Dust Masks Acid Rain 'Time Bomb' in China
March 31, 2009China's dust storms neutralize sulfuric and nitric acid particles before they fall to Earth as acid rain, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
Did Great Salt Lakes Trigger Mass Extinction?
March 31, 2009During the end-Permian mass extinction 250 million years ago, nearly 90 percent of life on Earth was extinguished, and everything from magnetic field reversals to supervolcanoes has been invoked to explain it, but a group of researchers have an even more provocative idea for the murder weapon: poisonous gases vented from dried-up salt lakes. (MSNBC/Discovery) more...
'Halo Effect' Explains Brightest Patches of Sky
March 30, 2009Light bouncing off clouds and illuminating tiny particles in the atmosphere can brighten clear sky for miles -- the finding could be bad news for climate models. (New Scientist) more...
Rethinking European Borders as Alpine Ice Melts
March 29, 2009Italy and Switzerland are planning to redraw their shared alpine border, as global warming is melting the glaciers that originally guided the line. (ABC News) more...
Amazon Smoke Slows Formation of Clouds, Rainfall
March 29, 2009Atmospheric scientist Ilan Koren of the Weizmann Institute of Science
in Rehovot, Israel, talks about the effects of man-made forest fires on weather in the Amazon basin and describes the complicated system. (Earth & Sky Radio)
more...
In California, an Ear to the Ground, and Then Some
March 28, 2009An arid expanse of California desert at the southern end of the San Andreas Fault is being wired with sensors that scientists hope will tell them when the state’s sleeping giant could awaken. (Associated Press/The New York Times) more...
Among Climate Scientists, a Dispute Over 'Tipping Points'
March 28, 2009The idea that the planet is nearing tipping points -- thresholds at which change suddenly becomes unstoppable -- has driven a wedge between scientists who otherwise share deep concerns about the implications of a human-warmed climate. (The New York Times) more...
Dust Plays Role in Atlantic Warming
March 27, 2009A decrease in airborne dust and volcanic emissions has contributed to warming the North Atlantic Ocean in the past three decades, a study showed. (Agence France-Presse) more...
Human-Made CO2 on Exponential Rise
March 27, 2009Human-produced carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing exponentially, and has been for at least the last 50 years, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
Huge Man-Made Algae Swarm Devoured – Bad for Climate?
March 27, 2009Shrimplike animals devoured 159 square miles (300 square kilometers) of artificially stimulated algae meant to fight global warming -- casting serious doubt on ocean fertilization as a climate-control tool. (National Geographic News) more...
Alaska's Coast Disappearing at Record Rates
March 27, 2009Researchers find that a portion of the Alaskan coast is eroding at a rate of 45 feet per year, and Chris Arp, a research ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage, explains why the coast is crumbling faster than before. (National Public Radio) more...
Climate Change Means More Weeds
March 26, 2009An Australian research organization predicts climate change will lead to an increase in weeds in South Australia, creating more fuel for bushfires. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Volcano Plumes Spin Like Tornadoes
March 25, 2009The columns of ash and gas that spew from erupting volcanoes behave just like another force of nature -- tornados -- a new study suggests. (Live Science) more...
View from Above Gives Scientists Accurate Whale Numbers
March 23, 2009High-definition cameras and infrared scanners are giving Australian scientists a better idea of how many whales are swimming around Antarctica. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Alaska's Mount Redoubt Volcano Erupts Overnight
March 23, 2009Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano erupted four times overnight, sending an ash plume more than 9 miles high into the air, but the state's largest city has likely been spared from any ashfall. (Discovery News) more...
Climate Change Hits American Yards
March 23, 2009As winter retreats northward across the nation, gardeners are cleaning tools and turning attention to spring planting, but climate change is adding a new wrinkle, and now a standard reference -- the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zone Map -- is about to make very clear how much rising temperatures have shifted planting zones northward. (Scientific American) more...
Less Winter Ice Builds on Great Lakes
March 23, 2009Ice cover on the Great Lakes has declined more than 30 percent since the 1970s, leaving the world's largest system of freshwater lakes open to evaporation and lower water levels, according to scientists associated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Associated Press) more...
Alaska Volcano Pictures: Redoubt Erupts
March 23, 2009Alaska's Redoubt Volcano, the ninth most dangerous volcano in the U.S., has so far produced five eruptions that have sent ash and smoke 9 miles (15 kilometers) into the sky. (National Geographic News) more...
The Cold Facts of a Melting Arctic
March 22, 2009To the human eye, the stark Arctic landscape appears frozen in time, but this environment is actually changing and through time-lapse photography, one can see the landscape disappear. (CBS News) more...
Japan Monitors Climate Link as Cherry Blossoms Appear Early
March 21, 2009Japan's meteorological agency, which watches the onset of cherry blossom season as a marker of spring each year, says the effects of global warming could be responsible for the flowers appearing seven days earlier this year than the area's average. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Tonga Quake Prompts Tsunami Warning
March 20, 2009A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck Friday in the Pacific Ocean, shaking an erupting underwater volcano off Tonga's main island and raising fears of increased lava and ash flows, officials said. (Discovery News) more...
Earth's Future: Scary Ozone Scenario Thwarted
March 20, 2009If 193 nations hadn’t agreed in 1989 to ban the chemicals that eat up the Earth’s protective ozone layer, the world would have been a much different place later this century, with nearly two-thirds of the ozone layer gone and the ozone hole a permanent fixture over Antarctica, a new simulation shows. (Live Science) more...
Volcanic Roar May Reveal Jet Physics at Work
March 20, 2009The first close-range, low-frequency recordings of volcanic eruptions have revealed a surprising similarity to the noise made by jet engines, and the finding may provide clues to what happens prior to volcanic explosions. (New Scientist) more...
Inside the Hottest Place on Earth
March 19, 2009Earth scientist Dougal Jerram, from Durham University, joined a BBC team to investigate the geology of the Danakil desert in northern Ethiopia -- officially the hottest place on Earth. (BBC News) more...
Tsunami 'Trigger' Spotted on Google Earth
March 19, 2009Spotting risky rock formations that are about to collapse and trigger tsunamis could be done with the help of Google Earth, new research suggests, demonstrating that the software could prove a useful tool where other types of survey prove too difficult or expensive. (New Scientist) more...
Antarctic Ice May Melt, But Not For Millennia
March 19, 2009A huge chunk of Antarctic ice can't withstand nonstop global warming, and if it melts, the ice will raise the global sea level by 15 or 20 feet or more -- the only good news here is the catastrophe isn't likely to unfold quickly. (National Public Radio) more...
Crossing the Icy Unknown, Hunting Climate Clues
March 19, 2009An ambitious effort in Antarctica to probe the planet's oldest, thickest ice sheet for clues to past climate experienced a major failure as a drill was lost in a borehole. (Scientific American) more...
Antarctica's Past Offers Clues to Future Melting
March 18, 2009New information on regularly reoccurring melting in Antarctica's distant past is giving scientists a glimpse into what may be a flooded future as the planet warms up. (Associated Press) more...
Probe Launches to Map Earth's Gravity in Best Detail Yet
March 17, 2009A sleek satellite that is set to make the most detailed map of the Earth's gravity took to the skies on Tuesday -- the probe is expected to make important contributions to ocean current measurements and climate models. (New Scientist) more...
Climate 'Tipping Points' Weighted for Likelihood
March 16, 2009The risk of Earth's climate hitting a dangerous inflection point in the next two centuries is about as likely as a coin flipping on heads, according to a survey of 52 climate experts from around the world. (Discovery News) more...
Study: Sea Rise Threatens Northeast U.S.
March 15, 2009The northeastern U.S. coast is likely to see the world's biggest sea level rise from man-made global warming, a new study predicts. (Associated Press/CBS News) more...
In Arctic and Antarctic, a Species Overlap
March 13, 2009They are 8,000 miles apart, but the top and bottom of the Earth share a surprising number of species in common: 235 and counting. (Discovery News) more...
Laser Mapping Reveals New Details of Earth's Surface
March 13, 2009Scientists get a three-dimensional Google Earth on steroids, which can penetrate forest canopies, chart sand dune movement, and more, thanks to radar-like lasers. (Scientific American) more...
Climate Scenarios 'Being Realized'
March 12, 2009The worst-case scenarios on climate change envisaged by the UN two years ago are already being realized, say scientists at an international meeting. (BBC News) more...
Pollution Dimming Skies' Brightness
March 12, 2009Increases in airborne pollution have dimmed the skies by blocking sunlight over the past 30 years, researchers report. (Associated Press/Discovery News) more...
First Contact with Inner Earth
March 12, 2009Earth scientist Bruce Marsh talks about the first-ever discovery of magma – molten material – inside Earth, and how the dynamic movement of magma has helped shape the world on which we stand. (Earth & Sky Radio) more...
Warming Impacts Antarctic Food Chain
March 12, 2009Rapid climate changes along the Antarctic Peninsula have caused a simultaneous shift in the biological productivity of the area, finds a new study that could explain why some penguins and other species there are on the decline. (Live Science) more...
Witness a Journey to the Bottom of an Ice Sheet
March 11, 2009Unprecedented video from deep inside Greenland's ice sheet reveals the internal plumbing of glaciers, and how it might help them move. (New Scientist) more...
Global Warming Reaches the Antarctic Abyss
March 11, 2009Even water in the chilly depths of the Southern Ocean is getting warmer, according to results announced at the Copenhagen climate change congress . (New Scientist) more...
Aging Satellites Threaten Climate Research Future
March 10, 2009Many of the U.S. satellites that collect climate change data were launched in the 1990s, and with replacement satellites years away, the United States faces a big data gap when the current orbiters go out of service. (National Public Radio) more...
Invasive Earthworms Denude Forests in U.S. Great Lakes Region
March 10, 2009Certain earthworms introduced to the Great Lakes region are changing forest soils from a fungal to a bacterial-dominated system, potentially robbing plants of organic nutrients. (Scientific American) more...
Sea Rise to 'Exceed Projections'
March 10, 2009The global sea level looks set to rise far higher than forecasted because of changes in the polar ice-sheets, a team of researchers has suggested. (BBC News) more...
Life Could Have Survived Earth's Early Pounding
March 10, 2009Microbes living deep underground could have survived the massive barrage of impacts that blasted the Earth 3.9 billion years ago, according to a new analysis. (New Scientist) more...
Race is On To Reach Antarctica's Hidden Lakes
March 10, 2009A race has begun to reach one of the last unexplored regions on Earth: the cold, dark waters of sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica. (New Scientist) more...
Climate Scientists Enlist Citizen Volunteers
March 9, 2009The National Phenology Network is recruiting people across the U.S. to record when trees bud, flowers bloom and migrating animals return, which will help scientists better understand climate change. (National Public Radio) more...
Growing Acid Problem Thins Shells of Ocean Creatures
March 8, 2009Scientists have started to see some of the expected effects of Earth's increasing carbon dioxide burden: The shells of microscopic animals in the ocean are becoming thinner thanks to the ocean's absorption of some of that excess carbon dioxide, a new study shows. (Live Science) more...
Scientists Track Changes in Antarctic Ice Sheet
March 7, 2009Earth scientist Terry Wilson talks about using seismic sensors to record the movement of ice and bedrock in Antarctica to help determine how much ice has been lost. (Earth & Sky Radio) more...
Snowstorm from Space
March 7, 2009NASA's climate-monitoring Terra satellite snapped this true-color photograph of the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, just a day after a massive snowstorm blanketed the area. (Scientific American) more...
Cities Can Plan for Global Warming
March 6, 2009According to expert Jack Fellows, cities have more than one incentive to plan ahead for global warming; namely, that if cities plan ahead, they might be able to sell their adaptive knowledge and technologies. (Earth & Sky Radio) more...
Tropical Turtle Fossil Found in Arctic
March 6, 2009Scientists have discovered a tropical Asian turtle fossil not in Asia or in the tropics, but high in the Canadian Arctic, supporting the view that, tens of millions of years ago, the Arctic was much warmer then than it is now. (MSNBC/Discovery) more...
Drought Threatens Amazon, Speeds Warming
March 5, 2009Drought is killing off trees in Brazil's fragile Amazon rain forest and depleting the region's carbon reservoirs -- an ecological double-whammy with devastating implications, according to a new study. (AFP/Discovery News) more...
Lunar Cycle Turns Hurricanes into Beasts
March 5, 2009Werewolves aren't the only terrors that follow the lunar cycle; hurricanes strengthen more often under a new moon than at any other time, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
Arctic Land is Greening, Says Scientist
March 5, 2009You might picture the Arctic as endlessly white, but Skip Walker, a geobotanist at the University of Alaska, told us that satellite data shows the Arctic is 'greening.' (Earth & Sky Radio) more...
Parts of Amazon Close to Tipping Point
March 5, 2009The Mato Grosso, the most scarred region of the Amazon rainforest, is teetering on a deforestation "tipping point", and may soon be on a one-way route to becoming a dry and relatively barren savannah. (New Scientist) more...
Birds Facing Dire Future Under Warming
March 4, 2009Birds in Europe are already feeling the heat from climate change, with three species suffering reduced ranges or population for every one that benefits from warming, said a study. (AFP/Discovery News) more...
Earth Seen 'Healing' After Big Quake
March 4, 2009For the first time, scientists have watched as the Earth's surface "heals" itself following the disruptive jolt of an earthquake, in this case, the 2003 temblor that devastated Bam, Iran. (Live Science) more...
Earth's Highest Microbial Ecosystem Found
March 3, 2009Gases rising from deep within the Earth are fueling the world's highest known microbial ecosystems, which are perched on the rim of a 19,850-foot-high Andean volcano along with a few patches of plants, researchers announced. (Live Science) more...
"Thundersnow" Facts: Mysterious Storms Explained
March 3, 2009The late-winter snowstorm that blanketed much of the eastern U.S. packed some serious sound and fury -- emphasis on sound; along with the snow clouds, a rare and little-known phenomenon known as thundersnow rumbled over parts of Georgia and South Carolina. (National Geographic) more...
Ancient Supernovae May be Recorded in Antarctic Ice
March 3, 2009A newly examined ice core shows what may be the chemical traces of supernovae that exploded a thousand years ago. (New Scientist) more...
Biggest Sand Dunes Set to Grow as Earth Warms
March 2, 2009At 500 meters (1,640 feet) tall, Earth's largest sand dunes are already monsters, yet they are set to grow bigger as the world warms, according to researchers who calculated what the atmospheric flow looks like around giant dunes. (New Scientist) more...
Global Warming: On Hold?
March 2, 2009Climate is known to be variable -- a cold winter, or a few strung together doesn't mean the planet is cooling; still, global warming may have hit a speed bump and could go into hiding for decades, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
Swampy Expansion Spurred Mini Ice Age
March 2, 2009A vast expansion of wetlands across North America may have invoked the "Little Ice Age," a two-centuries-long cold snap that gripped the northern hemisphere starting in the 1620's, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
Forecasting Malaria from Weather Patterns
March 1, 2009By tracking where outbreaks frequently recur and overlaying predictions about rainfall patterns for the upcoming season, scientists can determine where the worst epidemics may be and give local people sufficient time to distribute anti-mosquito bed nets, initiate spray campaigns, and provide drugs and vaccines. (Scientific American) more...