Scientists Discover Global Pattern of Big Fish Diversity in Open Oceans
July 28 — A new study reveals a striking downward trend in the diversity of fish in the open ocean--the largest and least known part of our planet. (SeaWeb press release) More

Amazon Source of 5-Year-Old River Breath
July 27 — The rivers of South America's Amazon basin are "breathing" far harder--cycling the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide more quickly than anyone realized. (University of Washington press release) More

Dew Point Causes Discomfort by Exceeding AC Designs
July 27 — During last week's hot spell in the Northeast, the discomfort was not entirely due to the heat or the relative humidity, instead the real culprit, say Cornell University climatologists, was the high dew point. (Cornell University press release) More

Ocean Spray Lubricates Hurricane Winds
July 25 — Hurricane Emily's 140-mile-per-hour winds, which last week blew roofs off hotels and flattened trees throughout the Caribbean, owed their force to an unlikely culprit--ocean spray. (University of California-Berkeley press release) More

Don Quixote's Home Shows Way to Future Earth Observation
July 22 — After an interval of six weeks, 60 scientists from ten countries returned to the parched heart of Spain to complete testing of a new type of sensor intended to yield insights into global vegetation growth. (European Space Agency press release) More

Humans Trading Short-Term Food for Long-Term Environmental Losses
July 22 — Researchers find that modern land-use practices may be trading short-term increases in food production for long-term losses in the environment's ability to support human societies. (University of Alaska-Fairbanks press release) More

Cryosat Environmental Testing Over--Preparations for Shipment to Launch Site about to Begin
July 21 — The intense mechanical testing period is finally over for the CryoSat satellite, and with launch just a couple of months away--the very last checks are being made before the spacecraft is packed up and shipped to the launch site in Plesetsk, Russia. (European Space Agency press release) More

Woods Hole Research Center Plans Controlled Burn in Amazon Rainforest
July 19 — To study the effects of fires on the Amazon and the forest's ability to recover from repeated burning, scientists will burn two and a half square kilometers (1.55 square miles) of forest in the transition forest of northern Mato Grosso state, Brazil, from late August into early September. (Woods Hole Research Center press release) More

Ferry-Linked Water Monitoring System Becomes New Model for United States
July 18 — Marine scientists who began monitoring surface water quality in the Neuse River in 2000 say their expanded effort has become a model for continuous ferry-based water assessments throughout the nation. (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill press release) More

Researchers Make Advances in Wind Energy Generation
July 18 — Engineers at the University of Alberta have created a wind energy generator that they hope people will one day be able to use to power their own homes. (University of Alberta press release) More

Expanding Forests Darken the Outlook for Butterflies, Study Shows
July 18 — Changing environmental conditions in the Canadian Rockies are stifling the mating choices of butterflies in the region, say researchers. (University of Alberta press release) More

Swamped City: New Orleans and Nature
July 13 — With hurricanes and flooding an ever-present danger, coping with nature has become second nature to the citizens of New Orleans. (Louisiana State University press release) More

Global Warming Increases Oyster Sensitivity to Pollution
July 12 — Research shows global warming increases the sensitivity of oysters to metal pollution, causing a deadly threat to populations in polluted areas. (Society for Experimental Biology press release) More

New Markers of Climate Change
July 12 — Epiphytes, plants without roots, are being investigated for their use as markers of climate change in rainforests. (Society for Experimental Biology press release) More

Boosting Vitamin C in Plants Can Help Reduce Smog Damage
July 12 — The harmful effects of smog on people and animals are now well-researched facts and new research shows the importance of vitamin C in helping plants defend themselves against the ravages of ozone, smog's particularly nasty component. (University of California-Riverside press release) More

Boosting Vitamin C in Plants Can Help Reduce Smog Damage
July 12 — The harmful effects of smog on people and animals are now well-researched facts and new research shows the importance of vitamin C in helping plants defend themselves against the ravages of ozone, smog's particularly nasty component. (University of California-Riverside press release) More

A New Discovery Helps Us to Understand the Complex Nature of Earthquakes
July 8 — New research shows that the time interval between successive earthquakes depends on the time that elapsed between previous earthquakes. (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona press release) More

Scientists Find Evidence of Catastrophic Sand Avalanches, Sea Level Changes in Gulf of Mexico
July 7 — An international team of marine research scientists working for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) have found new evidence that links catastrophic sand avalanches in deep Gulf waters to rapid sea level changes. (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International press release) More

Space Shuttle Columbia's Last Flight Formed Clouds over Antarctica
July 6 — A burst of mesospheric cloud activity over Antarctica in January 2003 was caused by the exhaust plume of the space shuttle Columbia during its final flight, reports a team of scientists who studied satellite and ground-based data from three different experiments. (University of Illinois-Urbana press release) More

Aquatic Plants May Hold Key to Advancing Plant Disease Management
July 6 — The way aquatic plants respond to plant disease and climate change may have applications for managing land-based agriculture, say plant pathologists. (American Phytopathological Society press release) More

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