The vast majority of the world's glaciers are retreating as the planet gets warmer, but a few, including ones south of the equator, in South America and New Zealand, are inching forward. (The Earth Institute at Columbia University press release)

Researchers have detected common plant toxins that affect human health and ecosystems in smoke from forest fires. (DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory press release)

Plants absorbed carbon dioxide more efficiently under the polluted skies of recent decades than they would have done in a cleaner atmosphere, according to new findings. (Natural Environment Research Council press release)

The potential for an outbreak of the phenomenon commonly called "red tide" is expected to be "moderately large" this spring and summer, according to researchers. (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution press release)

Rivers in some of the world's most populous regions are losing water, according to a comprehensive study of global stream flows. (National Science Foundation press release)

Increased growth in Antarctic sea ice during the past 30 years is a result of changing weather patterns caused by the ozone hole, according to new research published this week. (British Antarctic Survey press release)

A new study shows that in some cases, changes in the types of plants growing in an area could override the effects of climate change on wildfire frequency. (Ecological Society of America press release)

Researchers find that currently scheduled water deliveries from the Colorado River are unlikely to be met if human-caused climate change reduces runoff in the region. (University of California - San Diego press release)

New research indicates that there can be changes in the CO2 levels in the atmosphere that suddenly reach a critical turning point and trigger dramatic climate changes. (University of Copenhagen press release)

Scientists have found that tropical cyclones readily inject ice far into the stratosphere, possibly feeding global warming. (Harvard University press release)

Researchers have shown for the first time a direct relation between lead in the sky and the formation of ice crystals that foster clouds, suggesting that lead generated by human activities causes clouds to form at warmer temperatures and with less water. (DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory press release)

New calculations suggest that low-oxygen "dead zones" in the ocean could expand significantly over the next century, and as more and more carbon dioxide dissolves from the atmosphere into the ocean, marine animals will need more oxygen to survive. (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute press release)

Droughts far worse than the infamous Sahel drought of the 1970s and 1980s are within normal climate variation for sub-Saharan West Africa, according to new research. (University of Texas at Austin press release)

A team of geochemists show an alternative origin for the isotopic composition of sedimentary rocks created more than 2.4 billion years ago that may point to an early, oxygen-rich atmosphere. (Penn State press release)

Researchers found a connection between the sound from volcanic eruptions and from jet engines, providing scientists with a more useful probe of the inner workings of volcanic eruptions. (University of California - San Diego press release)

Climate change will bring about major shifts in worldwide fire patterns, and those changes are coming fast, according to a new analysis led by U.C. Berkeley fire researchers. (University of California - Berkeley press release)

Scientists have discovered a five-sided ice chain structure that could be used to modify future weather patterns. (University of Liverpool press release)

Rainforest reserves -- even those disturbed by roads -- provide an important buffer against fires that are devastating parts of the Brazilian Amazon, according to a new study. (Public Library of Science press release)

Summers in the Arctic may be ice-free in as few as 30 years, not at the end of the century as previously expected, according to an updated forecast resulting from a new analysis of computer models coupled with the most recent summer ice measurements. (NOAA Headquarters press release)