Climate Change Helps Short-Lived Creatures
October 31, 2008Climate change is likely to disrupt food chains by favoring animals with short lifespans over often bigger rivals that are worse at tolerating temperature swings. (New Scientist and Reuters) more...
Polar Warming 'Caused by Humans'
October 30, 2008The rise in temperatures at Earth's poles has for the first time been attributed directly to human activities, according to a study that compared the temperature changes over the polar regions of the Earth with two sets of climate models – one which assumed no human influence and the other which assumed there had. (BBC News) more...
Large Earthquake "Bounces" Are Stronger than Gravity
October 30, 2008Side-to-side shaking during earthquakes can also be accompanied by up-and-down jolts or "bounces", which may increase the threat to buildings and other structures, scientists say. (National Geographic News) more...
Global-Warming Methane Spiked in 2007
October 30, 2008Levels of climate-warming methane -- a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide – rose abruptly in Earth's atmosphere last year, and we don't know why. (New Scientist and Reuters) more...
Tsunami in 2004 'Not the First'
October 29, 2008The Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004 was not the first of its size to hit the region, according to evidence of sediment laid down by a large tsunami between 600 and 700 years ago, pre-dating written and oral records. (BBC News) more...
Cool Weather Twisters Strike in the Dark
October 28, 2008Though commonly thought of as a product of hot spring afternoons on the plains of North America, tornadoes have a deadly habit of wintering over in the Southeastern United States. (Discovery News) more...
Inland Ants Crave Salt, and Hurricanes May Help
October 28, 2008Salt-deprived animals and insects living far inland from some coasts may benefit if global warming increases hurricane intensity, a new study suggests. (National Geographic News) more...
An 'Invisibility Cloak' for Tsunamis?
October 26, 2008A team of French and British physicists that has devised an 'invisibility cloak' that could, in theory, hide susceptible platforms or coastlines from ocean waves such as tsunamis, but some are skeptical as to whether the small-scale lab experiment could ever be worked up to ward off a full-scale disaster. (msnbc.com) more...
Potent Greenhouse Gas Worse than Thought
October 24, 2008Nitrogen trifluoride, a potent greenhouse gas many thousands of times more effective at warming the world's atmosphere than carbon dioxide, is four times more prevalent than previously thought, according to a new study. (Agence France-Presse)
more... Atlas of Hidden Water May Avert Future Conflict
October 24, 2008They are one of the world's greatest and most precious natural resources, yet are entirely hidden, but now, for the first time, a high-resolution map shows where underground aquifers store vast amounts of water. (New Scientist) more...
Photosynthesis May Have Started Later
October 23, 2008Oxygen-producing photosynthesis may not have been around as long as previous studies suggest, according to Australian researchers, but not all are convinced. (ABC Science Online)
more... Study Probes Clouds' Climate Role
October 22, 2008An international team of scientists are taking part in a month-long expedition, based in Chile, hoping to shed light on how clouds over the Pacific Ocean are affecting global climate and weather systems. (BBC News)
more... Fall Colors from Space
October 22, 2008An image of the Northeastern United States, from data collected Oct.12 from an instrument on NASA's Terra satellite, shows orange leaves at higher elevations, in the Appalachian Mountains and further north. (Discovery News) more...
Corals Gain Climate-Change Shield
October 22, 2008Rare species of staghorn corals may bear some good news for reef conservation: It appears that some rare types of staghorns can readily breed with related species, creating hybrids that may be far more resilient to climate change or other stresses than anyone thought. (Christian Science Monitor) more...
Seed Size May Help Predict Climate Change Impact
October 21, 2008Plants closer to the equator are more likely to have larger seeds, a fact that could help predict the risk that climate change poses to native plants, according to an Australian researcher. (ABC Science Online) more...
Tropical Cyclones Wash Away Carbon
October 21, 2008Hurricanes and typhoons, normally seen as looming threats from global warming, are actually helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. (Discovery News) more...
Huge Mountain Range Should Not Be There
October 21, 2008An Antarctic mountain range that rivals the Alps in elevation will be probed this month by an expedition of scientists using airborne radar and other Information Age tools to virtually "peel away" more than 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) of ice covering the peaks. (Live Science) more...
Volcanoes May Be Original Womb of Life
October 20, 2008Scientists re-analyzed results from a 1950s experiment using modern technology and found a new implication: The original sparks for life on our planet could have come from volcanic eruptions. (Live Science)
Rock Shows Earth Got Off to Hot Start
October 20, 2008A geological controversy over how a 2,700-million-year-old rock was formed has been solved using synchrotron technology, an international team reports, suggesting the rock formed in the Earth's mantle at temperatures around 3,092 degrees F (1,700 degrees C). (ABC Science Online) more...
Typhoons Bury Carbon in Oceans
October 19, 2008The torrential rains of a single typhoon can bury tons of carbon in the ocean, two new studies suggest, helping researchers determine how much carbon that big storms have historically taken from the atmosphere and buried for thousands of years beneath the sea. (Live Science)
New Trouble for Ice Sheets, Wildlife
October 16, 2008Thawing permafrost, melting ice sheets and threats to Arctic wildlife are just some of the growing concerns about the effect of global warming at the top of the planet, according to a new U.S. government report card. (ABC News)
Arctic Temps Reach Record Highs
October 16, 2008Autumn temperatures in the Arctic are at record levels, the Arctic Ocean is getting warmer and less salty as sea ice melts, and reindeer herds appear to be declining, researchers reported. (Associated Press)
Crumbling Glacier Quakes as It Breaks
October 16, 2008In 2003, scientists first noticed glaciers producing earthquakes on the west coast of Greenland, and now, a new study suggests the huge icebergs breaking off the edge of the Jakobshavn glacier are to blame. (Discovery News)
Night-Shining Clouds May Have Metal Lining
October 15, 2008It's not a silver lining that causes night-shining clouds to bounce radar, rather, the clouds – which sit on the edge of space – may be coated with a thin layer of metals, according to a physicist. (Discovery News)
Climate Change Can Grind Down Plate Tectonics
October 15, 2008Earth's changing climate has a spectacular ability to reface the planet, and new evidence has emerged that, given enough time, climate change can even alter the course of plate tectonics. (Discovery News)
Ozone Pollution to Worsen With Climate Change
October 13, 2008Surface-level ozone, a poisonous gas that claims tens of thousands of lives annually, could get much worse thanks to the effects of climate change, according to new research. (Discovery News)
Rising Temperatures May Dry Up Peat Bogs, Causing Carbon Release
October 13, 2008A new study suggests that northern bogs may lose a significant portion of their peat as global temperatures rise, and organic matter in the peat will decompose, releasing carbon into the atmosphere. (The New York Times)
2008 Tornado Season Could Blow Away Records
October 13, 2008The 2008 tornado season is on track to set a record for the number of tornadoes in the U.S., according to National Weather Service data. (USA Today)
U.S. Wildfires Pushed Ozone Past Legal Limits
October 10, 2008Recent research on the wildfires that raged in California in 2007 shows that ground ozone levels were probably pushed significantly past legal "safe" limits. (New Scientist)
Climate Change and Species Movement
October 10, 2008As the world's climate changes, many species are being forced out of their old habitats, and an evolutionary biologist says that while some species are able to migrate to cooler territory, those in the tropics may have no where else to go. (National Public Radio)
New Estimates on Global Warming
October 10, 2008The global climate could warm by 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, even if countries undertake stringent efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study from a team of climate scientists in the United States, China, Japan, and five European nations. (The Christian Science Monitor)
Biological Treasure Trove Discovered in Southern Ocean
October 8, 2008Scientists are preparing to rewrite the textbooks after hundreds of massive deep sea mountains and new marine species were discovered in the Southern Ocean near Tasmania. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Satellites to Predict Disease Outbreaks
October 8, 2008Researchers correlated environmental data, measured from satellites, with infection statistics in several countries to create a model that can predict the severity of cholera outbreaks four to six weeks before the first individual is infected. (Discovery News)
Arctic Ice Thinner Than Ever Despite Cold Winter
October 7, 2008Though more widespread than last year, sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is significantly thinner, researchers say, making it more prone to melting than ever before. (Discovery News)
Most Alaskan Glaciers Retreat and Become Thinner
October 7, 2008While a few of Alaska's large glaciers are advancing, 99 percent are retreating, according to a research geologist whose book on Alaska's glaciers used satellite images, aerial photos, maps and other studies to document the retreat of the glaciers. (Live Science)
Why Nature Can't be Reduced to Mathematical Laws
October 6, 2008One of the grand aims of science is to explain every aspect of nature in terms of simple, fundamental laws, but a team of physicists claims to have found a hint that some things simply cannot be computed. (New Scientist)
A Last Refuge for Life Remained after Extinction
October 3, 2008What is now Ellsmere Island in the Canadian Arctic archipelago was once a last refuge for life during the Earth's worst extinction event 250 million years ago, say scientists who have discovered a surprising trove of ancient fossils there. (Discovery Channel)
Catastrophe Killed New Species of Dinosaur
October 2, 2008A catastrophic event 72.5 million years ago left a herd of giant, horned dinosaurs buried to become fossils, and now scientists have identified the extinct creatures as a new species. (Live Science)
New Thinking on When the Arctic Froze
October 1, 2008Scientists have long wondered when the Arctic first transitioned to its ice-covered state; a new study suggests this could have happened millions of years earlier than was previously thought. (Live Science)