Narrow Wind Causes Huge Ocean Impact, Says University of Toronto Physicist
July 31 — A narrow but intense wind may be the mechanism responsible for the existence of a newly discovered ocean convection site east of Greenland. (University of Toronto) More

Rising Ozone Levels Pose Challenge to U.S. Soybean Production, Scientists Say
July 30 — Although rising ozone levels already reduce soybean yields, a study of the crop grown in projected 2030 levels has harvested more troubling results — a 20 percent yield loss. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) More

Amphibians' Life Stages Influence Contaminant Transfer from Aquatic to Terrestrial Environments
July 23 — Scientists investigated the effects of developmental stage and metamorphosis timing on the concentrations of trace elements in bullfrog tissue, aiming to understanding how variations may influence contaminant transfer from aquatic to terrestrial environments. (University of Georgia release) More

Helping Coral Reefs Survive Climate Change
July 23 — While the high ocean surface temperatures during the 1997-98 El Nino bleached coral reefs in more than 50 tropical countries worldwide, patches of coral did survive, and a new study identifies factors likely to protect these ecosystems during climate change. (Society for Conservation Biology Release) More

Marine Scientists Now Cruising into Icy Arctic to Research Major Process Affecting Global Climate
July 21 — Marine scientists track fresh water flowing out of the Arctic Ocean into the Atlantic, which affects the salinity and circulation of the ocean and thus has a major influence on the Earth?s climate. (University of Delaware release) More

Hydrogen-fueled Cars Not Best Way to Cut Pollution, Greenhouse Gases and Oil Dependency
July 17 — As politicians and the public leap aboard the hydrogen fuel bandwagon, University of California, Berkeley, energy experts present various short- and long-term strategies that they say would achieve the same results as switching from gasoline-powered vehicles to hydrogen cars. (University of California-Berkeley) More

New Location of Deep Convection May Exist in North Atlantic
July 17 — Deep convection, or mixing, of ocean waters in the North Atlantic, widely thought to occur in only the Labrador Sea and the Mediterranean, may occur in a third location. The findings, reported this week in the journal Nature, may alter thinking about the ocean?s overturning circulation that affects earth?s climate. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) More

Scientists with Hawaii Ocean Mixing Experiment Closing in on Puzzle of Ocean Energy
July 17 — Scientists from six institutions are closing the gap in deciphering one of the most puzzling aspects of the world?s oceans called ?ocean mixing?, the complex motions of seawater that space large-scale phenomena down to tiny, centimeter-sized turbulent motion. (Scripps Institute of Oceanography) More

Desert Research Institute Team Predicts Early Summer Rains for Southwest
July 9 — Scientists predict an early start to heavy rains similar to those that flooded Las Vegas in 1999 that occur in the Southwest each year at the beginning of the monsoon season. (Desert Research Institute Release) More

Leading Climate Scientists Reaffirm View that Late 20th Century Warming Was Unusual
July 7 — A group of leading climate scientists has reaffirmed the "robust consensus view" that the warmth experienced in the late 20th century was an anomaly in the previous millennium and that human activity likely played an important role in causing it. (American Geophysical Union Release) More

Cold-Climate Creatures may be the Ultimate Survivors of Global Warming, Study Finds
July 3 — A Stanford University study shows that porcelain crabs in the cool Pacific Northwest have the ability to adjust to larger increases in habitat temperature than crabs living in the warm coastal waters of Mexico. (Stanford University) More

New Understanding of Sea Salt to Help Climate Modeling
July 3 — A new scientific study has revealed that tiny sea salt particles drifting into the atmosphere participate in a chemical reaction that may have impacts on climate and acid rain. (DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) More

Fourth of July No Picnic for the Nation's Environment
July 3 — When an estimated 60 million Americans fire up their barbecue grills this Fourth of July, they'll be burning the equivalent of 2,300 acres of forest and consuming enough energy to meet the residential demand of a town the size of Flagstaff, Ariz., for an entire year. (DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory Release) More

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