Health of Brazilian Rainforest Depends on Dust from One Valley in Africa
December 28 — More than half of the dust needed for fertilizing the Brazilian rainforest is supplied by a valley in northern Chad, according to an international research team. (American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science press release) More

New Study Links Western Wildfires to Atlantic Ocean Surface Temperatures
December 26 — Wildfires in the western United States are likely to increase in the coming decades, according to a new study based on tree ring data. (University of Colorado at Boulder press release) More

Ocean Temperature Predicts Spread of Marine Species
December 25 — New research shows that scientists can predict how the distance marine larvae travel varies with ocean temperature, a key component in the conservation and management of fish and shellfish. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill press release) More

Researchers Identify a 'Heartbeat' in Earth's Climate
December 21 — An international team of researchers has uncovered secrets about Earth's climate history far below the Pacific seafloor. (University of Alberta press release) More

Tidal Motion Influences Antarctic Ice Sheet
December 20 — New research into the way the Antarctic ice sheet adds ice to the ocean reveals that tidal motion influences the flow of one of the biggest ice streams draining the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. (British Antarctic Survey press release) More

Overconfidence Leads to Bias in Climate Change Estimations
December 15 — Overconfidence in projections of climate change may lead to inappropriate actions on the parts of governments, industries and individuals, according to an international team of climate researchers. (Penn State University press release) More

Soil Nutrition Affects Carbon Sequestration in Forests
December 13 — Scientists now have a more precise understanding of how forests respond to increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas driving climate change. (USDA Forest Service press release) More

'Asian Haze' Impacts on Australian Rainfall
December 12 — Elevated particle emissions resulting from increased economic activity in Asia may have increased Australia's rainfall. (CSIRO-Australia press release) More

Drop in Acid Rain Altering Appalachian Stream Water
December 12 — Appalachian hardwood forests may be getting a respite from acid rain, changing biological activity in the ecosystem. (Penn State University press release) More

Regional Nuclear War Could Devastate Global Climate
December 11 — Even a small-scale, regional nuclear war could disrupt the global climate for a decade or more, university researchers have found. (Rutgers University press release) More

Plant a Tree and Save the Earth?
December 11 — A new study says that while growing forests in mid- to high-latitude latitudes actually warms the globe, planting more trees in tropical rainforests could help slow global warming. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory press release) More

New Evidence Shows New Madrid Seismic Zone May Be Cold and Dying
December 11 — New results about the temperatures of rock deep below the New Madrid Seismic Zone shed light on the puzzling questions of why large earthquakes happened there in 1811 and 1812 and when they may happen again. (Northwestern University press release) More

Satellite Radar Gauges Water Levels in Louisiana Wetlands
December 11 — Researchers have demonstrated that a satellite radar system can be used to gauge water levels in vegetated wetlands. (Ohio State University press release) More

Glaciers Adding More to Global Sea Rise Than Ice Sheets
December 11 — Small glaciers and ice caps have been contributing the most to rising sea levels in recent years, according to a new study. (University of Colorado at Boulder press release) More

Radar Reveals View of Land Beneath Polar Ice
December 11 — In the first test of a new radar instrument, scientists have seen through more than a mile of Greenland ice to reveal an image of land that has been hidden for millions of years. (Ohio State University press release) More

New Instrument Reveals Raindrop Formation in Warm Clouds
December 8 — Scientists have discovered that complex mixing processes in clouds promote the formation of raindrops. (University of California-Santa Cruz press release) More

Graduate Students Study Links Between African and U.S. Weather Systems
December 8 — Students recently worked with scientists to study how land storms become ocean storms and then make their way west to U.S. and Caribbean waters. (National Science Foundation press release) More

Global Warming of the Future is Projected by Ancient Carbon Emissions
December 7 — Global warming 55 million years ago suggests that climate is highly sensitive to carbon dioxide. (Yale University press release) More

Southern Ocean Could Slow Global Warming
December 5 — The Southern Ocean may slow the rate of global warming by absorbing significantly more heat and carbon dioxide than previously thought. (University of Arizona press release) More

Powerful Earthquakes Can Be Detected within Two Seconds
December 4 — Researchers analyzed seismic signals from over 200 moderate-to-strong earthquakes and found that the waves generated in the first few seconds of an earthquake carry sufficient information to determine its destructive potential. (American Geophysical Union press release) More

Reducing Pollution Could Increase Rice Harvests In India
December 4 — Research shows that the combined effects of atmospheric brown clouds and greenhouse gases negatively affect growing conditions for rice in India. (University of California-Berkeley press release) More

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