Human Imprint on Climate Change Grows Clearer
June 29 — As evidence that the Earth's atmosphere is warming continues to accumulate, scientists are making slow progress toward an answer to the big question of how much of the warming is due to human activity and how much to natural causes. New research published in the journal Nature suggests a strong human influence. (William K. Stevens, New York Times)

Global Warming Rate May Be Higher
June 29 — The rate of global warming and sea-level rise may be slightly higher than predicted during the next century. Tom Wigley of the National Center for Atmospheric Research said in a new Pew Center on Global Climate Change report that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's latest estimates on sulfur dioxide releases suggest a mean global warming of 2.3-7.3 degrees F, up from the IPCC's current estimate of 1.4-6.3 degrees F. (H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press)

Fish Out of Waters
June 28 — Fishermen in New Hampshire were astonished to find a six-inch tropical fish with an electric blue tint and a huge triangular head in their lobster nets. More tropical fish are riding natural warm-water eddies up the Gulf Stream bringing exotic fish to northern shores. (Sy Montgomery, The Boston Globe)

Southern Air Pollution Study Under Way
June 25 — By studying the warm temperatures, high humidity, stagnant air and natural emissions of hydrocarbons unique to the air quality problems of Atlanta, Ga., and Nashville, Tenn., scientists are trying to develop tools to fight air pollution. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report that lush vegetation and forests surround large urban heat islands, causing a unique air pollution mix of human-caused and natural emissions. (CNN Interactive)

Sun, Sun Go Away
June 25 — It's only the first week of summer, but most of the United States has already had enough of the sun. This "Drought of the Century," has been made worse by La Niña, which meteorologists say has created the second-driest spring in a century. (The Christian Science Monitor)

The Little Ice Age-Only the Latest Big Chill
June 25 — The years from1400 until 1900 have been dubbed "The Little Ice Age." New evidence suggests that this cold spell was nothing exceptional. Paleoceanographers sediments in the North Atlantic that identically matched older sediments created during earlier Ice Ages that have occurred every millennium or two beginning 130,000 years ago. (Richard A. Kerr, Science)

Jet Contrails Likely to Add to Earth's Warming
June 23 — Those jet contrails that streak across the sky will contribute significantly to global warming within the next 50 years, say researchers. Researchers at NASA?s Langley Research Center concluded the contrails have a very small impact now, but as more jets fly, the contrails will affect the climate. (Reuters)

Cold Climate May Suppress Volcanoes
June 22 — Scientists have known that the gases injected into the air by volcanoes can cool the climate, but now it appears that cooler climates can suppress eruptions. A study of volcanoes in eastern California indicates that over millions of years, eruptions have occurred between cycles of cooler climates, which prompts speculation that glaciation may suppress eruptions. (Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press)

NASA Satellite Studies Ocean Winds
June 19 — To improve weather forecasts and storm warnings, scientists will begin measuring wind speed and direction on the surface of the ocean with QuikScat. Scientists at NASA?s Jet Propulsion Laboratory report that QuikScat will give more accurate forecasts especially for people living along the coast. (John Antczak, Associated Press)

Craft to Track Climate-Affecting Link of Sea and Wind
June 15 — The relationship between the winds and the oceans goes mostly unmonitored. Scientists at NASA are using Quikscat, a satellite housing a scatterometer, to continually sweep the ocean and cover two-thirds of the Earth's surface while measuring the speed and direction of the wind. (Warren E. Leary, New York Times)

La Ni�a Changes the Climate for Research
June 14 — Over the past nine months La Ni�a has brought flooding to Australia, heavy rains to Washington state, tornadoes to the Midwest, and in the middle Atlantic states drought conditions. Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research says that the drought conditions will continue throughout the summer. (Guy Gugliotta, Washington Post)

The Case of the Missing Carbon Dioxide
June 12 — Tropical countries are releasing far less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than scientists previously thought, according to scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. This study questions a widely used estimate of the amount of carbon dioxide emitted after residents chop down trees, burn vegetation, and convert forests into pastures and crop fields. (Richard Monastersky, Science News)

NOAA Planes Ready for Hurricane Research
June 11 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has readied its hurricane hunter airplanes for reconnaissance and research for the 1999 hurricane season. The information gathered by the hunter airplanes has improved hurricane, helped save lives, and minimized property damage. (CNN Interactive)

Enormous Haze Found Over Indian Ocean
June 10 — A haze of air pollution about the size of the United States covers the Indian Ocean in the winter according to scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The scientists say that the haze may have important implications for global climate and the regional environment of both Asia and the tropical ocean. (William K. Stevens, New York Times)

Ice Core Sample Attests to Warming Climate
June 10 — A 2-mile-long (3.2-kilometer-long) ice core drilled out of an Antarctic ice sheet shows that the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are higher now than at any time during the past 420,000 years. The ice core shows that carbon dioxide and methane play a large role in warming the planet when ice ages end. (Associated Press, CNN Interactive)

Warmer Oceans Killing Marine Life
June 9 — Warming oceans are killing marine life at an alarming rate and shrinking food supplies for people and other creatures dependent on the seas according to a report by the Washington-based World Wildlife Fund and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute. The report reveals that global warming has influences several species like Pacific salmon and melting polar ice. (Reuters, CNN Interactive)

Ocean Warming May Threaten Salmon
June 8 — Rising ocean temperatures, perhaps caused by global climate change, are forcing salmon out of the Pacific Ocean. Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research report that the warmer ocean temperatures have caused a higher mortality rate among salmon and plankton species. David Welch, Canadian National Department of Fisheries, says that this decline in salmon is not fully understood but is expected from increased global warming. (H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press)

Ice Core Shows Greenhouse Gases
June 6 — The levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are higher now than at any time over the past 420,000 years. Based on ice core samples from an Antarctic ice sheet, scientists at the National Centre for Scientific Research in Grenoble, France, have found that carbon dioxide and methane play a large role in warming the planet when ice ages end. (Rick Callahan, Associated Press)

Scientists Predict NYC Storm Surges
June 4 — New York City could experience a sea-level rise of 1-3 feet by 2090 says Cynthia Rosenzweig, at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Rosenzweig co-heads the project studying the potential impact of climate change on New York City. Much of Manhattan that lies within 10 feet of sea level. (Jeff Donn, Associated Press)

Americans Losing Interest in the Environment
June 3 — Researchers say American?s are discouraged by the difficulty solving environmental problems that they have lost interest. In a survey by the nonprofit group Public Agenda the resutls show that most people are aware of environmental problems, think that they are a real problem, but are frustrated because they do not know what to do about them. (Jeff Donn, Associated Press)

Twin Cyclone Pattern Linked to Flooding of Yangtze River
June 3 — Scientists have found a link between weather patterns that will help them to predict Yangtze River floods such as the 1998 floods that killed 3,700 people and caused $30 billion in damage. William Lau, of NASA Goddard Space Flight, says that a pair of early May cyclones over the Indian Ocean delays the South China Sea Monsoon by a week. Studying the twin cyclone system will help scientists understand the strength and timing of the system. (Jeff Donn, Associated Press)

Polar Winds Might Cause Winter Storms
June 2 — Rising winter temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere are expected to generate more numerous winter storms across western North America and western Europe, according to NASA scientists. The higher production of greenhouse gases in the industrialized nations of the Northern Hemisphere caused average winter temperatures across the region to rise by 9 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 30 years, said Drew Shindell of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies. (Reuters)

Air Traffic a Growing Cause of Global Warming
June 2 — A major international study said aircraft pollution was a growing factor in global warming and warned that stricter regulation and new levies on the aviation industry could be needed. Produced jointly by the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization, the study said a continued boom in air travel would produce more of the greenhouse gases blamed for the heating up of the planet. (Reuters)

Snowpack in Northwest Could Shrink in Future
June 2 — The Pacific Northwest could be facing more rain and flooding and a shortage of water in coming decades according to Dennis Lettenmaier at University of Washington. Lettenmaier says that using computer models for global climate changes revealed that the region?s snowpacks could decline drastically within the next 25 years because of global warming. (Associated Press)

Creatures of the Deep May Be Starving
June 1 — Hordes of creatures living in the hidden depths of the deep sea are in danger of starving to death, scientists report. This remote part of the planet is believed to harbor millions of undiscovered species, an unknown number of which may be in crisis. A likely culprit is a documented increase in sea surface temperatures. (William J. Broad, The New York Times)

Politics Keep Earth-Viewing Satellite Earthbound
June 1 — The small, inexpensive Triana satellite has attracted a lot of attention because of its unusual origin, and it is in trouble because of it. The debate over whether Triana, the brainchild of Vice President Al Gore, is a good idea or not is muddled by the reality of Washington politics. (Warren E. Leary, The New York Times)

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