During the 1997 to 1998 El Niño, drought conditions triggered widespread increases in fire activity, releasing CH4 and CO2 to the atmosphere. We evaluated the contribution of fires from different continents to variability in these greenhouse gases from 1997 to 2001, using satellite-based estimates of fire activity, biogeochemical modeling, and an inverse analysis of atmospheric CO anomalies. Du...

An update is provided of Northern Hemisphere (NH) spring (March, April) snow cover extent (SCE) over the 1922–2010 period incorporating the new climate data record (CDR) version of the NOAA weekly SCE dataset, with annual 95% confidence intervals estimated from regression analysis and intercomparison of multiple datasets. The uncertainty analysis indicates a 95% confidence interval in NH spring...

We hypothesize the phylogenetic relationships of the agamid genus Phrynocephalus to assess how past environmental changes shaped the evolutionary and biogeographic history of these lizards and especially the impact of paleogeography and climatic factors. Phrynocephalus is one of the most diverse and taxonomically confusing lizard genera. As a key element of Palearctic deserts, it serves as a pr...

Abstract This article presents the oldest iron smelting furnaces of Xiongnu Empire period in central Mongolia and argues that a significant center existed at site Baga Nariĭn Am. Five four installations were excavated, with total 26 further identified through SQUID magnetometry. In combination review data on production contemporary Mongolia, Transbaikal region, Tuva, Minusinsk Basin Altai, we a...

The Planet’s Pivot Area in Mackinder’s Theory The geopolitical situation of the early 21st century gave a new boost to studies of the regional structuralization principles for the geopolitical and geo-economic space of the entire Eurasian continent. This revived the conceptions formulated by Halford Mackinder in the early 20th century and his opponent, Nicholas Spykman, somewhat later. They off...

We present a shear velocity model of the crust and upper mantle beneath central Eurasia by simultaneous inversion of broadband group and phase velocity maps of fundamental-mode Love and Rayleigh waves. The model is parameterized in terms of velocity depth profiles on a discrete 2◦ × 2◦ grid. The model is isotropic for the crust and for the upper mantle below 220 km but, to fit simultaneously lo...

Recent climatic changes significantly affected forest ecosystems in northern Eurasia. Trees growing Siberia are very sensitive to climate change due strong temperature limitation of their growth. Our study covers high-latitude (northeastern Yakutia, eastern Taimyr, central Evenkia) and high-altitude (Russian Altai) zones Eurasia, where tree-ring parameters (tree-ring width, cell-wall thickness,...