Climate
- Earth
Stronger storms may destroy ozone
Extra water vapor churned high into the atmosphere by climate change–fueled tempests could trigger destructive chemical reactions.
- Humans
Depolarizing climate science
A study out this week attempts to probe why attitudes on climate risks by some segments of the public don’t track the science all that well. Along the way, it basically debunks one simplistic assumption: that climate skeptics, for want of a better term, just don’t understand the data — or perhaps even science. “I think this is sort of a weird, exceptional situation,” says decision scientist Dan Kahan of the Yale Law School, who led the new study. “Most science issues aren’t like this.” But a view is emerging, some scientists argue, that people tend to be unusually judgmental of facts or interpretations in science fields that threaten the status quo — or the prevailing attitudes of their cultural group, however that might be defined. And climate science is a poster child for these fields.
- Climate
Rising CO2 promotes weedy rice
There has been a lot of research, recently, showing how global change — especially warming — can alter the habitat and preferred range of marine and terrestrial species. But rising levels of greenhouse gases can also, directly, do a number on agricultural ecosystems, a new study shows. At least for U.S.-grown rice, rising carbon dioxide levels give a preferential reproductive advantage to the weedy natural form — known colloquially as red rice (for the color of its seed coat).
- Earth
Study keeps pace with Greenland glaciers
Herky-jerky motion of the island’s ice suggests that melting ice is unlikely to contribute to dramatic sea level rise this century, but the news isn’t all good.
- Humans
Warming Marches in
People may argue about why Earth is warming, how long its fever will last and whether any of this warrants immediate corrective action. But whether Earth is warming is no longer open to debate. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has just published domestic examples to reinforce what Americans witnessed last month — either on TV or in their own backyards.
- Humans
Weighing the costs of conferencing
A provocative editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association questions the value of attending scientific conferences. It’s a theme that reemerges every few years. And in times of tight budgets, the idea seems worth revisiting.
- Climate
Carbon dioxide breaking down marine ecosystems
Scientists capitalize on 'natural’ experiment to chronicle how ecosystems will change as oceans continue to acidify.
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- Climate
Amazon may become greenhouse gas emitter
South America’s massive rain forest may soon release more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs.
- Climate
Soil’s Hidden Secrets
Shocking discoveries from the underground may shake up climate science.
- Humans
Insurance payouts point to climate change
Natural disasters in 2011 exerted the costliest toll in history — a whopping $380 billion worth of losses from earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, tsunamis and more. Only a third of those costs were covered by insurance. And the tally ignores completely any expenses associated with sickness or injuries triggered by the disasters. And except for quake-related events, climate change appears to have played a role in the growing cost of disasters, insurers said.
- Climate
Matt Crenson, Reconstructions
In ancient Southwest droughts, a warning of dry times to come.
