Report: Better Hurricane Research Needed
September 29 — The government should invest more money in understanding hurricanes because they are so deadly and expensive, according to a draft of a federal report. (Associated Press)

Firefighters Confident End in Sight for California Wildfire
September 29 — Forestry and fire officials said a huge wildfire, described as one of the largest in California's history, could be brought under control within days. (AFP)

Southern California Branded U.S. Smog Capital
September 29 — Research shows southern California has once more earned the dubious honor of having the smoggiest air in the United States, ahead of northern California's San Joaquin Valley and Houston. (AFP)

Mount St. Helens Eruption Slowing
September 29 — Two years after Mount St. Helens began its low-key eruption, a process that has extruded tons of rock into the crater left by the volcano's deadly 1980 blast, scientists say the mountain seems to be slowing down. (Associated Press)

Samoa Quake Generates Small Tsunami
September 28 — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of up to 7.0 hit near the South Pacific nation of Samoa and triggered a small tsunami, but there were no reports of damage, officials said. (Reuters)

Wetland Dry-Up Eases Methane Levels
September 28 — A new study has shown that methane levels have stabilized in the atmosphere but it is only because emissions produced by wetlands have fallen. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Study: Earth Was Once Hot, Carbon Dioxide Rich
September 28 — New research shows that 50 million years ago the atmosphere contained more than 1,125 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide, and if humans keep burning fossil fuels levels could reach 1,000 ppm. (Discovery.com)

Dead Zone Off Oregon Needs Storms to Break
September 28 — The dead zone of oxygen-depleted water that has been killing crabs and fish along the central Oregon coast is showing the first signs of breaking up, but will likely remain in place until fall storms move in, scientists say. (Associated Press)

Man and Nature Combine to Create Ozone Holes
September 28 — Scientists said today the Antarctic ozone hole, caused largely by human pollution, is not showing any signs of recovery so far this year, while a separate study shows that nature itself is destroying ozone high in the atmosphere over the North Pole. (LiveScience.com)

Warm Waters Surging into Arctic Ocean
September 27 — Surges of warm water from the North Atlantic Ocean are flowing into the Arctic Ocean and could accelerate the melting of Arctic sea ice, according to scientists at the International Arctic Research Center. (Environment News Service)

UN Expects Weak-to-Moderate El Nino
September 26 — Pacific Ocean equatorial waters off South America have warmed, indicating a weak-to-moderate El Nino weather phenomenon this year, the World Meteorological Organization said. (Reuters)

NASA Technology Captures Massive Hurricane Waves
September 26 — NASA research is helping to increase knowledge about the behavior of hurricane waves that pose a serious threat to mariners and coastal communities. (PhysOrg.com)

Warmer Sea Threatens Coral
September 26 — Scientists have issued their strongest warning so far this year saying that unusually warm Caribbean Sea temperatures threaten coral reefs that suffered widespread damage last year in record-setting heat. (Associated Press)

Global Temperature Highest in Thousands of Years
September 25 — The planet's temperature has climbed to levels not seen in thousands of years and the warming has begun to affect plants and animals, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Associated Press)

NASA Study Tracks Global Sources, Transport of Air Pollution
September 25 — A NASA and university study of ozone and carbon monoxide pollution in Earth's atmosphere is providing unique insights into the sources of these pollutants and how they are transported around the world. (SpaceRef.com)

Helene Weakens, No Longer a Hurricane
September 24 — Helene weakened and was no longer a hurricane as it moved through the open Atlantic, forecasters said, but it may still threaten Portugal's Azores archipelago with strong winds and tidal surges. (Reuters)

Hurricane Katrina's Waves Felt in California
September 23 — As hurricane Katrina was rumbling towards New Orleans, a seismic hum more than 1,000 times the strength of the average volcanic tremor was felt nearly 2,000 miles away in southern California -- its source was the hurricane itself. (Science Daily)

Cyclone Threatens Pakistani Coastal Towns
September 23 — Pakistani authorities braced for a cyclone in the Arabian Sea that meteorologists said was likely to hit the country's two coastal towns in the next 24 hours. (AFP)

Antarctic Ozone Hole Nears Record
September 22 — The hole over Antarctica's ozone layer is bigger than last year and is nearing the record 11 million-square-mile hole seen in 2000, the World Meteorological Organization said. (Reuters)

Mountain Water Resources Under Threat, Experts Warn
September 22 — Mountain water resources are under threat from global warming and increased usage of the precious resource by ski resorts, scientists warned at a conference in the French Alps. (Reuters)

Storms Sweep Midwest
September 22 — Severe storms crossing the Midwest produced heavy rains, hail and flooding and caused at least 10 deaths, local officials said. (Associated Press)

Global Warming Takes a Break
September 21 — Cooling ocean temperatures in the last three years signal a temporary halt for global warming, but researchers expect the warming trend to resume. (LiveScience.com)

Rebuilding Wetlands: Do Hurricanes Help?
September 21 — A new study suggests that hurricanes can spread tons of new sediment and silt across wetlands, buffering inland regions from inundating storm surges. (MSNBC)

Damage Light from Gordon's Remnants in Northwestern Spain
September 21 — The remnants of tropical storm Gordon hit landfall in the Spanish coastal region of Galicia -- ravaged by fires only last month -- bringing heavy rain and local wind gusts of up to 85 miles mph, Spanish media reported. (AFP)

Tiny Krill Key to Ocean Turbulence
September 21 — Mass movements of marine crustaceans called krill generate turbulent currents that may help pump nutrients from the ocean depths to surface waters, researchers say. (National Geographic Online)

Canadian Fires Raise Houston's Ozone Level
September 21 — Scientists using NASA satellites and other data have demonstrated that pollutants traveling thousands of miles can impact air quality. (United Press International)

Farmers Could Help Gut Greenhouse Gas
September 21 — U.S. farmers can play a significant role in curbing greenhouse gas emissions, but more research and greater incentives are needed to make it cost-effective, according to two new studies. (Reuters)

Greenland Ice Sheet Melting Faster
September 20 — Greenland's massive ice sheet is melting much quicker than scientists had estimated and the pace has accelerated lately, according to new research. (Reuters)

Arctic Melt Exposes Polar Route
September 20 — European scientists voiced shock over pictures showing Arctic ice cover had disappeared so much last month that a ship could sail unhindered from Europe's most northerly outpost to the North Pole itself. (Discovery.com)

NASA Satellite Tracks 2006 Hurricane Rainfall
September 20 — NASA scientists are using satellite data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission to determine the amount of rainfall that falls in the path of a hurricane. (Innovations Report)

Desert Forest Waters Itself
September 20 — Trees in a rare cloud forest in the desert regions of Oman water themselves with seasonal fog, according to scientists. (LiveScience.com)

Nitrous Oxide: No Laughing Matter for Forests
September 20 — A new study finds climate change could cause forests in Europe to spew out more and more nitrous oxide, a potent contributor to global warming. (Science Daily)

Scientist Has Grim Drought Forecast for West
September 20 — Future Western droughts could last an average of 12 years, spanning half of the region and severely reducing Colorado River flows that supply millions of people, according to climate projections. (Rocky Mountain News)

Growth in Amazon Cropland May Impact Climate and Deforestation Patterns
September 19 — Scientists using NASA satellite data have found that clearing for mechanized cropland in the Brazilian Amazon may alter the region's climate and the land's ability to absorb carbon dioxide (PhysOrg.com)

Scientists Develop New Ocean Forecast System
September 19 — A new joint forecasting system by Australian meteorologists, researchers, and Navy predicts ocean currents, temperature and salinity up to a week in advance. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

England's Warming Not 'Natural'
September 19 — Temperatures in central England are about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in the 1950s, and humanity's greenhouse gas emissions may be the reason, a new study states. (BBC)

China's Dangerous Dust Bowl
September 18 — Violent sandstorms along with persistent drought, indiscriminate use of ground water, and rampant logging are eroding the edges of China's deserts, allowing them to merge and spread, with their mustard-colored dust reaching the west coast of North America. (Boston Globe)

Helene Strengthens to Category Three
September 18 — Hurricane Helene continued to gain strength as a Category 3 storm in the open Atlantic, and forecasters said it could threaten Bermuda at the end of the week. (Associated Press)

Climate Change Cited in Siberian Landscape Shift
September 18 — Environmental experts in Russia say global warming is melting permafrost and forming new lakes in Siberia's vast frozen tundra. (National Public Radio)

Tree Rings Can Reveal Hurricane Record
September 18 — Oxygen taken from tree rings could help settle the question of whether hurricanes are getting stronger and more frequent, U.S. researchers said. (Reuters)

Scientists Baffled by Decline in Great Lakes Water Levels
September 17 — Canada and the United States are launching a study to determine why water levels in the upper Great Lakes have declined to near-record lows. (Canadian Press)

Hurricane Lane Leaves Destruction in Mexico
September 17 — Hurricane Lane left a trail of destruction on Mexico's Pacific coast that killed three people, washed away roads and knocked down flimsy homes before fizzling out. (Reuters)

Dying Glaciers Draw Curious to Swiss Alpine Peaks
September 16 — Swiss glaciers have lost more than 15 percent of their surface area in the last two decades and could vanish almost entirely within a century if climate shifts are not moderated, say scientists, and many tourists are flocking to the highest peaks to see formidable Alpine glaciers melt away before their eyes. (Reuters)

Study Acquits Sun of Climate Change
September 15 — The sun's energy output has barely varied over the past 1,000 years, raising chances that global warming has human rather than celestial causes, a study showed. (Reuters)

2006 Hotter than Ever So Far
September 14 — The first eight months of 2006 was the warmest in the continental United States since record-keeping began in 1895, NOAA officials said today. (LiveScience.com)

Pollutant Could Starve Off Warming Crisis
September 14 — To stall global warming for 20 years, one climate scientist has proposed lobbing sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, which would work in concert with cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. (Reuters)

Study Confirms Lightning's Icy Origin
September 13 — Researchers using data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite have confirmed that in cumulonimbus clouds tiny ice crystals are constantly bumping against larger ice pellets, creating the spark needed for lightning formation. (LiveScience.com)

Scientists Predict More European Heat Waves
September 13 — Summer temperatures in Europe will become more variable in the future and could cause more heat waves similar to that of 2003, Swiss scientists said. (Reuters)

Scientists: Earth Storms Lead to Space Storms
September 13 — Thunderstorms on Earth can lead to storms in the outer reaches of the atmosphere that disrupt radio transmissions and other electronic communications, U.S. researchers said. (Reuters)

El Nino Returns
September 13 — Forecasters say a new El Nino � a patch of unusually warm water in the tropical Pacific Ocean that develops every few years � will mean warmer temperatures and stormier weather for the United States this winter. (ABC)

Ioke Damaged 70 Buildings on Wake Island
September 13 — The Central Pacific's strongest hurricane in a decade damaged 70 percent of the buildings on Wake Island when it slammed ashore last month, the U.S. Air Force said. (Associated Press)

Researchers Looking into Dying Aspens
September 13 — Scientists are struggling to determine why aspen trees have been dying off in the Rockies and have found differences between the sizes of snowpacks near aspens and conifers, which can affect how much water is available for use in the summer. (Associated Press)

Smoke Pollutants in East Drop
September 13 — Ozone levels are falling sharply in Eastern states where smog has been a recurring summer problem, the Environmental Protection Agency said. (Associated Press)

Scientists: Winter Arctic Sea Ice is Shrinking
September 13 — Arctic perennial sea ice -- the kind that stays frozen year-round -- declined by 14 percent between 2004 and 2005, climate scientists said, in what one expert saw as a clear sign of greenhouse warming. (Reuters)

Polar Bears Shored by Arctic Melting
September 13 — Arctic sea ice melted at record levels last year and again in 2006, forcing the bears to spend more time on land, where they are unable to hunt their preferred food � seals. (Discovery.com)

Some Glaciers Growing Due to Climate Change
September 12 — Some glaciers in Pakistan's Upper Indus River Basin appear to be growing, and a new study suggests that global warming is the cause. (National Geographic News)

Climate Change Seen Pushing Plants to the Brink
September 12 — Thousands of plant species are being pushed to the brink of extinction by global warming, and those already at the extremes are in the greatest danger, a leading botanist said. (Reuters)

Study: Strong Hurricanes Tied to Warming
September 12 — Most of the increase in ocean temperature that feeds more intense hurricanes is a result of human-induced global warming, says a new study. (Associated Press)

Destructive Insects on Rise in Alaska
September 11 — Destructive insects in unprecedented numbers are finding Alaska forests to be a congenial home, say researchers, and climate change could be the welcome mat. (Associated Press)

Hurricane Bears Down on Bermuda
September 11 — The center of Hurricane Florence, with winds of 80 mph, was expected to pass "a short distance" to the west of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said. (Associated Press)

Gulf Quake Mystifies Experts
September 11 — The unusually strong earthquake felt along the eastern U.S. Gulf Coast may have been caused, indirectly, by the Mississippi River, say geologists - providing a reminder that even the Gulf of Mexico may be able to generate quakes that could launch tsunamis. (Discovery.com)

Tropical Depression Forms in Atlantic
September 10 — A small tropical depression formed in the Atlantic Ocean northeast of the Leeward Islands, forecasters said. (Associated Press)

Quake in Gulf Shakes Southeast
September 10 — A strong, 6.0-magnitude earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico, about 250 miles west of Tampa, Florida, was felt throughout the Southeast U.S. but caused no apparent damage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. (CNN)

Hong Kong Smog Could Be Better within Two Years
September 10 — Hong Kong's worsening pollution could be improved within just two years if the government was to adopt a series of emergency environmental measures outlined by a think tank. (AFP)

Floods Hit 22,000 in Niger
September 8 — About 22,000 people have been left homeless and facing hunger after heavy flooding in Niger and Burkina Faso, the United Nations' humanitarian body said. (AFP)

Three Trees May Be World's Tallest
September 8 — Researchers have discovered three trees in a northern California forest they believe are taller than a nearby redwood listed as the world's tallest tree, a U.S. forestry official said. (Reuters)

Boston University Will Head Study for NASA
September 7 — Boston University will lead an eight-year project for NASA to study radiation belts above the Earth that can bombard astronauts and satellites with harmful particles. (The Boston Globe)

Asian Summer Monsoon Stirred by Dust in the Wind
September 7 — According to a new NASA study, dust from deserts collects in the atmosphere against the slopes of South Asia's Tibetan Plateau during the region's monsoon season and helps trigger rainfall. (Science Daily)

Tracking Volcanoes from Below the Surface
September 6 — By studying volcanic magma, or molten rock from erupted volcanoes, scientists have determined that it heats itself up as it rises from deep below the surface -- which may provide an important trigger for an eruption. (Reuters)

Scientists Say Methane a New Climate Threat
September 6 — Global warming gases trapped in the soil are bubbling out of the thawing permafrost in amounts far higher than previously thought and may trigger what researchers warn is a climate time bomb. (Associated Press)

Tropical Storm Florence Forms in the Atlantic
September 5 — The sixth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Florence, formed in the distant Atlantic and could become a hurricane as it moves toward the United States, U.S. forecasters said. (Reuters)

Brazil Says Amazon Destruction Declining
September 5 — The rate of destruction of the Amazon rain forest is slowing, although ranchers, loggers and soybean farmers are illegally removing thousands of square miles of trees each year, the Brazilian government said. (Associated Press)

Hurricane Season May Fizzle Further Due to El Nino
September 5 — Hurricane forecasters believe a weather phenomenon called El Nino may make the rest of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season quieter than originally predicted. (National Geographic News)

What's it Like to be on a NASA Hurricane Mission?
September 5 — Scientists are using airplanes, sensors, radar, computer modeling programs and NASA satellites to better understand hurricanes. (Science Daily)

Remnants of Hurricane John Reach U.S.
September 4 — Heavy rain flooded roads in the Southwest as the rapidly weakening remnants of Hurricane John spread across the border from Mexico, where up to 20 inches had fallen on parts of the Baja Peninsula. (Associated Press)

Ice Core Evidence of Human Impact on Carbon Dioxide in Air
September 4 — Air from the oldest ice core confirms human activity has increased the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to levels not seen for hundreds of thousands of years, scientists said. (Reuters)

Scientists Map Canyon below Atlantic
September 4 — New research maps of the Hudson Canyon that lays hundreds of feet beneath the ocean surface off the New York coast may help scientists determine whether methane gas trapped in frozen sediment below the sea floor is escaping and exacerbating global warming. (Associated Press)

Climate Panel Lowers Global Warming Forecast, Report Says
September 4 — A draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says global temperature increases could be contained to two degrees Celsius by 2100, if greenhouse gas emissions were held at current levels. (Reuters)

Disease Migrates as World Warms
September 3 — Climate change is exacerbating the spread of infectious diseases according to new research that shows warming temperatures are causing organisms to migrate with more ease. (BBC)

UK Can Expect Extreme Rainfall
September 3 — Britain can expect more tropical-style rainfall as climate change gathers pace, according to research carried out at Newcastle University. (BBC)

Average Daily Temperatures Continuing to Increase
September 2 — An Australian scientist says the scientific consensus is that average daily temperatures will increase by as much as 5.8 degrees Fahrenheit over the next century. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

China Says Rain to Ease Drought
September 2 — China is predicting rain next week to ease the worst drought to hit southwest China in more than a century and bring down record-high temperatures. (Reuters)

Hurricane John Lashes Baja California
September 2 — A weakened but still dangerous Hurricane John lashed the main city in the southern part of Mexico's Baja California peninsula with fierce winds and rain after sparing the tourist resorts of Los Cabos a direct hit. (Associated Press)

Ernesto Remnants Soak Mid-Atlantic States
September 2 — More than 400,000 homes in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region were without power as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ernesto soaked the region with up to a foot of rain. (Reuters)

Experts Lower Hurricane Forecast
September 1 — Forecasters at Colorado State University have once again downgraded expectations for the 2006 Atlantic storm season and now call for a slightly below-average year, with only five hurricanes instead of the seven previously forecast. (Associated Press)

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