Scientists are concerned that melting Arctic sea ice will increase the amount of fresh water in the <a href="/earth/polar/arctic_currents.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">Beaufort Gyre</a>, which could spill out into the Atlantic and cause major climate shifts in North America and Western Europe. Watch the <a href="/earth/changing_planet/freshwater_arctic.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">Changing Planet: Fresh Water in the Arctic video</a>.<p><small><em> Courtesy of Jack Cook, WHOI (<a href="http://www.whoi.edu">Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute</a>)</em></small></p>An <a href="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc000905e.php">8.6 magnitude earthquake</a> struck on 11 April 2012 off of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, followed by a strong aftershock. Earthquake motion was primarily horizontal. A tsunami warning was issued for the Indian Ocean, but was cancelled at 12:36 UTC. A tsunami was observed at 1 meter or less. Find out more about <a href="/earth/geology/quake_1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">earthquake</a> and <a href="/earth/tsunami1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">tsunami</a> processes. Check out the resources <a href="/teacher_resources/2011_AGU-NESTA_GIFT_Workshop.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">here</a>.<p><small><em>NOAA</em></small></p>Scientists at the University of Michigan have found that <a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_permafrost1.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">permafrost</a> in the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_north.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">Arctic</a> is extremely sensitive to sunlight. Exposure to sunlight releases carbon gases trapped in the permafrost, including <a href="/earth/climate/earth_greenhouse.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">climate-warming</a> <a href="/physical_science/chemistry/carbon_dioxide.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">carbon dioxide</a>, to the <a href="/earth/Atmosphere/overview.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">atmosphere</a> much faster than previously thought.<p><small><em>George Kling, The University of Michigan</em></small></p>New observations by the MESSENGER spacecraft provide support for the hypothesis that Mercury harbors abundant water ice and other frozen volatile materials in its permanently shadowed (shown in red) polar craters. Areas where polar deposits of ice imaged by Earth-based radar are shown in yellow.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington/National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Arecibo Observatory</em></small></p>On May 20, 2013, a massive EF5 <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/tornado.html">tornado</a> hit Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities and lives. The tornado, on the ground for 40 minutes, took a path through a subdivision of homes, destroying block after block of homes, and hitting two elementary schools just as school was ending as well as a hospital. Hundreds of people were injured, and 24 were killed.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Ks0stm, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license</em></small></p>There are over 900 <a href="/the_universe/uts/megalith.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">rings of stone</a> located in the British Isles. The most famous of these stone rings is of course, <a href="/the_universe/uts/stonehenge.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">Stonehenge</a>. The stones of Stonehenge were put in place between 3,000 B.C and 2,000 B.C. by neolithic people.Some speculate that the site was built as a temple of worship of the ancient Earth deities. Some say it was used as an <a href="/the_universe/uts/stonehenge_astro.html&edu=elem&dev=1/earth/Atmosphere/moons/=/earth/climate/cli_greengas.html">astronomical observatory</a> of sorts. Still others say it was a burial ground.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Corel Photography.</em></small></p>


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