News by Subject Earth Science

There are two tropical cyclones affecting American Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean on Feb. 21. Tropical Storm Vicky has triggered warnings, while Tropical Cyclone 18P continues to develop. The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM satellite provided a look at the rainfall rates occurring in both storms.

The low-pressure area that has been lingering west-northwest of American Samoa for several days has organized into a tropical depression. NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Southern Pacific Ocean and provided forecasters with a visible image of Tropical Depression 18P.

By measuring iron isotopes, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have shown that our planet originally formed much faster than previously thought. This finding provides new insights on both planetary formation and the likelihood of water and life elsewhere in the universe.

As global temperatures rise, permafrost and methane hydrates -- large reservoirs of ancient carbon -- have the potential to break down, releasing enormous quantities of the potent greenhouse gas methane. But would this methane actually reach the atmosphere? University of Rochester researchers and their collaborators found that even if methane is released from these natural stores in response to warming, very little reaches the atmosphere; therefore, anthropogenic emissions should be more concerning than these natural feedbacks.

In ancient Greek mythology, Icarus' wax wings melted when he dared to fly too close to the sun. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have made artificial wings that are actually powered by the sun. The tiny wings, which can flap even faster than those of butterflies, could someday be used in robots or devices for solar energy harvesting, the researchers say.

Rapid Arctic warming has not led to a 'wavier' jet stream around the mid-latitudes in recent decades, pioneering new research has shown.

Winds outside of Tropical Storm Gabekile are ripping the storm apart. NASA's Aqua satellite provided a visible image of the storm that showed strong northwesterly wind shear was adversely affecting the storm.

A two degree Centigrade increase in global average temperature will lead to catastrophic consequences for the planet. Humanity has a maximum of 20 to 30 years to prevent this. Georgy Safonov, Director of the HSE Centre for Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, studied the impact of warming on countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia. http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/id-moe/15863.pdf