NEW SCIENTIST - Compared with Earth, Mars is tiny, yet it seems to have an outsized effect on our planet’s climate cycles. Similar small planets could affect the climates of worlds beyond our solar system, which we must begin to take into account when evaluating their potential habitability. Stephen Kane at the University of California...
THE WEEK - Small but mighty, the red planet — our celestial neighbor — has made Earth’s climate what it is today. Mars’ gravitational pull serves as a stabilizing force for our home’s orbit, tilt and position from the sun. Without it, life could potentially have been a lot different from what we know today...
ZME SCIENCE - Mars is about half Earth’s size and roughly a tenth its mass — not really the sort of planet you’d expect to leave fingerprints on Earth’s climate history. Yet a new set of simulations by an international group of researchers suggests the Red Planet helps shape some of the slow, repeating orbital...
DAILY GALAXY - Mars, long admired for its rusty hue and alien deserts, may play a far greater role in shaping life on Earth than once believed. A new study published in the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific reveals that Mars’ gravitational influence subtly but significantly affects Earth’s climate cycles, planetary tilt...
EARTH.COM - New simulations suggest Mars helps set a 2.4 million-year rhythm in Earth’s orbit that can steer the timing of ice-ages. Scientists recently tested whether a small planet could leave a detectable trace in deep-time climate records. Testing a planetary hunch Computer runs allowed the experts to switch planets on and off, turning the...
STUDYFINDS - Earth would certainly be different without its rusty red neighbor. No Mars in the night sky, no target for future human exploration. Now, however, scientists say this scenario would result in much bigger changes than simply depriving humanity of a nearby planet to study. According to the research, this scenario would fundamentally alter...
BBC SKY AT NIGHT MAGAZINE - You might think that Earth's influence on your life is minimal at best. Beyond often appearing like a bright red 'star' in the sky, what has Mars ever done for us? Quite a lot, it turns out. In fact, Mars could play a huge role in shaping the tilt...
POPULAR MECHANICS - Like all of us, the Earth goes through phases. Over the course of its existence, the planet’s climactic processes have relied on certain mechanisms to regulate its temperature—mechanisms that can have profound impacts on the surface of the planet and, in turn, the life that inhabits that surface. During the Jurassic period...
POPULAR MECHANICS - For the past three decades, scientists have been bad-mouthing a sizable chunk of Earth’s history (roughly 1.8 billion years ago to 800 million years ago) by giving it nicknames like the “Barren Billion,” the “Boring Billion,” or the Earth’s “Middle Ages.” At first glance, the monikers may be warranted—compared to more dynamic...
LIVE SCIENCE - The Arctic Ocean was once an important source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — and it could become one again, researchers warn. Methane (CH4) is second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere. Since 2020, human-driven greenhouse gas emissions have increased atmospheric methane by about 10 parts...