University of Cambridge – आवारा मुसाफिर

Seasonal change in Antarctic ice sheet movement observed for first time

October 6, 2022226 Views

Some estimates of Antarctica’s total contribution to sea-level rise may be over- or underestimated, after researchers detected a previously unknown source of ice loss variability. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Austrian engineering company ENVEO, identified distinct, seasonal movements in the flow of land-based ice draining into George VI Ice Shelf – a floating platform of ice roughly the size of Wales – on the Antarctic Peninsula. Riley Glacier, Palmer Land, Antarctica. Photo: Ian Willis Using imagery from the Copernicus/European Space Agency Sentinel-1 satellites, the researchers found that the glaciers feeding the ice shelf speed up by approximately 15% during the Antarctic summer. This is the first time that such seasonal cycles have been detected on la...

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Birds of prey populations across Europe suppressed by lead poisoning

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 20, 2022443 Views

Poisoning caused by preying on or scavenging animals shot by hunters using lead ammunition has left the populations of many raptors – or birds of prey – far smaller than they should be, according to the first study to calculate these impacts across Europe. When birds like eagles and Red Kites scavenge carcasses or eat injured animals with fragments of toxic lead from gun ammunition embedded in their bodies they can become poisoned, suffering slow and painful deaths. Smaller doses have been shown to alter behaviour and physiology. Now, scientists from the University of Cambridge have used data on lead levels in the livers of over 3,000 raptors found dead in more than a dozen countries to calculate the extent to which poisoning by lead ammunition has affected Europe’s ...

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Greenland Ice Sheet becoming world’s largest ‘dam’

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 24, 20221160 Views

Melting rate accelerating at the most important ice on Earth Researchers have observed extremely high rates of melting at the bottom of the Greenland Ice Sheet, caused by huge quantities of meltwater falling from the surface to the base. As the meltwater falls, energy is converted into heat in a process like the hydroelectric power generated by large dams. An international team of scientists, led by the University of Cambridge, found that the effect of meltwater descending from the surface of the ice sheet to the bed – a kilometre or more below – is by far the largest heat source beneath the world’s second-largest ice sheet, leading to phenomenally high rates of melting at its base. Water flowing into a moulin and down to the bed of Store Glacier, Greenland. Photo: Poul Christoff...

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Earlier flowering raises risks for ecosystem

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 4, 2022738 Views

Study on UK but can be applied for all other areas if larger datasets are available Climate change is causing plants in the UK to flower a month earlier on average, which could have profound consequences for wildlife, agriculture and gardeners. Using a citizen science database with records going back to the mid-18th century, a research team led by the University of Cambridge has found that the effects of climate change are causing plants in the UK to flower one month earlier under recent global warming. The researchers based their analysis on more than 400,000 observations of 406 plant species from Nature’s Calendar, maintained by the Woodland Trust, and collated the first flowering dates with instrumental temperature measurements. FILE PHOTO: A wild flower meadow is pictured ...

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Arctic Ocean started getting warmer decades earlier than we thought

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

November 28, 2021351 Views

The Arctic Ocean has been getting warmer since the beginning of the 20th century – decades earlier than records suggest – due to warmer water flowing into the delicate polar ecosystem from the Atlantic Ocean. An international group of researchers reconstructed the recent history of ocean warming at the gateway to the Arctic Ocean in a region called the Fram Strait, between Greenland and Svalbard. FILE PHOTO: Icebergs are seen at the mouth of the Jakobshavn ice fjord near Ilulissat, Greenland, September 16, 2021. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke Using the chemical signatures found in marine microorganisms, the researchers found that the Arctic Ocean began warming rapidly at the beginning of the last century as warmer and saltier waters flowed in from the Atlantic – a phenomenon called At...