar orbital evolution, with applications to cosmology and the speed of light. The Moon has long been known to be slowly drifting farther from Earth due to tidal forces. The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment (LLRE) indicates the Moon's semimajor axis increasing at 3.82 ± .07 cm/yr, anomalously high. If the Moon were today gaining angular momentum at this rate, it would have coincided with Earth less than 2 Gyr ago. Study of tidal rhythmites indicates a rate of 2.9 ± 0.6 cm/yr. Historical eclipse observations independently measure a recession rate of 2.82 ± .08 cm/yr. Detailed numerical simulation of lunar orbital evolution predicts 2.91 cm/yr. LLRE differs from three independent experiments by over12 sigma. A cosmology where speed of light c is related to time t by GM=tc^3 has been suggested to predict the redshifts of Type Ia supernovae, and a 4.507034% proportion of baryonic matter. If c were changing in the amount predicted, lunar orbital distance would appear to increase by an additional 0.935 cm/yr. An anomaly in the lunar orbit may be precisely calculated, shedding light on puzzles of 'dark energy'. In Planck units this cosmology may be summarized as M=R=t.Lunar Recession Rate;
🌐 External data Link - adsabs.harvard.edu
⚠️
i
Giant spot is crossing the Sun and no need a Telescope to see it
Giant spot is crossing the Sun and no need a Telescope to see it
A sunspot four times the size of Earth is lined up with the Sun right now and it's so big that an astronomer said it could be seen with the naked eye.
🌐 External News Link -Sciencealert
24.05.2023
⚠️
i
Satellites Pose 'Unprecedented Global Threat', Scientists Warn
Satellites Pose 'Unprecedented Global Threat', Scientists Warn
"If not stopped, this craziness will become worse and worse."
Astronomers warned allready that the light pollution created by the soaring number of satellites orbiting Earth poses an "unprecedented global threat to nature".
The number of satellites in low Earth orbit have more than doubled since 2019, when US company SpaceX launched the first "mega-constellation," which comprise thousands of satellites.
An armada of new internet constellations are planned to launch soon, adding thousands more satellites to the already congested area fewer than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) above Earth.
Each new satellite increases the risk that it will smash into another object orbiting Earth, creating yet more debris.
This can create a chain reaction in which cascading collisions create ever smaller fragments of debris, further adding to the cloud of "space junk" reflecting light back to Earth.
In a series of papers published in the journal Nature Astronomy, astronomers warned that this increasing light pollution threatens the future of their profession.
In one paper, researchers said that for the first time they had measured how much a brighter night sky would financially and scientifically affect the work of a major observatory.
Modelling suggested that for the Vera Rubin Observatory, a giant telescope currently under construction in Chile, the darkest part of the night sky will become 7.5 percent brighter over the next decade.
That would reduce the number of stars the observatory is able to see by around 7.5 percent, study co-author John Barentine told AFP.
That would add nearly a year to the observatory's survey, costing around $21.8 million, said Barentine of Dark Sky Consulting, a firm based in the US state of Arizona.
He added that there is another cost of a brighter sky that impossible to calculate: the celestial events that humanity will never get to observe.
And the increase in light pollution could be even worse than thought.
Another Nature study used extensive modelling to suggest that current measurements of light pollution are significantly underestimating the phenomenon.
'Stop this attack'
The brightening of the night sky will not just affect professional astronomers and major observatories, the researchers warned.
Aparna Venkatesan, an astronomer at the University of San Francisco, said it also threatened "our ancient relationship with the night sky".
"Space is our shared heritage and ancestor – connecting us through science, storytelling, art, origin stories and cultural traditions – and it is now at risk," she said in a Nature comment piece.
A group of astronomers from Spain, Portugal, and Italy called for scientists to "stop this attack" on the natural night.
"The loss of the natural aspect of a pristine night sky for all the world, even on the summit of K2 or on the shore of Lake Titicaca or on Easter Island is an unprecedented global threat to nature and cultural heritage," the astronomers said in a Nature comment piece.
05.03.2023
⚠️
i
Glaciers run out of snow in Antarctica – allready happened.
Glaciers run out of snow in Antarctica – allready happened.
It is the second year in a row that Antarctica has had a higher than average melt. Glaciers that lose all their snow cover "can't survive", and all that affects. It warns. see the difference.
🌐 External News Link - Jornal Público (pt-PT edition)
30.03.2023
⚠️
i
‘Day After Tomorrow’ disaster moment fears
‘Day After Tomorrow’ disaster moment fears
The disturbing projection is related to the melting of ice caps caused by global heating.
The new scientific modelling reveals that this could slow down deep water circulation more than 40 per cent by 2050 – putting it on a path towards collapse, said Professor Matthew England, deputy director of the ARC Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
The team from UNSW, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Australian National University and CSIRO, Australia’s governmental scientific research agency, published the landmark study in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
“Our study shows that the melting of the ice sheets has a dramatic impact on the overturning circulation that regulates Earth’s climate,” says Dr Adele Morrison, also from ACEAS and the ANU Research School of Earth Sciences.
With collapse of the deep current, oceans below 13,000 feet (4,000 metres) would stagnate and cause impacts for centuries.
The Australian Science Media Centre evoked the sci-fi disaster movie, The Day After Tomorrow, which tells the fictional story of global catastrophe caused by collapse of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation.
30.03.2023
i
Mistaken as a galaxy is actually a black hole pointed directly at Earth
Mistaken as a galaxy is actually a black hole pointed directly at Earth
This black hole is equivalent to 30 billion suns and In a distant galaxy, a supermassive black hole spewing radiation at near light speed has shifted its angle by a whopping 90 degrees to point directly toward Earth — a sharp turn that's puzzling physicists.
Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are the hungry black holes at the cores of many other galaxies, and they accrete matter and spew powerful jets of high-energy particles known as relativistic jets. AGN are classified according to what part of the AGN is pointed toward Earth.
PBC J2333.9-2343, a large galaxy about 4 million light-years away, was previously classified as a radio galaxy, meaning its AGN's gargantuan jets of radiation were pointed perpendicular to our line of sight. But new research published March 20 in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society(opens in new tab) reclassifies the galaxy as a blazar, meaning the black hole's jets are now pointed directly at Earth. This means the galaxy's jets shifted by a "dramatic" degree, the researchers wrote in the study.
30.03.2023
i
Galaxy with huge black hole is on its way to Earth
Galaxy with huge black hole is on its way to Earth
A group of astronomers from different parts of the world has reclassified a galaxy called PBC J2333.9-2343, located 657 million light years from Earth. This is because they discovered that the black hole, which is located in the center, has changed direction and is now heading towards our planet. This discovery led the team to conduct extensive observations to see if it really had changed direction.
Dr. Lorena Hernandez-Garcia, who is part of the team, said that they initially studied the galaxy because of its peculiar properties. The study revealed that it has now rotated 90 degrees, pointing its center towards Earth. Consequently, the galaxy is now classified as a "blazar".
According to the Royal Astronomical Society, blazars are powerful phenomena in the Universe and considered to be highly energetic objects. The team's findings provide an opportunity for researchers to study the properties of blazars, including the impact of high-energy particles emanating from these objects.
Meanwhile, astronomers have observed that material emanating from the black hole has created two massive lobes on opposite sides of the galaxy. These lobes are easily visible with radio waves and are among its most prominent features.
Dr. Lorena Hernandez-Garcia explained that the presence of the lobes indicates that the nucleus is no longer feeding them, which implies that they are quite old.
29.03.2023
i
Risk of Giant Asteroids Hitting Earth Could Be Worse Than We Realized
Risk of Giant Asteroids Hitting Earth Could Be Worse Than We Realized
Our planet hides its scars well. It's a shame, actually, as evidence of previous asteroid strikes might help us better plan for the next catastrophic impact.
In fact, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center chief scientist, James Garvin, thinks we might have been misreading traces of some of the more serious asteroid strikes that have occurred within the past million years.
If he's right, the odds of being hit by something nasty could be higher than current estimates predict.
🔗 Related article 1
21.03.2023
i
200-foot asteroid will pass Earth within the Moon’s orbit
200-foot asteroid will pass Earth within the Moon’s orbit
A 200-foot asteroid discovered earlier this year will pass Earth at a distance closer than the Moon later this month. The asteroid, labeled 2023 DZ2, is set to fly by our planet on March 25. When it happens, the asteroid’s March flyby will occur at roughly half the distance the Moon orbits our planet, making for a close call, cosmically speaking. This isn’t the first asteroid that has ever come close to Earth. However, this is one of the closest asteroids that will pass by our blue marble of a planet. The asteroid 2023 DZ2 will perform its March flyby at 0.5 lunar distance from Earth’s surface. This relative closeness will let observers view the asteroid through telescopes with a larger diameter. When this 210-foot asteroid completes its March flyby of our planet, it will travel roughly 17,426 miles per hour (28,044 km/h). That number might seem significant, but it is relatively slow for an asteroid compared to other asteroids that have completed flybys of our planet.
Much like 2023 DZ2, the full orbit for 2023DW will become clearer once astronomers have more observations of the asteroid. You’ll be able to watch the March flyby on the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP).
20.03.2023
⚠️
i
Huge, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field
Huge, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field
A strange anomaly in Earth's magnetic field is behing tracked by NASA: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa.
This vast, developing phenomenon, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has intrigued and concerned scientists for years, and perhaps none more so than NASA researchers.
The space agency's satellites and spacecraft are particularly vulnerable to the weakened magnetic field strength within the anomaly, and the resulting exposure to charged particles from the Sun.
The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) – likened by NASA to a 'dent' in Earth's magnetic field, or a kind of 'pothole in space' – generally doesn't affect life on Earth, but the same can't be said for orbital spacecraft (including the International Space Station), which pass directly through the anomaly as they loop around the planet at low-Earth orbit altitudes.
During these encounters, the reduced magnetic field strength inside the anomaly means technological systems onboard satellites can short-circuit and malfunction if they become struck by high-energy protons emanating from the Sun.
24.03.2023
i
Discovered new asteroid could collide with Earth in 2046
Discovered new asteroid could collide with Earth in 2046
Valentine’s day 2046 could have a quite the attraction, according to a risk list that is managed by the European Space Agency’s Near Earth Objects Coordination Center, (ESA NEOCC). That’s because a newly discovered asteroid has a small chance of colliding with Earth that day. The asteroid, 2023DW, has a 1-in-625 chance of impacting our planet.
While a 1-in-625 chance doesn’t seem likely, astronomers consider it a relativity high risk of impact. But there is a lot we don’t know about this newly discovered asteroid – like a more precise measurement of its size. Astronomers believe the asteroid is around the size of an Olympic pool, roughly 50 meters (164 feet) long. If an asteroid that size collided with Earth, it would cause some damage.
09.03.2023
⚠️
i
Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus
Scientists have revived a ‘zombie’ virus
that spent 48,500 years frozen in permafrost
Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are thawing the region’s permafrost — a frozen layer of soil beneath the ground — and potentially stirring viruses that, after lying dormant for tens of thousands of years, could endanger animal and human health.
While a pandemic unleashed by a disease from the distant past sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, scientists warn that the risks, though low, are underappreciated. Chemical and radioactive waste that dates back to the Cold War, which has the potential to harm wildlife and disrupt ecosystems, may also be released during thaws.
“There’s a lot going on with the permafrost that is of concern, and (it) really shows why it’s super important that we keep as much of the permafrost frozen as possible,” said Kimberley Miner, a climate scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
Permafrost covers a fifth of the Northern Hemisphere, having underpinned the Arctic tundra and boreal forests of Alaska, Canada and Russia for millennia. It serves as a kind of time capsule, preserving — in addition to ancient viruses — the mummified remains of a number of extinct animals that scientist have been able to unearth and study in recent years, including two cave lion cubs and a woolly rhino.
The reason permafrost is a good storage medium isn’t just because it’s cold; it’s an oxygen-free environment that light doesn’t penetrate. But current day Arctic temperatures are warming up to four times faster than the rest of the planet, weakening the top layer of permafrost in the region
To better understand the risks posed by frozen viruses, Jean-Michel Claverie, an Emeritus professor of medicine and genomics at the Aix-Marseille University School of Medicine in Marseille, France, has tested earth samples taken from Siberian permafrost to see whether any viral particles contained therein are still infectious. He’s in search of what he describes as “zombie viruses” — and he has found some.
Claverie studies a particular type of virus he first discovered in 2003. Known as giant viruses, they are much bigger than the typical variety and visible under a regular light microscope, rather than a more powerful electron microscope — which makes them a good model for this type of lab work. His efforts to detect viruses frozen in permafrost were partly inspired by a team of Russian scientists who in 2012 revived a wildflower from a 30,000-year-old seed tissue found in a squirrel’s burrow. (Since then, scientists have also successfully brought ancient microscopic animals back to life.)
In 2014, he managed to revive a virus he and his team isolated from the permafrost, making it infectious for the first time in 30,000 years by inserting it into cultured cells. For safety, he’d chosen to study a virus that could only target single-celled amoebas, not animals or humans.
He repeated the feat in 2015, isolating a different virus type that also targeted amoebas. And in his latest research, published February 18 in the journal Viruses, Claverie and his team isolated several strains of ancient virus from multiple samples of permafrost taken from seven different places across Siberia and showed they could each infect cultured amoeba cells,
In the research paper, direct infection of humans with ancient pathogens released from permafrost was labeled as "currently unlikely".
Source CNN & - 09.03.2023
i
Mysterious, object flying towards centre of the galaxy black hole
Mysterious, object flying towards centre of the galaxy black hole
An object is being lurking near the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy – and scientists might finally know what it is. The object, known as X7 and stretched out near our Milky Way’s black hole, has mystified scientists for decades.
Scientists now believe that it could be a cloud of gas and dust that was thrown out when two stars collided.
27.02.2023
⚠️
Antarctic sea ice hits new record low in 2023
Antarctic sea ice hits new record low in 2023
‘Lower sea ice extent means that ocean waves will pound the coast of the giant ice sheet, further reducing ice shelves around Antarctica’ .
Antarctic sea ice has likely shrunk to a record low, US scientists announced on Monday, raising concerns that the climate crisis is increasingly destabilising the frozen continent. The 2023 minimum is the lowest in 45 years of satellite record-keeping, according to preliminary findings from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado Boulder, published on Monday, 27. Antarctica reached its minimum extent for the year at 691,000 million square miles on 21 February, researchers said, beating the record low set in 2022 by 52,500 square miles.
27.02.2023
⚠️
Part of The Sun Has Broken Off And Formed a Vortex…
Part of The Sun Has Broken Off And Formed a Vortex…
What The Heck Is Going on?
What The Heck Is Going on?
For all that the Sun is a ubiquitous and vital part of our lives, a lot about it remains baffling. And now it's done something decidedly peculiar. Material from a filament of plasma erupting from the Sun's surface broke away and appeared to form a crown-like vortex over the solar north pole.Further analysis will be required to determine whether or not this is what actually occurred.
For now, scientists are saying that they've not quite seen anything like it – and the footage itself is undoubtedly spectacular.
25.02.2023
⚠️
Rising sea levels put 900 million people in extreme danger
Rising sea levels put 900 million people in extreme danger
A tenth of the human race is at risk from rising sea levels, the head of the United Nations has warned.
“Sea-level rise is not only a threat in itself, it’s a threat-multiplier,” he added. “For the hundreds of millions of people living in small island developing states and other low-lying coastal areas around the world, sea-level rise is a torrent of trouble.
“Rising seas threaten lives and jeopardise access to water, food and healthcare. Saltwater intrusion can decimate jobs and entire economies in key industries like agriculture, fisheries, and tourism.
“It can damage or destroy vital infrastructure – including transportation systems, hospitals and schools, especially when combined with extreme weather events linked to the climate crisis.
“And rising seas threaten the very existence of some low-lying communities and even countries.”
“Under any scenario, countries like Bangladesh, China, India and the Netherlands are all at risk. Mega-cities on every continent will face serious impacts including Cairo, Lagos, Maputo, Bangkok, Dhaka, Jakarta, Mumbai, Shanghai, Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires and Santiago.
“The danger is especially acute for nearly 900 million people who live in coastal zones at low elevations – that’s 1 out of 10 people on earth. Some coastlines have already seen triple the average rate of sea level rise.”
“The impact of rising seas is already creating new sources of instability and conflict.”
Sea level rise is being driven by the melting of ice sheets in the Arctic and Antarctic and mountain glaciers which add water to the ocean. Scientists have determined that the ocean absorbs more than 90 per cent of the excess heat from greenhouse gases, causing water to expand as it heats up.
Sea levels have risen increasingly rapidly since about 1970 and in the past 100 years, sea levels have risen more than in any century over at least the last three millennia. The global average sea level has risen at a rate of about 4mm (0.16 inches) per year over the last decade.
With nearly half of the global population living within 97km (60 miles) of the coast, the rise in sea levels is already impacting people in many parts of the world. The frequency of coastal flooding has near doubled since the 1960s, and it will remain a hazard.
25.02.2023
i
ESA's NEOMIR will detect 'invisible' asteroids near the Sun
ESA's NEOMIR will detect 'invisible' asteroids near the Sun
Hidden by the glare of the Sun, some asteroids that are not possible to detect and that may have collision courses with Earth. The NEOMIR mission will serve as the first alarm of rocks with sizes from 20 meters, which cannot be seen from the planet.
21.02.2023
⚠️
Confirmed: the polar vortex wind has reversed. confusion begin?
Confirmed: the polar vortex wind has reversed. confusion begin?
At this moment we are talking about the stratospheric polar vortex and not the tropospheric one, so its consequences are not directly visible. However, as the days go by, it will spread to lower layers and could have repercussions on the troposphere and meteorological conditions on a planetary scale. The sudden stratospheric warming that has been much talked about among enthusiasts and professionals in recent weeks is now a reality and, in the last few hours, has spread throughout the stratosphere of the northern hemisphere of the stratosphere. Unlike the troposphere, the stratosphere is a layer with almost no vertical movement of air masses and no direct influence from obstacles and irregularities, both orographic and atmospheric, on the surface, which allows a simpler global prediction of the behavior of this layer. It is for this reason that current warming has been widely predicted since almost January. The event is proving to be very significant and is resulting in a reversal of the zonal westerly winds blowing around the North Pole. This vortex moved over Europe and in its place developed an opposing current, with easterly winds, over the Arctic. At the moment, this change has no direct influence on the troposphere and only affects the air masses that move above 30 km in altitude, however, forecasts suggest that in the coming days it will spread to increasingly lower layers.
18.02.2023
⚠️
Unexpected asteroid hits Earth and lights up skies over France
Unexpected asteroid hits Earth and lights up skies over France
The meteor, just one meter in diameter, had been discovered a few hours before the impact by the Hungarian observer Krisztián Sárneczky, who named it Sar2667. Upon entering Earth's atmosphere, the space rock ignited and produced flashes of light that were seen from northern France, southern Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands at around 3:50 am local time on 13.02.2023. Due to its small size, and the characteristics of the planet's protective layer, the meteor disintegrated on entry and was therefore a non-threatening astronomical event. It is not yet known whether or not any debris fell to any part of the Earth for further study.
This object "is the seventh asteroid discovered before the impact, this time around one meter in diameter". The most recent asteroid discovered before it hit Earth, 2022 WJ1, entered the atmosphere over Canada on November 19, 2022.
i
In theory, the Earth takes exactly 86,400 seconds to complete one round. But, full rotations take each less time as the years go by. Scientists have not yet discovered the real reasons that cause the changes in terrestrial gyres, but there are some suspicions of processes that may have an impact and even on the way we perceive time and making the ground can be much more unstable than we imagined.
i
Asteroid hits Earth in 2029
Asteroid hits Earth in 2029
Unlike Asteroid 2023 BU, which was only detected a few days before Apophis asteroid when astronomers first detected it in 2005, they realized that the asteroid was 340 meters, the size of the Empire State Building and enough to cause a mass extinction event on our planet. Is dangerously approaching us and could cause a catastrophic event. To assess the risks we run, NASA is preparing a mission to directly intercept the object in space.
Astronomers have discovered that a potentially dangerous asteroid will hit our planet within seven years and no, this is not a summary of the movie “Don't Look Up”. The object, now known as Apophis, is expected to reach Earth around April 13, 2029. It will be possible to see the asteroid in the sky as it passes through distances as close as the orbits of some of our satellites, even threatening to hit some of the instruments and cause great damage. «
To ensure the planet is not in danger, NASA scientists are planning to do a direct investigation of the asteroid, sending a mission to intercept it. The findings and initial plans have now been published in the Decadal Survey for Planetary Science and Astrobiology.
If everything goes according to plan, the mission will be able to intercept the object months before its closest approach, identifying its physical properties, internal compounds, mapping its structure and calculating the real risk of impact.
After all, if there is even a small chance that Apophis will enter a new trajectory that will cause the object to collide with Earth, it is better to find out everything we can about the object now, including how to divert it to a new trajectory.
⚠️
Portugal: Cities that may be submerged until 2050
Portugal: Cities that may be submerged until 2050
Much is said and now with the real concern of some about climate change! There are ongoing measures imposed by several countries, but according to the report, global warming is worse and is happening faster than feared.
Climate Central's Sea Level Rise Program provides an idea of what could be submerged in Portugal until 2050, if carbon emissions continue at the current rate. The scenario is not very optimistic and 2050 is not that far away. The alerts are almost like an ultimatum and change is really urgent. According to tools that are freely available online, it is possible to see the scenario in 30 years if nothing is done.
In Portugal, cities like Aveiro and Figueira da Foz could be threatened in the next thirty years.
Regions such as the Tagus Estuary and the Sado Estuary could also undergo major changes, with the flow of rivers taking over significant areas for agricultural production.
In the south of the country, the rise in the average sea level and the intensification of storms, will endanger the barrier islands of Ria Formosa such as Farol and Praia de Faro.
Emblematic places such as Padrão dos Descobrimentos, in Belém, and the Port Wine Cellars, in Vila Nova de Gaia, will also be threatened by rising waters.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report estimates that the global warming threshold (of +1.5° centigrade) compared to that of the pre-industrial era will be reached in 2030, 10 years earlier than had previously been projected, "threatening humanity with unprecedented new disasters".
i
Global warming and atmospheric circulation, a big domino effect
Global warming and atmospheric circulation, a big domino effect
In the atmosphere everything is connected. Global warming is causing increasingly evident changes in the general circulation of the atmosphere, such as the expansion of Hadley cells to high latitudes and changes in the behavior of polar and subtropical jets.
The fluid nature of air; the fact that it is a continuous medium means that everything in the atmosphere is connected, so that the changes that occur in a certain area of it are transmitted to the rest. Air masses are in continuous movement as a result of pressure changes that constantly occur within the atmospheric medium, dictated, in turn, by temperature differences that occur between one area and another. If the planet enters a cold phase, like a glaciation, or a warm one, like the current one, this will lead to changes in the patterns of the general circulation of the atmosphere.
Recent changes in climate are widespread, rapid and increasingly intense. The global warming in which we are immersed has no precedent in thousands of years, and its main singularity is that it has been and is being caused by our activities, making more extreme episodes such as heat waves, torrential rains, the cold states, or droughts, whose frequency and intensity are increasing.
As I said at the beginning of this text, in the atmosphere everything is connected to, so that the changes experienced in one part of the gigantic gear of the general circulation are transmitted to the rest, as well as the changes that occur simultaneously in different terrestrial regions, which end up interacting with each other. the others. If we take a leap and from the subtropical domain we go to the Arctic, there, since 1979 (the year in which satellite data from that terrestrial region began to exist), the polar ice layer has decreased in size by 40% (data provided by the IPCC) . The magnitude of global warming in this cold region of Earth is causing a weakening of the polar vortex, which in turn induces changes in the polar jet.
In the current climate picture, favorable conditions occur more frequently for an Atlantic storm linked to the polar jet to interact with the subtropical jet and acquire characteristics different from those it had originally, giving rise to more extreme episodes of rain, since its water potential precipitation increased substantially. We are beginning to see the result of this chain reaction taking place in an increasingly warmer troposphere.
i
Where is the Comet c/2022 e3 (ztf) in 2023 pt-pt ?
Where is the Comet c/2022 e3 (ztf) in 2023 pt-pt ?
Aqui está uma lista dos objetos do céu pelos quais o C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará. Utilize-os como ponto de guia até o cometa.
23-24 de janeiro: Edasich
Na noite de 23 para 24 de janeiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 1° de distância da estrela Edasich (magnitude de 3,3) na constelação de Dragão.
25-26 de janeiro: RR Ursae Minoris
Na noite de 25 para 26 de janeiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 1° de distância da estrela RR Ursae Minoris (HIP 73199, HR 5589) com uma magnitude de 4,7. Encontre ambos objetos na constelação de Ursa Menor.
26-28 de janeiro: Kochab
Nas noites de 26 para 27 de janeiro e de 27 para 28 de janeiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 5° da estrela Kochab (magnitude de 2,1) na constelação da Ursa Menor.
29-30 de janeiro: Polaris
Na noite de 29 para 30 de janeiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 10° de distância de Polaris (magnitude de 2) na constelação da Ursa Menor.
1-2 de fevereiro: ⭐ Cometa ZTF vai passar perto da Terra
Na noite de 1 para 2 de fevereiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará pela constelação da Girafa, que não tem estrelas mais brilhantes que a magnitude de 4. Na mesma noite, o cometa chegará mais perto da Terra e atingirá seu brilho máximo (em torno da magnitude de 5).
5-6 de fevereiro: Capella
Na noite de 5 para 6 de fevereiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 1°30' de distância da estrela Capella (magnitude de 0,1) na constelação do Cocheiro.
6-7 de fevereiro: Saclateni
Na noite de 6 para 7 de fevereiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 10' de distância da estrela Saclateni (magnitude de 3,7) na constelação do Cocheiro.
8-9 de fevereiro: Hassaleh
Na noite de 8 para 9 de fevereiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 1° de distância da estrela Hassaleh (magnitude de 2,7) na constelação do Cocheiro.
10-12 de fevereiro: Marte
De 10 para 12 de fevereiro, C/2022 E3 (ZTF) chegará muito perto de Marte, que brilhará em tons avermelhados na magnitude de 0. Ambos os objetos estarão localizados na constelação de Touro.
14-15 de fevereiro: Aldebarã, Híades
Na noite de 14 para 15 de fevereiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 1°30' de distância da estrela Aldebarã (magnitude de 0,9) na constelação de Touro. Ele também se aproximará do aglomerado estelar Híades.
21-22 de fevereiro: Tabit
Na noite de 21 para 22 de fevereiro, o cometa C/2022 E3 (ZTF) passará a 2°30' da estrela Tabit (magnitude de 3,2) na constelação de Órion.
Como ver o cometa ?
As regras de observação para cometas são geralmente as mesmas que para objetos de céu profundo: encontre os céus mais escuros e use um telescópio ou um par de binóculos para obter uma imagem melhor. Ainda assim, alguns truques tornarão mais fácil para detectar o cometa.
29.01.2023
i
There are fewer and fewer stars in the sky. And it's our fault
There are fewer and fewer stars in the sky. And it's our fault
Currently, anyone who wants to enjoy a starry sky night will almost necessarily have to leave the big urban centers — if they live there. This is because, in the midst of all the lights emitted by the structures inherent to human life, it is difficult to find a segment of really dark sky. However, for astronomy lovers this is just the beginning of the bad news.
According to a new scientific study, the sky is getting brighter — about 9.6% every year — which means fewer stars are visible, with a tendency to become indistinguishable.
At stake is light pollution, often referred to in English as skyglow, which has an impact on the ability of individuals to see the stars, but also on the existing diversity on Earth and on animal populations. We don't need to wait any longer for areas of the globe where the sky is never completely dark — not because of their latitude, but because of increased pollution.
To IFL Science, the scientist explained that the situation is not uniform, since, given the lack of a system that monitors the evolution of pollution worldwide, what his team found was that the increase in luminosity was more pronounced in the United States United States and less in Europe. In fact, due to artificial light, the luminosity of the regions used as a reference increased between 7 to 10% every year.
As such, the scientists point out, it is likely that, at this rate, an individual who was born in a certain place where it was possible to see 250 stars, at the age of 18 would only be able to glimpse 100, exemplifies Kyba. “It is a very big change!”, he says.
Another curious factor that the investigation revealed is the discrepancy between the values discovered and those reported by the satellites, which only point to an increase of 2%. According to the lead scientist of the investigation, there are several factors that could explain the difference. For example, satellites pick up light directly, but over the past decade there may have been an increase in sideways light. Also during this period, there was also an increase in white LEDs compared to sodium orange lights. Satellites don't see this light as much as we do. Blue light spreads out more in the air (it's more diffused), which could be a contributing factor in making the sky appear brighter to us.
i
Asteroid 2023 BU - Asteroid passing Earth
Asteroid 2023 BU, discovered just five days before its close encounter with Earth, will fly by our planet on January 26, 2023. The closest approach will occur at 21:17 GMT (18:17 BRT). The asteroid will pass just 3,500 km above Earth's surface — between low Earth orbit, where the ISS is, and geostationary orbit, where geostationary satellites are. While most asteroids pass beyond the Moon's orbit (which is 384,400 km or 238,855 miles away from Earth), this one will get 100 times closer to us! According to NASA, the diameter of the asteroid is equal to 3.8-8.5 meters, which is about half the size of the famous Chelyabinsk meteorite. Despite passing very close to our planet, the asteroid will not pose any threat to Earth: even if it entered the atmosphere, it would break up about 30 km above the ground. The asteroid 2023 BU was discovered by Crimean astronomer Gennadiy Borisov. He is most famous for discovering the first known interstellar comet, 2I/Borisov, in 2019.
You can easily check if any asteroid will approach our planet soon. Open the Minor Planet Center website and find the Close Approaches list at the bottom right of the main page. It contains all known asteroids that will pass close to Earth in the coming months. In addition to the name and date of the asteroid's close approach, you can find out its size (in meters) and the distance (in lunar distances) at which it will pass from Earth. The lunar distance (DL) is the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, which equals about 400,000 kilometers. If you are interested in a specific asteroid, use NASA JPL's Small Body Database Browser. Enter the name or number of the asteroid and you will receive extensive information about its orbit, physical parameters and the circumstances of the discovery.
What defines a potentially dangerous asteroid?
To be classified as potentially hazardous, an asteroid must meet two main criteria.
First, it must have a minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) from Earth of 0.05 AU or less. An asteroid with such an orbit is capable of getting dangerously close to our planet.
Second, it must have an absolute magnitude of 22.0 or less. It is estimated that the smallest asteroids with such brightness are from 110 to 240 meters – enough to cause significant damage in the place, in case of impact.
The potential hazard of an asteroid is measured using two scales: the Torino Impact Hazard Scale and the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale. The Torino scale is used to communicate the potential risk of a future asteroid impact to the general public. On this simple scale, an object is assigned a value from 0 to 10 based on its probability of collision and the kinetic energy of the possible collision. The Palermo scale is similar but more complex and is mainly used by professional astronomers.
What is the probability of an asteroid hitting Earth?
And now for the most important question of all: what are the chances that you will experience an asteroid impact in the near future? According to NASA, asteroids larger than 100 meters that can cause local damage strike Earth approximately every 10,000 years. Space rocks larger than 1 kilometer that could threaten life on our planet appear only once every few million years. In other words, there is a very small chance that you will be harmed by an asteroid at some point in your life. Despite this, it is always good to be prepared. Let's take a look at the measures astronomers take to ensure Earth's safety.
⚠️
South Pole: iceberg with 1,550 km2 break free
A huge block of ice, larger than the islands of Madeira and São Miguel in the Azores together, broke off from Antarctica on Sunday (22) and should now begin to advance through the Wedell Sea towards the Atlantic Ocean.The iceberg, probably the largest in the world today, is about 1,550 square kilometers. Madeira extends over 801 square km on the surface and São Miguel over 744 square km (1,545.6 square km as a whole).
The new block of ice has yet to be named by the US National Ice Center, an organization that brings together three operational naval research agencies to provide analysis to the US military, allies and various other US agencies. .For now, the new iceberg still stands next to the Brunt ice shelf, at the South Pole, which has been observed for years by the British Antarctic Survey, a British research group dedicated to observing the poles for analysis in Cambridge, UK. United.According to preliminary forecasts, it is estimated that this giant block of ice will begin to be moved by currents through the Wedell Sea, in a similar route to that of iceberg A74, which was a little smaller (1,200 square kilometers) when it was separated from Antarctica in 2021 and that in June last year it will have split in two.The fault that gave rise to the separation of this new block of ice is known as Chasm-1. It was discovered in 2012 and since then changes have been observed.In 2015, these observations included the use of ice-penetrating radar technologies to obtain more realistic images of the state of the fault, which continued to grow until extending across the entire shelf in 2022, starting what glaciologists call " childbirth", which may have been accelerated by an impact on the coast of the A74.
The route of this new block of ice will be monitored over the coming weeks to anticipate possible threats, as happened in December 2020 with the A68a iceberg.
Regarded at the time as the largest in the world, the A68a separated from Antarctica in 2017, with about 4,200 square kilometers, and which in April 2021 had already fragmented into insignificant blocks, which should also happen soon with the A74.
i
What is the Nemo Point? Facts you didn't know
What is the Nemo Point? Facts you didn't know
In the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, there is a point that is not flanked by any portion of land for thousands of kilometers. It is called Nemo point, one of the most isolated places on the planet, but which has become one of the favorite destinations of scientists — and, it is said, the home of mythical creatures. It is a unique and fascinating place, certainly with many hidden surprises. Located in the South Pacific Ocean, at GPS coordinates 48°52.6′S 123°23.6′W, it is exactly 2,688 kilometers away from the nearest coast, which makes it the most isolated point on the planet.
Ducie Island, belonging to the Pitcairn Islands, Motu Nii Island, belonging to Easter, and Maher Island, close to Marie Byrd Land, are the closest land masses, thus breaking the isolation to which Nemo point is subject. However, these territories are also uninhabited, so to find human life in the vicinity you would have to travel to New Zealand, 4,023 kilometers away, or to Easter Island, 3,540 kilometers away.
The trip, which would have to be done by boat, would only be for the bravest, as it would last something like two weeks (or more).
A curious element is that, in reality, the closest neighbors of Nemo point are, in fact, the astronauts who live on the International Space Station (ISS) and CSS-TIANHE , in Space. Yes, because they are 415 kilometers away from the exact location.
If you've never heard of a point of inaccessibility, know that this is the furthest point from any landmass or coastline. It is also the geographic center of an area. As such, Point Nemo is the Oceanic Point of Inaccessibility as it is the furthest place from Earth.
The uniqueness of Nemo Point, as a point of inaccessibility, is also seen in its equal distance from all nearby land masses, which are Moto Nui, Ducie Island, and Maher Island, each 2,688 kilometers away.
Despite all the voyages of sea exploration and all the navigational instruments, Point Nemo was only discovered about three decades ago.
The person responsible was Hrvoje Lukatela, an engineer with Croatian and Canadian nationality, who resorted to theoretical ideas to determine the position of Nemo Point.
The data used was provided by the US Defense Mapping Agency, a comprehensive database of satellite orbits and Earth locations.
Lukatela didn't even need to visit Nemo Point to verify its existence, taking advantage of computational software that allowed him to make realistic modeling and simulations.
The name by which it is known can easily be confused with that of the most famous fish in cinema, however, there is no relationship between the two, apart from the strong connection to the sea. Nemo Point was named after the character Captain Nemo in Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. It can be translated as “no man” from Latin, a name that fits like a glove in such an isolated and devoid of human life. Nemo Point is a deep ocean zone with no neighboring islands, reefs or human-built infrastructure. On the ocean surface, abyssal plains, trenches and mountain ranges are dominated by a profound silence.
Despite the richness of the waters, the deep sea's extreme pressure and low temperatures make it an almost uninhabitable ecosystem for most forms of life.
Google Sites
Report abuse