Giant Hippos Roamed Britain in Warmer Past
June 30 — A huge find of fossils in Eastern England has revealed a pre-glacial period when the area basked in temperatures now more closely associated with the African savannah, say scientists. (Associated Press, Reuters)

EPA Blames Soot for Unhealthful Air
June 30 — Twenty-two states are being put on notice that air quality in many of their counties is unhealthy because of tons of microscopic soot from power planets, diesel-burning trucks, cars, and factories. (Associated Press)

North Drought, South Flood Climate to Linger
June 29 — Chinese meteorologists say China's "north drought and south flood" climate pattern will likely persist for at least another decade. (China View)

Global Warming Threatens Rice Yields
June 29 — Global temperature increases could cause significant reductions in yields of rice, the staple food for over half of the world's population, according to new research. (Associated Press)

British Scientists Seek New Antarctic Ice Station
June 28 — Britain's Antarctic ice station has a design problem few architects can have envisaged when it was built, within a decade it is likely to float away. (Reuters)

Largest Air Quality and Climate Study Starts in New England
June 28 — Hundreds of government and university scientists, from across the country and in western Europe, will led by NASA and NOAA teams to sample the quality of the air this summer in the largest air quality and climate study as part of the International Consortium for Atmospheric Research on Transport and Transformation. (NOAA Magazine)

Forecast for New York this Century: Hotter and Wetter
June 27 — According to scientists at Columbia University, the New York City metro area will be a hotter, wetter and significantly less healthy place to live and work by the end of this century. (The New York Times)

Satellite Pictures Show Dark Patches in Gulf Waters
June 27 — Researchers at the University of South Florida are studying two large dark patches in waters along Florida's Gulf Coast, one at the Big Bend area of the panhandle that grew in size and concentration in the past week and another north of the Florida Keys. (Naples Daily News, Florida)

Abrupt Climate Change: Looking at Ocean Currents
June 25 — A new report supports the hypothesis that heat transfer by ocean currents, rather than global heating or cooling, may have been responsible for global temperature patterns associated with the abrupt climate changes seen in the North Atlantic during the past 80,000 years. (Science Daily)

U.S., Mexico Launch Study of Monsoons
June 25 — U.S. and Mexican weather researchers are launching a study of the monsoons that can bring summer storms to parts of the two countries. (Associated Press)

Five National Parks Deemed Polluted
June 25 — Five national parks including the Sierra Nevada's Sequoia and Kings Canyon parks have been named as the nation's most polluted in a new report issued by national environmental organizations. (Associated Press)

Drought-Hit Australia Plans to Save Ailing Rivers
June 25 — Australia announces a national plan to save the country's rivers, hit by the worst drought in 100 years. (Reuters)

Five States Have More Sun Than Florida
June 25 — Weather records indicate that Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas receive more annual sunshine than Florida, the self-proclaimed "sunshine state." (Associated Press)

Climate Devils in Computer Model Details
June 25 — Climate scientists are getting close to providing a link between human activity and global warming, but translating that knowledge into long-term forecasts as tricky as ever as the data become more complex, researchers report. (United Press International)

Experts: Arctic Ocean Survey May Reveal Lost World
June 24 — A new survey of the depths of the ice-capped Arctic Ocean could reveal a lost world of living fossils and exotic new species from jellyfish to giant squid, say scientists. (Reuters, Associated Press)

Dark Days Doomed Dinosaurs, Say Purdue Scientists
June 24 — Though the catastrophe that destroyed the dinosaurs' world may have begun with blazing fire, it probably ended with icy darkness, according to a Purdue University research group. (Science Daily)

Saved by the Storm?
June 24 — New NASA-funded research supports previous theory that clouds formed by thunderstorms may help put the brakes on global warming. (Christian Science Monitor)

Global Warming Melting Alps?
June 24 — New research proposes that an observed rise in the ice-melting rate during the summer and an extension of the melting periods through October in the Alps may be caused by global warming. (Innovations Report, Germany)

New Version of Premier Global Climate Model Released
June 23 — The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has unveiled a new version of a supercomputer-based system to model Earth's climate and to project global temperature rise in coming decades. (Science Blog)

Fossil Evidence Backs Dinosaur Extinction Theory
June 23 — Fossil plankton dating from 65 million years ago helps confirm the theory that a dark winter lasting many thousands of years doomed the dinosaurs, researchers say. (Reuters)

More Global Data Needed to Help Predict Climate Changes
June 23 — The vast amount of global data that weather stations and satellites gather each day isn't precise or complete enough to answer many important questions, say University of Washington scientists. (Associated Press)

When Methane Made Climate
June 23 — Methane-producing microbes reigned during the first two billions years of Earth's history, and the greenhouse effect they produced had profound consequences for climate. (Scientific American)

Rapid Urbanization in China Warming Regional Climate Faster Than Other Urban Areas
June 23 — Rapid urbanization in Southeastern China in the past 25 years is responsible for an estimated warming rate much larger than previous estimates for other periods and locations, according to a new NASA-funded study. (Science Daily)

Scientist to Study New Fault in Colorado
June 22 — Experts plan to study a newly discovered fault in eastern Colorado this week to find out how many times it may have caused earthquakes. (Associated Press)

Global Climate Links Climate to Rates of Childhood Asthma
June 21 — A new report indicates that meteorological variables such as temperature and humidity are linked to rates of childhood asthma and eczema. (Scientific American)

Spring Was Third Warmest on Record in U.S.
June 19 — The March through May period of 2004 was the third warmest spring on record for the United States, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Associated Press)

UN Warns Aral Sea Could Dry Up
June 18 — One of the world's largest saltwater lakes could dry up completely unless neighboring countries in Central Asia work together to increase its water supply, says the UN. (Associated Press)

Western Drought Now Beats Dust Bowl
June 18 — The drought gripping the West could be the biggest in 500 years, with the effects in the Colorado River basin considerably worse than during the Dust Bowl years, say scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey. (Associated Press)

Seafloor Shifts Can Displace Beaches
June 18 — Irish geologists say rising sea levels from climate change are expected to wreck beaches and cause other significant coastal changes. (DiscoveryNews.com)

UN Says Globe Drying Up at Fast Pace
June 18 — The world is turning to dust, with lands the size of Rhode Island becoming desert wasteland every year, threatening to send millions of people to greener countries, says the UN. (Associated Press)

Report: Ozone Smog Getting Worse in Canadian Cities
June 18 — Ground-level ozone, one of the most harmful compounds in smog, is on average 30 percent higher in Canadian cities than the health limit set by environment ministers, says a recent report. (Canadian Press)

New Bug Indicates Global Warming
June 17 — A new insect that normally inhabits warm countries has been found living and breeding in the UK, a clear sign of global warming, say experts. (Reuters)

The Biomass Answer to Global Warming
June 17 — New research indicates carbon dioxide emissions could be significantly cut if countries used biomass � fuel generated from agriculture and forest products, instead of coal to produce electricity. (SolarAccess.com)

Global Warming Tipped to Produce Hot City Nights
June 17 — Summer nights in cities may get hotter and sweatier because of the impact of global warming, according to scientific analysis. (Reuters)

Climate Change Experts Say Despair over U.S. Attitude
June 17 — Climate change experts say they are frustrated the U.S. government and the public are not taking the risk of global warming seriously. (Reuters)

Scientists Sound Alarm on Canadian Weather Forecasts
June 17 — Continuing funding cuts threaten Canadian research on reducing smog and climate change, and improving the accuracy of severe weather forecasts, top government and university scientists warn. (CBC)

Climate Change Inevitable Say Scientists
June 16 — Climate change is already occurring and immediate steps are needed to both slow it down and adapt to changes that will occur anyway, scientists say. (Associated Press)

Israel Tests Earthquake Devices with Blast
June 15 — The Israeli Geophysics Institute is calibrating new equipment to better estimate the precise location of future earthquakes. (Associated Press)

USA's Built-up Surfaces Equal Ohio in Area
June 15 — The total impervious surface area of the United States now equals the state of Ohio in size, significantly impacting local climates and vegetation. (Science Daily)

All Ecosystems Are Equally Productive under Drought Conditions
June 15 — Under drought conditions, tropical forests can be as efficient at using water as desert ecosystems, say researchers. (Science Daily)

Recent Tahoe Quakes Were on Familiar Ground
June 15 — Scientists say two small earthquakes that recently rattled Lake Tahoe are part of a long seismic area that has been active for more than 60 years. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Concealed Fault Caused Bam Quake
June 15 — The devastating earthquake at Bam, Iran, in 2003 was caused by the rupture of a rare, hidden fault that is invisible at the surface, experts say. (BBC)

NASA Data Shows Hurricanes Help Plants Bloom in "Ocean Deserts"
June 15 — According to a new study using NASA satellite data, phytoplankton - tiny ocean plants - tend to bloom following hurricanes, potentially affecting the Earth's climate and carbon cycle. (Scripps Howard News Service, Big News Network)

NASA Data Shows Deforestation Affects Climate in the Amazon
June 14 — Using NASA satellite data, researchers say during the Amazon dry season, there was a distinct pattern of higher rainfall and warmer temperatures over deforested regions. (Science Daily, Space Daily)

Plunge in Arctic Seabirds May Signal Climate Change, Pollution
June 14 — A drastic decline in the population of ivory gulls could be sounding the alarm about changing conditions in the North, Canadian scientists say. (CBC)

Smoggy Debate
June 14 — Several studies have now confirmed that when levels of a common group of pollutants known as nitrogen oxides [NOx] dip on the weekends with decreased traffic, ozone - the main ingredient of smog increases. (ABC)

Flood-Menaced Population to Double by 2050, UN Says
June 13 — The number of people vulnerable to floods is expected to double to two billion worldwide by 2050 due to global warming, deforestation, rising sea levels and population growth in flood-prone areas, UN researchers warn. (Reuters)

Global Warming Threatens Skeleton Coast
June 12 — Parts of Namibia's exotic Skeleton Coast could be submerged by the end of the century and its rich marine life badly hit by global warming, a report by the southern African country's environment ministry warns. (Independent Online, South Africa)

Icecap May Hold Clue to Dramatic Climate Upheavals
June 12 — The vaulting heap of ice that is the Greenland icecap and the swirling seas nearby are in a state of profound flux, and if the trends continues, might mean higher sea levels and widespread coastal flooding, and perhaps a sharp cooling in the Northern Hemisphere. (The New York Times)

Chemists Retrieve Clues to Ancient Ocean Chemistry and Global Greenhouse
June 11 — Scientists at the University of California-San Diego say they have extended their glimpse of Earth's oceanic and atmospheric past to 130 million years, perhaps giving researchers more information about how greenhouse gases might impact our climate. (Science Daily)

Last Summer's Blackout Made Cleaner Skies
June 11 — Last summer's great Northeast blackout had a silver lining - clearer skies downwind from the Midwestern power plants that were idled, researchers say. (Associated Press, Reuters)

Researchers Seeing Double on African Monsoons
June 10 — NASA and University of Maryland scientists have found the African monsoon consists of two distinct seasons. (Science Blog, Spatial News)

California Will Be Hard Hit by Global Warming, Experts Say
June 10 — Global warming will hit California hard, but the state has already become a national leader in delaying and adapting to rising temperatures as it has pushed for tighter controls on automobile emissions and coped with a major energy crisis, experts say. (Associated Press)

Weather Forecast Warm for the Next 15,000 Years
June 9 — Based on information extracted from the oldest ice core ever drilled, scientists say barring human interference, the Earth's weather should be warm and stable for at least the next 15,000 years. (Associated Press, Reuters)

NASA Data Shows Deforestation Affects Climate in the Amazon
June 9 — Using NASA satellite data, researchers say during the Amazon dry season, there was a distinct pattern of higher rainfall and warmer temperatures over deforested regions. (Science Daily, Space Daily)

Can Iron-Enriched Oceans Thwart Global Warming?
June 9 — Scientists debate how ocean phytoplankton might help fight global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via increased photosynthesis. (National Geographic)

Global Warming Verified
June 7 — The surface temperature of the Earth has risen by about 1 degree in the past 100 years, says a new report released by the National Academy of Sciences. (The Tennessean)

NASA Spends $60 Million on Weather Satellite Technology
June 7 — NASA has awarded three $20 million contracts for new sensor technology that will help forecasters better predict where and when severe weather will strike. (Washington Technology)

UN Warns Oceans at Risk from Aggressive Fishing
June 4 — The United Nations says aggressive fishing threatens little-understood corals that 2004-05-hold the key to new medicines. (Reuters)

Arctic Cores Offer Climate Clues
June 4 — An international team of scientists is heading for the Arctic to extract cores from sediments deep below the sea bed. (BBC)

Scientist: Climate Changes Could Hurt Idaho's Farms, Fish
June 4 — Idaho's snowpack could drop by 35 percent over the next 50 years, worsening the state water shortage, according to a University of Washington climate expert. (Idaho Statesman)

Pollution in North America Falls 10 Percent
June 3 — A new study finds pollution in North America has fallen 10 percent since 2001, but coal-burning power plants are lagging in improvements among industrial sources fouling the air. (Associated Press)

Gas May Have Spurred Ancient Global Warming
June 2 — A vast belch of gas from beneath the North Atlantic 55 million years ago may have warmed the planet and holds clues to threats from an even faster modern surge in greenhouse gases, say scientists. (Reuters)

Quake Unblocked Distant Geysers
June 2 — A major earthquake in Alaska in 2002 set off a series of smaller quakes in the Yellowstone National Park, thousands of miles away, say scientists. (BBC)

Tropical Plants Help Identify Lags between Abrupt Climate and Vegetation Shifts
June 1 — Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution say clues to the timing and cause of abrupt climate changes in the past 2004-05-lie in ocean floor sediments. (Science Daily)

Better Hurricane Forecasts Are Sought
June 1 — Researchers at the National Hurricane Center in Miami are undertaking a new research initiative where technology undergoes interactive, real-time testing in hopes of improving the information emergency managers use to decide to evacuate coastal residents when a storm approaches. (Associated Press)

National Weather Service Product Means Better Air Quality
June 1 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have released new experimental air quality forecasts enabling state and local agencies to issue more accurate and geographically specific air quality warnings to the public. (PR Newswire)

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