Science is for Sharing

La-Nina ended...... in April 2012. Pacific is in Neutral conditions....... See this animation......... Read More: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77828&src=youtube Animation CLICK HERE Courtesy: Nasa Earth Observatory

An apparent inconsistency has been diagnosed between interannual variations in the net radiation imbalance inferred from satellite measurements and upper-ocean heating rate from in situ measurements, and this inconsistency has been interpreted as ‘missing energy’. Where was it going? Now Scientists come up with an answer..... "Missing Energy" is in the Ocean  "Our data show that Earth has been accumulating heat in the ocean at a rate of half a watt per square meter (10.8 square feet), with no sign of a decline," Loeb said. "This extra energy will eventually find its way back into the atmosphere and increase temperatures on Earth." Read more: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2012-029 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2093947/Nasa-solves-mystery-Earths-missing-energy--going-sea-says-space-agency.html?ito=feeds-newsxml Paper:  http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo1375.html#/access doi:10.1038/ngeo...

The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. Observe an updated analysis that shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html  The average temperature around the globe in 2011 was 0.92 degrees F (0.51 C) warmer than the mid-20th century baseline. "We know the planet is absorbing more energy than it is emitting," said GISS Director James E. Hansen. "So we are continuing to see a trend toward higher temperatures. Even with the cooling effects of a strong La Niña influence and low solar activity for the past several years, 2011 was one of the 10 warmest years on record." Animation can be seen here, http://www.nasa.gov/mp4/616923main_GISStemperature2011_withColorbar.mp4 Understand  More: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2011-temps.html# http://data.giss.nasa.go...

Global warming caused by greenhouse gases delays natural patterns of glaciation suggests a study co-authored by a University of Florida researcher and published online Jan. 8 in Nature Geoscience. The Earth's current warm period that began about 11,000 years ago should give way to another ice age within about 1,500 years, according to accepted astronomical models. However, current levels of carbon dioxide are trapping too much heat in the atmosphere to allow the Earth to cool as it has in its prehistoric past in response to changes in Earth's orbital pattern. data indicate that the next ice age will likely be delayed by tens of thousands of years. Good news ...?                 NO! Ice sheets like those in western Antarctica are already destabilized by global warming, they eventually slough off and become a part of the ocean's volume, it will have a dramatic effect on sea level. Read more here :  http://www.physorg.com/news/...

It is the sea temperature, not  the air temperature that determine how fast Greenland’s ice cap melted at the end of the last ice age. The study, published in the journal Paleoceanography, was conducted by an international team of researchers headed by senior researcher Paul Knutz of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS). ”Our study included analyses of the marine temperature in the upper water strata, and they indicate that the temperature during the period of deglaciation was relatively high,” says Knutz. "We can see that the high temperatures start immediately before and continued during periods when a lot of icebergs broke off from glaciers and when a lot of melt water was produced,” he adds. “Therefore we interpret the temperature anomalies as something that resulted in increased melting and a retreat of the ice cap.” Read in more detail.  http://sciencenordic.com/warm-sea-currents-caused-melting-greenland%E2%80%99s-ice

Scientists have examined data from 1972 to 2008 and came up with striking observations...... They found the observed sea-lev el rise (1.8 ± 0.2 mm yr−1 from tide gauges alone and 2.1 ± 0.2 mm yr−1 from a combination of tide gauges and altimeter observations)  The largest contributions come from ocean thermal expansion (0.8 mm yr−1) and the melting of glaciers and ice caps (0.7 mm yr−1), with Greenland and Antarctica contributing about 0.4 mm yr−1. The aerosol forcing, inferred as a residual in the atmospheric energy balance, is estimated as −0.8 ± 0.4 W m−2 for the 1980s and early 1990s. It increases in the late 1990s, as is required for consistency with little surface warming over the last decade. This increase is likely at least partially related to substantial increases in aerosol emissions from developing nations and moderate volcanic activity. for details, abstract and full length paper http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2011/2011GL048794.shtml Church, J. A., N. J...

Aquarius Yields NASA's First Global Map of Ocean Salinity The first global map of the salinity, or saltiness, of Earth’s ocean surface produced by NASA's new Aquarius instrument reveals a rich tapestry of global salinity patterns, demonstrating Aquarius' ability to resolve large-scale salinity distribution features clearly and with sharp contrast. Image credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL-Caltech › Full image and caption http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aquarius/news/aquarius20110922.html

New computer model better explains workings of tsunamis scientists have been working nearly blind in trying to understand how tsunamis work once they reach shore. Now, Frederic Dias from University College in Dublin and his team of mathematical and computer scientists have developed a computer simulation that they believe explains how tsunamis work once they reach shore. They have described their findings in Physical Review Letters. More information:  Local Run-Up Amplification by Resonant Wave Interactions, Phys. Rev. Lett.  107, 124502 (2011)  DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.124502 http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-09-tsunamis.html