Earth's Core is Sizzling at 9930 Degrees
September 29 — Earth's core is a mass of molten iron, bubbling at 9930 degrees Fahrenheit report British scientists. Mike Gillian, a professor at the University College London, says that the whole dynamics of the Earth depends on knowing the temperature of the Earth's core. (Reuters)

Fire's Role in Global Warming Studied
September 27 — Scientists from 12 countries are monitoring how fires contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Dean Graetz of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Earth Observation Center says that fires account for 40 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. (Environmental News Network)

Maryland Laser Tests May Help in Global Warming Battle
September 25 — A NASA aircraft will fire laser beams over Maryland to help scientists identify the height and age of the trees, as well as the amount of carbon they contain. Ralph Dubayah , the project's principal investigator, says that these measurements will provide more accurate numbers for scientists to tackle global warming, protecting old-growth forest and even forecasting the weather. (Frank D. Roylance, Baltimore Sun)

Quakes Will Be More Devastating in Future
September 22 — Increasing urban development and unprecedented population growth will worsen the effects of earthquakes, say seismic experts. Earthquakes like those in Turkey and Taiwan are the wave of the future, says Kerry Sieh of California Institute of Technology. (Los Angeles Times)

Global Warming Unpredictable, Scientists Say
September 21 — Climate scientists are changing their theory about greenhouse gas emissions and global warming with a pessimistic and an optimistic view. According to a draft of the special report on emissions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change due out in March 2000, emissions in 2100 could be five times as high as today's, which is double the amount predicted or the emissions could be lower than predicted. (Environmental News Network)

Floyd: Offspring of La Niña
September 16 — Hurricane Floyd was the type of storm expected to follow a La Niña. According to Kevin Trenberth, atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, says that La Niña shifts north the jets stream winds that ordinarily would tear hurricanes apart before they form. The result is smaller storms coming together and growing into hurricanes and typhoons. (Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post)

Clinton Releases Satellite Images of Antarctica
September 15 — President Clinton released classified satellite images of Antarctica to help scientists chart global climate changes. Clinton warned that global warming could bring cataclysmic consequences and that the five warmest years have all been in the 1990's. (Terence Hunt, Associated Press)

Climate Experts Draw a Blank on Global Warming
September 15 — Climate scientists are abandoning their old estimates of greenhouse gas emissions, saying there are too many uncertainties to predict the extent of global warming. The draft report of the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change contains 40 scenarios based on world population, economics, and technical advances that predict carbon dioxide emissions to range from 4.3 to 36.7 billion by 2100. (Reuters)

La Niña Intensifies Threat of Hurricane Season
September 10 — Scientists blame La Niña for the potentially devastating storms that could form in the second half of the hurricane season. Tony Busalacchi, an atmospheric scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, says that El Niño shifts the jet stream south, which blocks and weakens hurricanes, but La Niña shifts the jet stream north leaving the door wide open for more intense storms. (Ann Kellan, CNN Interactive)

Increase of Ultraviolet Radiation in New Zealand
September 10 — Ultraviolet radiation in New Zealand has increased by about 12 percent during the last 20 years as a result of a thinning ozone layer in the atmosphere. In a study, in the journal Science, scientists at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research measured ultraviolet radiation at Lauder, New Zealand from 1979-1998 and found an increase in the radiation with a decrease in ozone levels. (Associated Press)

El Niño Calms Atlantic Hurricane Season
September 3 — El Niño reduces the number of intense hurricanes that form in the Atlantic Ocean, according to NASA scientists. Scientists at Marshall Space Flight Center say that since El Ni�o won't be around this year, the 1999 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be active with four or more intense hurricanes predicted. (Environmental News Network)

Fine Tuning Forecasts
September 2 — Researchers at Florida State University and the Indian Institute of Science, report that combining the predictions of different weather and climate models yields better results than any individual model. Eric Williford of Florida State University says that extracting the best information from each model gives the most accurate forecast. (Kenneth Chang, ABCNEWS.com)

El Niño Wasn't So Bad After All
September 1 — Last year’s El Niño is blamed for 189 deaths, but saved nearly 850 lives says Stanley A. Changnon, a consulting climatologist, and the $4.2-$4.5 billion in damage is outweighed by the $20 billion in benefits. But Michael Glantz at the National Center for Atmospheric Research was skeptical about trusting Changnon's numbers, but applauds Changnon's efforts. (Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press)

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