Aging TOPEX/Poseidon Satellite Still Sending Back Ocean Data
January 29 — The United States-French TOPEX-Poseidon satellite was designed to monitor the Earth's oceans for up to five years, but after seven years scientists say it is still going strong. Bill Patzert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says that the satellite has the precision to look at subtle changes in sea surface height, which is the real key to understanding the climate. (Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press)

Weather Forecasts Aren't Synonymous With Climate
January 29 — Changes in climate influence weather, but researchers are far from being able to make accurate and specific weather forecasts. John Wallace, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington, says that climate is what we expect to happen and weather is what happens. (Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press)

Hawaii Scientist Eyes NASA Launch
January 28 — When the space shuttle Endeavour is launched, Peter Mouginis-Mark at the University of Hawaii hopes to have some of his questions about volcanic hazards answered. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission will improve topographic maps of volcanoes around the world, says Mouginis-Mark. (Helen Altonn, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Hawaii)

Southern Ocean Soaks Up Carbon Dioxide
January 28 — Manmade carbon dioxide is being soaked up by the cold waters of the Southern Ocean and is moving to subtropical waters, according to researchers. Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, says scientists were not able to detect an increase in carbon dioxide levels at 60 degrees S latitude, but they did find an increase at 40 degrees in the subtropics. (CNN Interactive)

Hunting Ozone: An International Effort to Save the Sunshield in the Sky
January 27 — The ozone layer is getting leaner, but it is not just the hole over Antarctica that worries researchers. Ozone has also been disappearing from Arctic skies since the early 1990s and unusually high losses were recorded over Arctic, according to scientists working on NASA's SAGEIII Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment. (Claire Cockcroft, The Guardian -London)

Arctic SOLVE Mission Living Up To Its Name
January 27 — NASA's SOLVE mission was launched in November to measure ozone levels and changes in the upper Arctic atmosphere during the winter. Scientists have observed unusually low levels of ozone over the Arctic recently. More than 350 researchers from the United States, Europe, Japan, Russia, and Canada joined together to learn more about the Arctic atmosphere and ozone. (CNN Interactive)

Coastal Marsh Gas Linked to Ozone Depletion
January 26 — Coastal salt marshes play a role in destroying the planet's protective ozone layer, scientists report. The marshes release methyl chloride and methyl bromide, which chemically break down ozone in the atmosphere, says Ray Weiss, a geochemist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. (David E. Graham, San Diego Union-Tribune).

Mapping the Earth, Swath by Swath
January 25 — The space shuttle Endeavour, scheduled to launch next week, will make a detailed topographic radar map of the Earth's surface that could help everyone from military planners to weekend backpackers. Victor Baker, a hydrologist at the University of Arizona, says that his research on flooding has benefitted from detailed topographical information from radar. (Warren E. Leary, New York Times)

Ozone Layer Over Northern Hemisphere is Being Destroyed at an 'Unprecidented Rate'
January 24 — Scientists in are witnessing an unprecedented destruction of the ozone layer over the Northern Hemisphere, which could result in public health warnings being issued about the risk of skin cancer. Researchers studying the problem are taking part in the project, based at Kiruna in northern Sweden , are from the biggest international project yet to monitor ozone loss over the Arctic. (Steve Connor, The Independent-London)

As Globe Warms, Atmosphere Keeps Its Cool
January 22 — A National Research Council committee concluded that the Earth's surface has warmed dramatically over the last two decades. John M. Wallace, panel chairperson from the University of Washington, says that there is a significant difference between air temperatures seasonally that we don't full understand. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)

Cascades' Volcanic Activity at High Level
January 21 — The Cascade Range in Portland, Oregon, is pouring tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, although an explosive eruption is unlikely to happen, says volcanologists. Michael Manga at the University of Oregon says that the carbon dioxide is coming from underground magma, or liquefied rock, and is proof of underground volcanic activity in this range. (William McCall, Associated Press)

La Niña May Be Part of Bigger Climate Change
January 20 — La Niña may be part of a larger, longer-lasting climate shift, according to researchers. William Patzert, an oceanographer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says that the persistence of warmer and colder than average sea surface temperatures shows that there is more than just an isolated La Niña influence on the climate. (Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press).

El Niño-like Phenomena Means Dry Years Ahead
January 19 — There is another ocean system forming in the Pacific that is much larger and could have a more dramatic impact on United States weather than El Niño scientists say. The Pacific Decadal Oscillation is a warmer-than- normal ocean water in the shape of a horseshoe with a wedge of cool water pushing inside that will cause dry conditions over much of the United States says scientists. (Anne McDermott, CNN Interactive)

Satellite Refines Rainfall Forecasts
January 19 — NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite, launched in 1997, has more than tripled the accuracy of short-term rainfall forecasts, says meteorologists. Chris Kummerow, TRMM project scientist, says that rainfall data from TRMM not only helps short-term forecasting but also long-term climate models. (Environmental News Network)

Sultry 1990s Light a Fire Under Theory of Warming
January 14 — Last year was the second hottest ever recorded in the United States, according to researchers , despite a La Niña that was supposed to cool the Earth. Roy Spencer, a climatologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, says that it is harder to provide evidence of global warming when a La Niña occurs during a very warm year. (Seth Borenstein, Knight Ridder)

Global Warming Is 'Real,' Report Finds
January 13 — A worldwide rise in the Earth's surface temperature is "undoubtedly real" and appears to have accelerated in recent decades, concludes a scientific panel organized by the National Academy of Science's National Research Council. John R. Christy, one of the panel members, at the University of Alabama argues that global warming is probably having only a mild effect on climate and he is uncertain how the greenhouse effect will impact the future climate. (Joby Warrick, Washington Post)

Smoke Triggers Lightning
January 12 — Smoke can turn the sky into a giant power plant throwing out lightning strikes, according to a meteorologist at the American Meteorological Society meeting. Natalie Murray, a graduate student at the University of Arizona, says that smoke from the 1998 fires in Mexico and Central America doubled the amount of lightning over Texas and Oklahoma that year. (Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery Online)

Official Word on Climate Change Incomplete
January 12 — The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been the official word on global climate change research, but some scientists like Roger Pielke Sr. at Colorado State University think that the IPCC reports don't include enough of the factors of climate change. Pielke says that the IPCC has failed to look at the climate as an integrated system and to incorporate land use changes in their reports. (Associated Press)

Spring Arriving Earlier in North America
January 11 — Spring is coming earlier and earlier in North America, according to scientists who have monitored the retreat of snow over the past 50 years. Pavel Groisman, at the National Climate Data Center, says that the snow ice is starting to melt 2-3 weeks earlier than it did 50 years ago. (Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery Online)

Snow On The Way
January 11 — La Niña is the reason for the lack of snow this winter in the northeastern United States, according to meteorologists. Neal Strauss, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, says that global warming may be another cause that is contributing to the mild weather. (Jeff Donn, Associated Press)

NASA Administrator Highlights Agency's Role in Improving Climate and Weather prediction
January 11 — NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin outlined NASA's role in studying Earth's climate -- a commitment to scientific research and technology development that will help forecasters make more accurate weather predictions in the new millennium. Goldin discussed how NASA technology and climate studies can help predict such dramatic events as El Ni�o and La Ni�a -- providing advance notice that saved America billions of dollars last year alone.

Storms That Surprised Europe Show Forecast Limits
January 4 — Meteorologists predicted stormy weather last week in France, but as fierce as the two storms that ripped through Europe causing severe damage. Jim Wagner, a meteorologist at the Federal Climate Prediction Center, says that the location of the jet and weather conditions produced the quick- forming superstorms. (Suzanne Daley and William K. Stevens, New York Times)

Arctic Expert Unthaws Alarming Data on Ice Thinning
January 3 — Andrew Rothrock at the University of Washington has found a disturbing trend in the data he has collected of North Pole ice-- that Arctic sea ice is thinning by 4 inches (10 cm) a year. Water from the Arctic Ocean plays an important role in Northern Hemisphere weather. If the Arctic ice continues to melt, it could cause the Gulf Stream to be diverted south causing colder winters in the northern Atlantic. (Jack Hamann, CNN)

Solar Activity Research Improves
January 2 — As the sun reaches the peak of its 11-year cycle of sunspot activity this year, scientists say they are closer to predicting the severity of solar storms. David Hathaway, a researcher at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, says the solar storms in 2000 will be more intense than usual. (Matthew Fordahl, Associated Press)

Smoggy Asian Air Enters United States
January 1 — Atmospheric scientists have detected air high in ozone and pollution coming from the Pacific. Daniel Jaffe at the University of Washington says that sensors on board an airplane flying off the coast of Washington detected ozone concentrations that were higher than normal and were able to trace the pollution particles back to Asia. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)

Corals Keep Eruption Record
January 1 — When the Indonesian volcano Krakatau erupted in 1883, the volcano's dust and gas from the eruption had a tremendous impact on the global atmosphere. Today, Elizabeth A. Merman at the University of South Florida has found traces of the eruption while studying the skeletal structure of coral off the Florida Keys. Merman says that the same technique used to discover the traces of Krakatau might help researches find traces of dust from the Sahara desert in U. S. coral. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)

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