A European Space Agency project has assessed using satellite imagery to improve flood simulation models. (European Space Agency press release)

A new report shows that the availability of nitrogen, in forms usable by plants, will probably be too low for large increases in carbon storage, affecting the ability of plants to reduce greenhouse gases. (Carnegie Institution press release)

It's looking and feeling a lot less like Christmas in many parts of the country as higher temperatures and fewer snowfalls are becoming the norm from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory press release)

A group of U.S. scientists finds that the chemical nutrients washed and dumped into the sea can increase the severity of coral diseases, contributing to the dramatic decline in coral reefs during the past 20 years. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill press release)

The European Space Agency has formally begun a project to map wetlands from space, providing data on 50 sites in 21 countries to better understand their important roles in biology and the water cycle. (European Space Agency)

Findings from this year's active Atlantic hurricane season confirm that track forecasts have markedly improved, following computer-modeling advances. (National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research press release).

The greenhouse gas, methane, has stopped growing in the global background atmosphere and could begin to decrease, Australian researchers say. (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) press release)

Researchers find the potential for soils to soak up atmospheric carbon dioxide is strongly affected by how long roots live, and large differences in root replacement rates between forest types might alter predictions of how carbon will influence global warming. (DOE/Argonne National Laboratory press release)

An international team of scientists reports new evidence that an earthquake of magnitude 9 struck the northwestern United States and southwestern Canada three centuries ago, findings likely to affect the region�s precautions against earthquakes and tsunamis. (American Geophysical Union/U.S. Geological Survey press release)

Cornell scientists say that winter atmospheric conditions over the North Atlantic affect the abundance of zooplankton eaten by right whales, one of the most endangered species of marine mammal. (Cornell University press release)

A new study suggests explosive volcanic eruptions in the tropics may increase the probability of an El Niño event occurring during the winter following the eruption. (National Science Foundation press release)

Damaging winds can occur in previously overlooked places within a thunderstorm, according to a Purdue University earth scientist; a finding that could help meteorologists save lives and reduce injuries by issuing more accurate storm warnings. (Purdue University press release)

New computer models producing simulations of how ecosystems and fire regimes could change, show the Western United States may get wetter during the winter and experience warmer summers throughout the 21^st century. (USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station press release)

A series of Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument images acquired between mid-September and October record how the world�s largest iceberg was split by the onslaught of powerful storms as its own weight kept it fixed on the floor of Antarctica's Ross Sea. (European Space Agency)

Work recently published in Nature announces a significant correlation between sediment deposition in two Bolivian rivers, which flow into one of the principal tributaries of the Amazon, and climatic events of the ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) type. (Institut de Recherche Pour le D�veloppement press release)

Ice cores received from two tropical ice caps in the Andes mountains by Ohio State University scientists may contain clues that link ancient events that changed daily life in South America, Europe, and Asia. (Ohio State University press release)

A new study reveals desert soils in the Southwest United States may be nutrient poor, but the subsoils below the surface are rich in nitrate, which raises questions about how desert ecosystems work.

A Florida Tech professor finds lightning is not produced by large, unseen electric fields inside storms, but the true triggering mechanism remains a mystery. (Florida Institute of Technology press release)

A recent study led by a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography has found warming ocean temperatures as the likely driving force behind the 25-year deterioration of marine life along the western coast of the United States. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego)

Researchers have discovered that a reddish deposit seeping out from the face of a glacier in Antarctica's remote Taylor Valley is probably the last remnant of an ancient salt-water lake. (Ohio State University press release)

Work recently published in Nature announces a significant correlation between sediment deposition in two Bolivian rivers, which flow into one of the principal tributaries of the Amazon, and climatic events of the ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) type. (Institut de Recherche Pour le D�veloppement press release)

A study of the world's top wine-producing regions reveals that rising temperatures have impacted vintage quality; and climate modeling suggests additional warming will make cool-growing regions better producers of some grape varieties, and other areas less hospitable for viticulture. (Geological Society of America press release)