Oxygen on Earth May Be Older Than Thought
September 27 — An analysis of a deep rock core from Australia indicates the presence of at least some oxygen 50 million to 100 million years before the great change when the life-giving element began rising to today's levels. (ABC News)

In Hot Water: Ice Age Defrosted by Warming Ocean, Not Rise in CO2
September 27 — New evidence from a marine sediment core from the deep Pacific points to warmer ocean waters around Antarctica - not greenhouse gases - as the culprit behind the thawing of the last ice age. (Scientific American)

Climate Change Alters Arctic Lake
September 27 — A new study suggests climate change has altered the makeup of North America's northernmost lake as algae in Canada's Ward Hunt Lake have become more active over the last two centuries, as revealed by a sediment core analysis. (Live Science)

Massive Underwater Forests Found in Pacific
September 26 — A team of scientists says it has found a string of vast, rich forests far below the coral reefs found in the tropical Pacific Ocean that are made out of kelp plants and harbor a huge range of plants and animals. (National Public Radio)

Earth's Water Brewed At Home, Not in Space
September 25 — Most scientists think Earth's oceans came from water-rich asteroids and comets raining down on the planet in its youth, but now planetary scientists in Japan suggest the oceans were actually "home-grown" - they may have formed because the young Earth had a thick blanket of hydrogen, which reacted with oxides in the Earth's mantle to form lakes and seas. (New Scientist)

Ice Withdrawal 'Shatters Record'
September 21 — Arctic sea ice shrank to the smallest area on record this year, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, who confirmed a minimum extent of 1.59 million square miles was reached on Sept. 16. (BBC News)

Amazon Forests Resilient to Drought
September 21 — Most forests in the Amazon River basin grew greener in 2005 even as a potent drought caused the waterways in the region to shrivel to a 100-year low. (New York Times)

La Nina May Impact Global Weather into 2008
September 21 — The weather anomaly La Nina could influence global weather patterns through the early part of 2008, according to the National Weather Service. (Reuters)

Bog Helps Build Climate Insights
September 19 — A 55-million-year-old British bog uncovered by the Channel Tunnel rail link is giving scientists insights into an ancient period of global warming. (BBC News)

Researchers Reassess Theories on Formation of Earth's Atmosphere
September 19 — Geochemists are challenging commonly held ideas about how gases are expelled from the Earth, and their theory could change the way scientists view the formation of Earth's atmosphere and those of our distant neighbors, Mars and Venus. (Science Daily)

More Progress Urged on Ozone Hole
September 17 — Faster progress is needed to safeguard the ozone layer, according to one of the scientists who discovered the "ozone hole" over Antarctica who has criticized the agreement that allows developing countries to keep on using some ozone-depleting chemicals until 2040. (BBC News)

Peat and Forests Save Permafrost from Melting
September 17 — Permafrost may be buffered against the impacts of climate change by peat and vegetation present in the northern regions, according to researchers. (Science Daily)

Northwest Passage Opens
September 14 — The most direct shipping route from Europe to Asia is fully clear of ice for the first time since records began, the European Space Agency says. (BBC News)

Sea Ice is Getting Thinner
September 14 — Large areas of Arctic sea ice are only one meter thick this year, equating to an approximate 50 percent thinning as compared to the year 2001, according to initial results from an expedition to the North Polar Sea. (Science Daily)

Earth May Survive Sun's Demise in 5 Billion Years
September 13 — Astronomers are announcing that they have discovered a planet that seems to have survived the puffing up of its home star, suggesting there is some hope that Earth could survive the aging and swelling of the Sun. (New York Times)

Deep-Sea Vents 'No Climate Haven'
September 10 — Exotic creatures that live in deep-sea vents will not be immune to the effects of climate change, a UK scientist says. (BBC News)

Arctic Ice Continues Record Melting
September 10 — An area of Arctic sea ice the size of Florida has melted away in just the last six days as melting at the top of the planet continues at a record rate. (ABC News)

Most Polar Bears Could be Gone by 2050
September 8 — The fate of polar bears might be even more imperiled than a recent estimate, because sea ice in the Arctic might be vanishing faster than the available computer models predict, the U.S. Geological Survey said in a report aimed at determining whether the arctic bear should be classified as a threatened species. (Reuters)

Distant Space Collision Meant Doom for Dinosaurs
September 6 — A collision 160 million years ago of two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter sent many big rock chunks hurtling toward Earth, including the one that zapped the dinosaurs, scientists say. (Reuters)

Climate Change Sucks Life from Rare Leech
September 6 — A rare European leech seems to be headed towards extinction as global warming dries out the Austrian forest home of the tiny blood-sucker, scientists say. (Reuters)

Sea Ice Loss Imminent, Researchers Say
September 6 — An analysis of 20 years' worth of real-life observations supports recent U.N. computer predictions that by 2050, summer sea ice off Alaska's north coast will probably shrink to nearly half the area it covered in the 1980s, government scientists say. (Associated Press)

NOAA Reports La Nina is Developing
September 6 — Scientists with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center say that La Ni�a is on its way. With La Ni�a developing, seasonal forecasters expect wetter than normal conditions in the Pacific Northwest and drier than normal conditions in the already drought-stricken southwestern U.S. this fall. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

South-East Asia At Risk From Another Tsunami
September 5 — An Australian seismologist says the northern tip of the Bay of Bengal, which is home to more than 60 million people, is at risk from tsunami-generating earthquakes. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

New Antarctic Base Ready for 'Sexy' Research
September 5 — Belgian explorer Alain Hubert on Wednesday unveiled a new eco-friendly Antarctic base, aimed at generating greater public interest in the problems posed by global warming. (Agence France-Presse)

Experts: Expect 6 More Hurricanes in 2007
September 4 — As Hurricane Felix slammed into Central America at maximum intensity on Tuesday, top U.S. experts predicted six more hurricanes would form in the Atlantic region this year, three of them packing "major" strength. (Agence France-Presse)

Acid Rain May Hit Coastal Waters Hard
September 3 — New research suggests that nitrogen and sulphur released into the air by human activities may be driving down the pH in some coastal waters more than expected. (news@nature.com)

UK Peatlands Face Future Stress
September 1 — Severe erosion and climate change could result in the release of a vast volume of carbon into the atmosphere from the UK's peatlands, scientists have warned. (BBC News)

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