World
More than 90 percent of our planet’s freshwater ice is bound in the massive ice sheets and glaciers of the Antarctic and Greenland. As temperatures around the world slowly climb, melt waters from these vast stores of ice add to rising sea levels. »
During June, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.58°F (0.88°C) above the 20th century average. This was the highest for June in the 1880–2015 record, surpassing the previous record set last year in 2014 by 0.22°F (0.12°C). »
The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for March 2015 was the highest for the month since record keeping began in 1880. The year-to-date (January–March) globally averaged temperature was also record high. »
The bones and teeth of two--possibly related--Ice-Age infants, who were buried more than 11,000 years ago in central Alaska, constitute the youngest human remains ever found in the North American Arctic. »
Despite large temperature increases in Alaska in recent decades, a new analysis of NASA airborne data finds that methane is not being released from Alaskan soils into the atmosphere at unusually high rates, as recent modeling and experimental studies have suggested. The new result shows that the changes in this part of the Arctic have not yet had enough impact to affect the global methane budget. »
Despite a recent decline in earthquakes, Ubinas Volcano erupted an ash plume on April 28, 2014. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer collected this false-color view of the volcano on the same day. »
A mineral compound has been developed to produce a fertilizer which increases agricultural productivity at reduced environmental impact. The material also provides benefits for irrigation. It reduces irrigation needs by 50% of the cycle. The study went on to compare the use of other urea (ammonia)-added material commonly used in agriculture to the zeolite compound. »