A massive and unusually abrupt rise in sea level about 14,200 years ago was caused by the partial collapse of ice sheets in Antarctica, a new study has shown, in research that solves a mystery scientists have been heatedly debating for more than a decade. (Oregon State University release)

A group of scientists left Nome, Alaska, late last week on a 35-day snowmobile traverse to scour the Alaskan tundra for clues to the role snow cover plays in climate change. (National Science Foundation release)

Until now, as much as half the nitrogen oxide from vehicle tailpipes has been unaccounted for in the atmosphere, leaving air pollution models incomplete. (University of California--Berkeley release)

Hurricanes significantly lessen the capacity of US forests to sequester atmospheric carbon, according to a recent analysis by a US Forest Service researcher. (Southern Research Station - USDA Forest Service release)

In his 30 years of studying freeze-thaw cycles of lakes in New York State, Kenton Stewart, Ph.D., has never seen some lakes in his lake-ice network stay unfrozen for an entire winter unless it was an El Nino year. (State University of New York?Buffalo release)

Rising carbon dioxide levels associated with global warming could lead to an increase in the incidence of allergies to ragweed and other plants by mid-century. (Harvard Medical School release)

Industrial agriculture's resource-intensive methods are bringing us closer to the limits of our ability to produce food and fiber for everyone in the future. (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health release)

Large riverside cities like Portland, St. Louis, Nashville and New Orleans should look beyond road traffic to an important but usually overlooked source of air pollution -- river traffic. (American Chemical Society release)

New research now shows that a phenomenon reported in the Arctic, where large amounts of mercury get rained down every spring, also occurs each year in the Antarctic. (American Chemical Society release)

Recent satellite imagery has revealed that the northern section of the Larsen B ice shelf, a large floating ice mass on the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula, has shattered and separated from the continent in the largest single event in a 30-year series of ice shelf retreats in the peninsula. (University of Colorado--Boulder release)

A 27-year dry spell affecting the southwestern part of Australia could be a foretaste of future national experiences under the Greenhouse Effect. (Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation release)

A team of stalwart researchers captured an elusive blue jet on video tape and found the first evidence of a connection between the ionosphere and cloud top in these events. (Penn State release)

Studies of pristine forests in South America found that the cycling of nitrogen, an essential nutrient, was quite different than expected, and it suggests that many forests of North America and Europe actually have an unnatural ecology driven largely by air pollution, acid rain and artificial nitrogen fertilization. (Oregon State University release)

Flooding from hurricanes poses a significant threat to both environmental and human health by washing industrial animal operation wastes into areas with vulnerable populations, according to a new study. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill release)