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For hundreds of millions of years, Earth's climate has remained on a fairly even keel, with some dramatic exceptions: Around 80 million years ago, the planet's temperature plummeted, along with carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The Earth eventually recovered, only to swing back into the present-day ice age 50 million years ago. Now geologists at MIT have identified the likely cause of both ice ages, as well as a natural mechanism for carbon sequestration. Just prior to both periods, massive tectonic collisions took place near the Earth's equator -- a tropical zone where rocks undergo heavy weathering due to...

Richard Lindzen, an MIT atmospheric physicist and one of the world’s leading climatologists, summarizes the science behind climate change. Video - Climate Change: What Do Scientists Say?

The U.N.’s scientific panel on climate change will write a special report on how to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agreed Thursday to explore the issue after a request by world governments in Paris last December. Many scientists say it will be virtually impossible to keep warming below that level without removing vast quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. …

FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED ITS FORECASTS IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. But in the age of social media that’s considered yelling, so next month federal meteorologists are lowering their voices and their letters — except in dire emergencies. Weather service spokeswoman Susan Buchanan said the agency started using all capital letters in 1849 forecasts because of the telegraph. Twenty years ago, the agency tried phasing out the practice, but old equipment wouldn’t recognize lower-case letters. …

Washington (AFP) - Global warming could make the planet far hotter than currently projected because today's scientific models do not correctly account for the influence of clouds, researchers said this week. The study in the journal Science was led by researchers at Yale University and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. When climate scientists look ahead to how much the planet's surface temperature may warm up in response to a doubling of carbon dioxide -- a byproduct of fossil fuel burning -- they typically predict a rise of between 2.1 and 4.7 degrees Celsius (3.75 to 8.5 degrees Fahrenheit). But these models...

(CNSNews.com) - White House Science Advisor John Holdren says because of the impacts of climate change, agricultural and construction workers “will basically be unable to control their body temperature and will die.” “In some parts of the world, when you look more broadly at this question, you see the likelihood that in the hottest times of the year it will be simply physiologically impossible to work outdoors,” Holdren said at a White House event on climate change Monday. “That means agriculture, that means construction, people who try to work outdoors will basically be unable to control their body temperature and...

The island of Juist off Germany’s North Sea coast is testing out a new idea for alternative energy: self-sufficient wind-powered street lamps, which could be a model even for developing countries. The blustery shores of Juist in the North Sea certainly have no shortage of wind, which has given the island reason to launch a new energy-saving pilot project. In the next two weeks, the island will be setting up the first wind-powered street light created by a designer based in Schleswig-Holstein, Peer Langemak, a spokesman from Juist told The Local on Monday. Langemak and his team “noordforce” spent a...

An extraordinary Chicken Sandwich:Grilled Chick Breast (yes, it's grilling season here with mid to upper 70's). Coat in your favorite seasoned salt and grill HOT for 6-7mins each side. Ezekiel or some other very dense/hearty sprouted grain bread. Seasoned Mayo (Mayo, finely minced rosemary, chopped chives, black pepper, all to taste).Organic mixed greens.Kettle Backyard BBQ Chips (don't eat the whole bag!)A fine Munich Marzen or Vienna Lager.

Construction on a bike highway — hoped to connect communities to make high-speed, emissions-free commuting possible — is underway in Germany. But with funding in question, will this bikers’ dream still come true? […] The cost-benefit relation presented by the RVR is optimistic: Benefits equal nearly five times more than costs. Figures indicate the bike autobahn would save €11.5 million yearly on medical expenses due to the health benefits of greater physical activity and reduced pollution, while it would also save €6.3 million through prevented accidents. But money is lacking to complete the project, estimated at €184 million. For the...

<p>FOX, Alaska -- Ten miles north of Fairbanks, along a man-made valley cleared by industrial gold dredgers in the early 1900s, a small red building at the base of a hill provides a portal to the geologic history of central Alaska.</p>

A tornado damaged neighborhoods in Rowlett, Texas, outside of Dallas in December, but unfortunately for one family, that wasn't then end of the destruction. After a mistake in Google Maps led a construction crew to the wrong house, Lindsey Diaz's home was demolished as she was in the process of applying for a builder's permit to repair the damage caused by the tornado.

A Rhode Island-size ice field in the mountains behind Alaska’s capital could disappear by 2200 if climate-warming trends continue, according to a University of Alaska Fairbanks study. The study published this week by the Journal of Glaciology predicts 60 percent of the ice in the Juneau Ice Field could be gone by 2099. The Juneau Ice Field is the source for a major Alaska tourist attraction, the Mendenhall Glacier, visited last year by 450,000 people at a U.S. Forest Service center. By 2099, the study authors said, the glacier’s ice will be harder to find. …

Fellow Freepers: I will be visiting Cassino, Italy and the mountaintop Monastery of Monte Cassio next month for a writing project on the Polish II Corps. I am aware of the Polish Cemetery, but would appreciate any information on off-the-beaten-path monuments. Also, it you have any recommendations on restaurants and wineries in the area (especially those smaller local restaurants you won't find on the tourist websites) along with any "must try" dishes. Thanks in advance! V/R Bill

A powerful Winter Storm Selene hammered the Rockies, Plains and Midwest Wednesday and Thursday, bringing an entire region to a halt, both on the ground and in the air. In Colorado, the state's National Guard resources were deployed to assist with rescue missions as every major highway leading out of Denver was closed, making travel nearly impossible Wednesday afternoon. More than 1,300 flights were canceled Wednesday at Denver International Airport, and officials were forced to halt all operations for several hours due to the severe wintry conditions. Once the roadway leading to the airport was cleared, the airport reopened at...

An international research team has published a study discussing the possibility and consequences of a 'superflare' erupting from our parent star If a superflare erupted from the Sun , experts have predicted it will have a "devastating" effect on the Earth. It could break down radio communication, damage power supplies across the planet and threaten the stability of our atmosphere. And, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Communications , the possibility is not as far-fetched as scientists first thought. "We certainly did not expect to find superflare stars with magnetic fields as weak as the magnetic...

Denver International Airport announced at 12:18 p.m. on Wednesday that the airport is closed until further notice. "Weather and visibility are such that it is not safe for aircraft to arrive or depart at this time," airport officials tweeted. Airport officials said that passengers should not plan on coming to the airport until further notice and those at the airport should stay in place because Pena Blvd. is impassable. United Airlines canceled all remaining flights in and out of the airport .. Soutwest Airlines also canceled all remaining flights, ... Up to 12 inches of snow could fall at the...

The U.N. weather agency is warning that hotter weather appears to be here to stay and says the Paris climate accord last year shouldn’t give way to complacency about global warming. The World Meteorological Organization issued its annual climate report Monday following a record-hot 2015. It predicts warmer weather accompanied by pockets of both drier and wetter conditions, depending on the region, around the world. …

Leonardo DiCaprio praised China’s work to combat climate change on a trip to Beijing on Sunday, and said he believes the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases could be “the hero of the environmental movement.” The actor and environmentalist, who called for action to combat climate change during his Oscar acceptance speech last month, praised China’s shift toward renewable forms of energy to lower carbon emissions. […] “I really think that China can be the hero of the environmental movement, they can be the hero of the climate change movement,” he said. “They have an opportunity to change the world...

SNIP And that hell became reality for two California felines on Tuesday, when high flood waters left them stranded in trees half-submerged in the Sacramento River. The Front Street Animal Shelter created a ramp that would lead the cats to safety, but they refused to cross. SNIP

A new discovery has revived an old theory about ocean water gobbling up ships in the Bermuda Triangle—if, that is, the Bermuda Triangle even exists. Researchers from the Arctic University of Norway say they’ve spotted large craters apparently created by methane buildups off Norway’s coast, Atlas Obscura reports. “Multiple giant craters exist on the sea floor in an area in the west-central Barents Sea … and are probably a cause of enormous blowouts of gas,” they tell the Sunday Times. “The crater area is likely to represent one of the largest hotspots for shallow marine methane release in the Arctic.”...