A violent volcanic eruption in the South Pacific has revealed a surprising natural mechanism that could potentially help slow global warming. The finding provides entirely new insights into atmospheric chemistry and may inspire new methods to remove methane emissions from the air.

Global sea levels may rise faster than previously expected, a new study suggests. The reason is that warming oceans appear to be melting Antarctic ice shelves from below much more rapidly than expected.

Ice shelves, which are extensions of gigantic glaciers that float on the water surface, act like buttresses that slow the flow of gigatons of ice into the sea. Now, researchers in Norway have discovered that long, channel-like grooves on the underside of these ice shelves can trap relatively warm ocean water. This sharply increases local melting.

The study has global implications. If Antarctic ice shelves thin and weaken, the downhill journey of the ice behind them can accelerate, fast-forwarding the process in which huge amounts of ice cascade into the ocean, causing sea levels worldwide to rise far faster than currently projected.

This dynamic has already been observed elsewhere in Antarctica. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has flagged polar ice shelf instability as a major but poorly understood risk factor that could lead to sea level rise that is far more rapid and severe than most current models predict.

A new study reveals how responsive the Greenland ice sheet is to climate change – more so than models predict. Methane has been detected at retreating glacier margins worldwide, but this is the first time that a study has investigated the margin of an entire ice sheet. 

New research finds higher temperatures can actually benefit some bumble bee species – particularly those that make subterranean nests. However, periods of extreme heat appear to offset those benefits, and may contribute to declining bumble bee populations in the southeastern United States.