La Niña Exits Pacific But Effects Linger
August 31 — La Niña may be gone, but won't be forgotten soon. Armed with the latest satellite data gathered over the Pacific Ocean, meteorologists are still calling for continued heat in the western U.S. and an unusually active hurricane season. (Reuters)

New Cause of Global Warming Uncovered
August 30 — Methane and other gases may have played a greater role than carbon dioxide from coal and oil burning in warming Earth's surface, according to a recent study. (Fox News, Los Angeles Times)

Calcium Needed for a Stable Earth Climate
August 30 — Researchers have discovered that calcium is good for your health and the Earth's. The amount of calcium in seawater is a direct indicator of carbon dioxide quantities in the atmosphere, and ocean chemistry helps to control the Earth's warmth. (Daily Californian, Excite News)

Global Warming Threatens World Habitats
August 30 — According to a recent study, one third of the Earth's wildlife and vegetation and is under threat from global warming and could disappear or change beyond recognition by the end of this century. (Reuters, The New York Times, CNN)

Ozone Levels Drop Over Antarctica
August 30 — Satellite data shows an usually early drop in the level of upper level ozone over the Antarctic. (ABC News, Reuters, MSNBC, Associated Press)

Get the Easy Greenhouse Gases First
August 29 — A warmer world may not be our destiny, based on the latest research from James Hansen's study of greenhouse gases that cause increasing global temperatures. (The New York Times)

Hot News on Warming
August 28 — An editorial cites both bad news and good news on global warming, from open water at the North Pole to James Hansen's report stating "It may be more practical to slow warming than is sometimes assumed." (The Washington Post)

North Pole Melting May Rest on Thin Ice
August 28 — Open water at the top of the world isn't evidence that the North Pole is melting, polar scientists say. The singular hole at the top of the world is likely just a temporary opening. (The Dallas Morning News)

In a Summer of Fire, Is Warming a Cause?
August 27 — As the Earth's climate heats up, the difference between the warm surface and colder upper air will increase, triggering more violent weather, such as thunderstorms that spark fires. (The Los Angeles Times)

Global Cooling - Mini-Ice Age
August 24 — Climate fluctuations have been noted throughout history. For 400 years, the Earth's climate warmed, allowing Vikings to settle in Greenland. Then the earth cooled into a "Little Ice Age" which lasted some 400 to 700 years, possibly ending in 1900. (Christian Science Monitor)

La Niña Brings Wacky Weather
August 23 — Forecasters blame this month's freakish snow storm in Britain and unusual weather in the United States on a change in the jet stream, caused by La Niña. (Fox News)

World Climate Talks to Develop Rules
August 18 — Representatives from 180 countries who signed the Kyoto Protocol will meet in France in September to work out an international agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. (Reuters)

Climate Alert for Swamp of London
August 18 — Scientists says that Britain faces the threat of becoming a tropical island unless efforts are made to fight global warming. (Nick Nuttall, The London Times)

Arctic-Climate Findings Defrost Global Warming Doubters
August 17 — Arctic scientists have reviewed 40 years of polar research that shows consistency with climate change model forecasts. (Peter N. Spotts, Christian Science Monitor)

Carbon at 20 Million Year High
August 17 — British researchers have concluded that carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere are higher than they have been in 20 million years. (BBC News)

Global Warming May Worsen Allergies
August 16 — Research shows that ragweed and other plants produce significantly more pollen as carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere, greatly affecting allergy sufferers. (Associated Press, Reuters, USA Today)

Hardy Survivors
August 16 — After four years of inundating a forest with carbon dioxide, the principle greenhouse gas, researchers have noticed that some forests have thrived. (ABC News)

Practical Solutions Urged To Reduce Greenhouse Gases
August 16 — Researchers suggest a global effort to reduce air pollution, especially tropospheric ozone and black carbon, would slow global warming. (CNN, The London Daily Telegraph and the Environmental News Network)

Scientists Propose Burying "Greenhouse" Gases
August 16 — Australian scientists are working on a plan to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by injecting excess quantities of carbon dioxide underground. (Reuters)

Satellite Photos Document Desert Plant Invasion
August 15 — In a study of desertification in the southwestern United States, remote sensing imagery has documented an invasion of mesquite bushes into a former grassland. (ScienceDaily.com)

Hurricane Hazards
August 13 — Scientists say that the Atlantic coastal United States, the Caribbean and Central America may face the increased threat of major hurricanes for another 20 or 30 years, and warmer Atlantic Ocean temperatures may be a main contributor. (ABC News)

Subglacial Microbes Could Impact Climate
August 12 — Researchers suggest that thriving microbes consume trapped carbon from dead vegetation and soils underneath glaciers, which would be released as carbon dioxide and methane during transitions between ice ages and interglacial periods. (New Scientist)

Hurricane Center Sees Milder but Active Season
August 11 — The National Hurricane Center lowered its yearly estimate of hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, but it will still be a season with more hurricanes than normal. They forecast 11 named storms, 3 of them major hurricanes. (Reuters)

Terra Exposes Thin Snow Cover
August 4 — The winter of 1999-2000 brought relatively little snow to parts of the North American continent, according to data from NASA's Terra satellite snow melted early compared to normal years. (Robinson Shaw, Environmental News Network and Craig Linder, States News Service)

Fewer Hurricanes
August 4 — Hurricane forecaster William Gray has revised his forecast for this hurricane season because of the fading of the La Nina event. Gray now predicts 11 named storms, 7 of them hurricanes, 3 of those major hurricanes. (Associated Press)

U.S. Proposes New Strategy to Fight Global Warming
August 2 — The United States is proposing incentives to countries that plant trees and farm in ways that absorb carbon dioxide in order to attain the emissions standards set by the Kyoto Protocol. (Andrew C. Revkin, The New York Times)

Ocean Current Tied to Climate Change
August 2 — A deep ocean current originating near Antarctica is influencing marine life nearly halfway around the world, and may be a key to understanding climate change. (MSNBC News)

Pacific Mood Swings Last for Decades
August 1 — Oceanographers discovered long-term shifts in the temperature of the Pacific Ocean, which could help scientists better predict climate change. (Reuters)

Ozone Has Direct Effect on Plants
August 1 — Research has shown that ozone, a major constituent of smog, directly effects the genes associated with the aging process in plants. The study concluded that ozone accelerates a plant's aging process. (ScienceDaily.com)

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