Articles by Hannah Bird
Phys.org / Grassland expansion was not a main driver of mammal evolution in Plio-Pleistocene Africa, research suggests
Mammal evolution in Africa, including that of modern human ancestors, through the late Cenozoic (Plio-Pleistocene, ~5.3 million years ago) may not have been driven by the expansion of grasslands as previously thought, new ...
Phys.org / Plate tectonics 4 billion years ago may have helped initiate life on Earth
The Earth's oldest surface layer forming continents, termed its crust, is approximately 4 billion years old and is comprised of 25–50km-thick volcanic rocks known as basalts. Originally, scientists thought that one complete ...
Phys.org / Paleolithic hunter-gatherer hearths reveal changing vegetation in response to climate
Human reliance upon the surrounding environmental for natural resources has aided our survival for thousands of years. While the impact of climate change is an ever-present stressor in current communities, it is not solely ...
Phys.org / Paleolimnological study attributes Tibetan Empire collapse in 9th century to climate change
The Tibetan Empire was the world's highest elevation empire, sitting over 4,000m above sea level, and thrived during 618 to 877 CE. Home to an estimated 10 million people, it spanned approximately 4.6 million km2 across East ...
Phys.org / Himalayan valley sizes are controlled by tectonic-driven rock uplift, study shows
The oceans are the final destination of weathering products from the land and its transport via rivers, with those in the Himalayan mountains alone moving one billion tons of sediment each year. To understand the storage ...
Phys.org / Clay formation prolonged global warming event 40 million years ago, according to new biogeochemical model
Global warming is not solely a modern-day occurrence but has been a prominent feature of Earth's geological history for millennia. One such event occurred approximately 40 million years ago, lasting ~400,000 years, known ...
Phys.org / Afforestation carbon sequestration projects found to be less effective than grasses in tropical savannas
Global warming's ever-increasing toll on the planet has been a focus of mitigation strategies in recent years, with carbon sequestration projects playing a more prominent role in drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere ...
Phys.org / New research finds Late Pleistocene glaciations terminated by Earth's axis tilt rather than orbital eccentricity
Glacial cyclicity of the Earth has often been considered on 100,000 year timescales, particularly for the Late Pleistocene (~11,700 to 129,000 years ago) swapping between periods of extensive polar and mountain glacier ice ...
Phys.org / North Atlantic volcanic activity was a major driver of climate change 56 million years ago, study finds
The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is a period of global warming that occurred ~56 million years ago, lasting approximately 200,000 years, when the Earth experienced global surface temperature elevations of ~5°C.
Phys.org / Ryugu asteroid origins in the solar nebula decoded by carbonates
Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency sent the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to 162173 Ryugu in 2019, an asteroid in orbit near Earth that is comprised of rocky fragments originating from a larger parent body. Multiple rovers brought ...
Phys.org / Carbon Capture and Storage projects in Denmark at risk from bitumen formation
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is increasingly being cited to help our global warming crisis by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through capturing carbon dioxide and storing deep underground. In the Danish North Sea, chalk ...
Phys.org / Great Barrier Reef decline could impact Queensland's coastal erosion
Coastal wave action occurs due to complex interactions between offshore ocean conditions and the local landscape of the coastline, in addition to the effects of currents, tides and storms. It is an important process that ...
Phys.org / Ancient lake microbes caused global warming during ice age
Global warming is not just a modern issue, but has occurred numerous times over Earth's history, with one such event happening 304 million years ago during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (which spanned from 340 to 290 million ...
Phys.org / Greenland's largest glacial floating ice declined 42% due to global warming, scientists determine
Greenland's ice sheet has been melting at an accelerated rate over recent decades, which may have resulted in a 1.4 mm/year rise in sea level. It has three glaciers with a floating tongue (floating ice attached to a glacier ...
Phys.org / Colorado River Basin megadrought caused by massive 86% decline in snowpack runoff
The Colorado River Basin provides freshwater to more than 40 million people within the semi-arid southwestern United States, including major cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles. However, between 2000 and 2021 the basin ...
