Articles by Hannah Bird
Phys.org / Ancient Maya droughts may have been fueled by Earth's own climate swings
Dramatic droughts linked to the decline of the Classic Maya civilization approximately 800 to 1000 CE may not have required any external trigger, according to a new climate modeling study. Instead, they could have emerged ...
Phys.org / Conflict-driven farmland abandonment in Syria leads to land uplift, study finds
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, caused widespread population displacement and infrastructure damage. However, it has also led to an unintended environmental effect with notable changes in the country's landscape, ...
Phys.org / New index reveals global water resources' growing dependence on extreme rainfall
As global temperatures climb, rainfall patterns are shifting in ways that could put water resources and agriculture under increasing strain, a new study published in Water Resources Research suggests.
Phys.org / Rivers and tidal currents keep 80% of microfibers from reaching oceans, study suggests
Every time we do a load of laundry, tiny fibers of polyester escape from our clothes and slip down the drain. These microfibers, so small they can be invisible to the naked eye, are among the most common forms of microplastic ...
Phys.org / Models warn Thwaites Glacier could rival entire Antarctic ice loss by 2067
The future of one of Antarctica's most iconic glaciers could be far more dramatic than scientists previously thought. Using satellite calibrated ice sheet models, a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh found ...
Phys.org / Salt may have pushed us further into Snowball Earth 700 million years ago
Our planet plunged into one of the most dramatic climate states in its long history, approximately 720–635 million years ago. During a period geologists call Snowball Earth, ice sheets crept from the poles all the way to ...
Phys.org / Greenland's largest glacier could soon reach a tipping point, scientists say
Greenland's largest glacier, Jakobshavn Glacier, may be edging closer to a critical threshold as meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet accelerates in ways not seen in over a century, according to new research published ...
Phys.org / Earth's mantle may have been cooler than thought before Pangea's breakup
When the supercontinent Pangea began to fragment around 200 million years ago during the Early Jurassic, it reshaped the face of the planet. Vast new oceans opened, continents drifted apart and the familiar geography of today ...
Phys.org / Extreme rainfall is worsening algal blooms along South Korea's coast
Extreme rainfall is reshaping coastal waters along South Korea's shoreline, flushing nutrients from land into the sea and fueling the growth of algal blooms. A new multi-year study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, ...
Phys.org / China's emissions policies are helping climate change but also creating a new problem
China's sweeping efforts to clean up its air have delivered one of the biggest public health success stories of recent decades. Since the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was launched in 2013, coal-fired power ...
Phys.org / Warming may increase mangrove methane emissions—but these forests remain powerful carbon sinks
Mangrove forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, particularly within the marine carbon system. Growing along tropical and subtropical coastlines, these salt-tolerant trees are among nature's most efficient ...
Phys.org / Aging populations could cut global water use by up to 31%, study finds
Across the world, water scarcity is emerging as one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century. Climate change is pushing rivers and aquifers into unprecedented extremes, droughts and floods are intensifying, and ...
Phys.org / Saltier seas in spring double the chance of extreme El Niño events, study finds
Stronger El Niño events are more likely when springtime surface waters in the western Pacific Ocean become unusually salty, a new study in Geophysical Research Letters suggests. Traditionally, scientists have focused on temperature ...
Phys.org / Ancient Spanish trees reveal Mediterranean storms are intensifying
Ancient pine trees growing in the Iberian mountains of eastern Spain have quietly recorded more than five centuries of Mediterranean weather. Now, by reading the annual growth rings preserved in their wood, scientists have ...
Phys.org / Chesapeake Bay's storm surge tides can be 47% higher than the open ocean
When hurricanes or strong storms sweep up the United States' East Coast and meet the shores of the country's largest estuary, Chesapeake Bay, the familiar pattern of storm activity gets a little more complicated. A new study, ...
