Detailed information on greenhouse gases and a subtropical heat wave at the North Pole 55 million years ago is providing information about the Earth's past and clues for its future. (Yale University press release)
Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods, finds a new study. (National Science Foundation press release)
Variations in the strength of the Sun have played a major role in glacial fluctuations in the tropical Andes for hundreds of years, and combined with current greenhouse gases generated by humans paint an alarming picture for tropical glaciers. (University of Alberta press release)
Arctic ice formed about 45 million years ago � roughly 14 million years ahead of previous predictions � according to new research. (Brown University press release)
A new study shows most of New Orleans is sinking at an average rate of 6 millimeters per year and in some areas subsidence is occurring as much as 29 millimeters per year. (University of Miami press release)
Human-induced climate change, rather than naturally occurring ocean cycles, may be responsible for the recent increases in frequency and strength of North Atlantic hurricanes, according to researchers. (Penn State University press release)
A new tree-ring-based reconstruction of Colorado River streamflow confirms that droughts more severe than the 2000-2004 drought occurred before stream gages were installed on the river. (University of Arizona press release)
The atmosphere is warming faster in subtropical areas while each hemisphere's jet stream has moved toward the pole by about 70 miles, new research shows. (University of Washington press release)
In findings that could influence our understanding of climate change, a research team has learned that tropical forests return to the atmosphere up to half the nitrogen they receive each year. (Princeton University press release)
A team of European scientists report that climate change estimates for the next century may have substantially underestimated the potential magnitude of global warming. (American Geophysical Union press release)
A new forecast model predicts that by century's end, the Andes in South America will have less than half their current winter snow-pack and mountain ranges in the western United States will have lost nearly half of their snow-bound water. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory press release)
Low-elevation coastal zones are in increasing danger of flooding in the face of rising sea level and storm activity. (The Earth Institute at Columbia University press release)
Using a 22-year record of satellite observations across the northern high latitudes, scientists find the boreal forest biome might be responding to climate change in previously unexpected ways. (Woods Hole Research Center press release)
By analyzing seismic waves reflected from the deepest layer of Earth's mantle off the west coast of Central America, seismologists have detected a massive folded slab of rock that once formed the ocean floor. (University of California -Santa Cruz press release)
A new study using evidence from Pacific corals suggests the climate in the Pacific diverged from the rest of the world during the "Little Ice Age" and the "Medieval Warm Period." (University of Chicago Press Journals press release)
The Rwenzori Mountains are home to one of four remaining tropical ice fields outside of the Andes, and new research suggests these glaciers will disappear within the next 20 years. (American Geophysical Union press release)
Researchers report polluted clouds in South Asia appear to mask aspects of the region's climate, leading to drought and other impacts. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography press release)
A study finds a surprising new way society's pollutants warm the far north: the Arctic's well-known haze � made of particulate pollution from mid-latitude cities � mixes with thin clouds, making them better able to trap heat. (University of Utah press release)
New research calls into question the linkage between major Atlantic hurricanes and global warming. (University of Virginia press release)
A team of scientists recently returned from a data-gathering trip to Mexico City designed to examine the chemical and physical transformations of gases and aerosols. (Los Alamos National Laboratory press release)
While Earth's ozone layer is slowly being replenished following an international 1987 agreement banning CFCs, the recovery is occurring in a changing atmosphere and is unlikely to stabilize at pre-1980 levels, says a new study. (University of Colorado-Boulder press release)
The vast loop of winds that drives climate and ocean behavior across the tropical Pacific has weakened since the mid-1800s and a new study finds the only plausible explanation is human-induced climate change. (National Center for Atmospheric Research press release)
A new study shows how the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere controls the opening and closing of leaf stomata�pores through which plants �breathe� in carbon dioxide. (University of California-San Diego press release)