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Severe drought has lasting effects on Amazon
Posted by Nature: Hannah Hoag on December 24th, 2012
Nature: A study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1 sheds light on the long-term effects of drought on the Amazon rainforest -- giving clues about how the rainforest might be affected by global warming in the future. The researchers report that the severe drought that hit the rainforest in 2005 had lasting effects on the forest canopy, such that it remained damaged at least four years later.
The effects of the 2005 drought have been debated since 2007, when researchers...
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Arctic snow cover shows sharp decline
Posted by Nature: Hannah Hoag on October 31st, 2012
Nature: Arctic snow is fading fast. June snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere has dropped by almost 18% per decade during the past 30 years, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters1.
The drop in snow extent will lower the amount of sunlight reflected away from the planet -- a process that has a cooling effect -- by exposing darker and less reflective soil, shrubs and trees, which absorb solar radiation and re-emit the heat into the atmosphere. The change also stands to warm the...