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04.07.09
Aerosols May Drive a Significant Portion of Arctic Warming

artist concept of aerosols reflecting light

Aerosols can influence climate directly by either reflecting or absorbing the sun's radiation as it moves through the atmosphere. The tiny airborne particles enter the atmosphere from sources such as industrial pollution, volcanoes and residential cooking stoves. Credit: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio
> Larger image Though greenhouse gases are invariably at the center of discussions about global climate change, new NASA research suggests that much of the atmospheric warming observed in the Arctic since 1976 may be due to changes in tiny airborne particles called aerosols.

Emitted by natural and human sources, aerosols can directly influence climate by reflecting or absorbing the sun's radiation. The small particles also affect climate indirectly by seeding clouds and changing cloud properties, such as reflectivity.

A new study, led by climate scientist Drew Shindell of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, used a coupled ocean-atmosphere model to investigate how sensitive different regional climates are to changes in levels of carbon dioxide, ozone, and aerosols.

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04.06.09
Try, Try Again: Scientists Prepare for Return to Pine Island Glacier

Photo of American flag over camp at Pine Island Glacier

Dr. Bindschadler gives an update on the wait to get "boots on the ground" on the remote Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica. Credit: NASA Goddard
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In January 2008, a small Twin Otter airplane outfitted with skis touched down on the icy edge of Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier, carrying NASA glaciologist Robert Bindschadler and a crew of scientists and technicians. It was the first time anyone had landed a plane on this ice shelf floating on the edge of the West Antarctic ice sheet.

It will also probably be the last...

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News Archive

Scientists Prepare for Return to Pine Island Glacier

Polar scientists believe Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier to be thinning because of warm ocean waters below.
NASA Flies to Greenland to Extend Polar Science

Researchers embark this week on a month-long airborne campaign to measure ice sheet and glacier thickness.
NASA Debuts Unique Movie on a Sphere About Frozen Earth

NASA has created a unique "spherical" movie about Earth's changing ice and snow cover as captured by NASA spacecraft.
Antarctic Expedition Helped Prepare for Mars Project

Before Phoenix began digging into the arctic plain of Mars, scientists traveled to one of the coldest, driest places on Earth for soil-and-ice studies to aid in the analysis of Mars data.
Satellites Confirm Half-Century of Antarctic Warming

Once presumed to be cooling or stable, NASA scientists have recently confirmed a warming trend on the Antarctic Peninsula.
NASA Spacecraft Detects Buried Glaciers on Mars

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris at much lower latitudes than any ice previously identified on the Red Planet.
Arctic Sea Ice Decline Shakes Up Ocean Ecosystems

Researchers took advantage of NASA satellite images to show that the microscopic floating plants are teeming in regions of recent ice melt.