Climate
- Earth
Clouds warm things up
Satellite data from the last decade put hard numbers on a key and little-understood climate player.
- Tech
Heavier crudes, heavier footprints
BLOG: Refining heavy oils and tar sands could greatly exaggerate the greenhouse gases associated with fossil-fuel use, a new study finds.
- Humans
World could heat up 4 degrees C in 50 years
Immediate and substantial action to reduce emissions would be needed to meet climate negotiators' goal of holding warming to a 2 degree Celsius increase, a new package of scientific papers concludes.
- Earth
Lakes are warming across the globe
Throughout the past quarter-century, inland lakes have been experiencing a small, steadily rising nighttime fever. Globally, the average increase has hovered around 0.045 degrees Celsius per year, but in some regions the increase has been more than twice that — or about 1 °C per decade.
- Earth
Warm spell spurred tropical biodiversity
The number of plant species exploded in South America as atmospheric carbon dioxide, and temperatures, rose abruptly about 56 million years ago.
- Earth
Mining the maritime past for clues to climate’s future
Researchers collect data through a mashup of 19th century ship records and 21st century crowdsourcing.
- Humans
Climate researcher speaks out
BLOG: Michael Mann says scientists have lost control of the public message about climate change, Alexandra Witze reports from the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing meeting.
- Earth
Hurricane forecasts can be made years in advance
Climate modelers say they can push Atlantic predictions beyond a single season.
- Tech
Election projections for science investments
The November 2, mid-term election results are in (mostly) and pundits are billing it as a historic turnabout. With a divided Congress, passing legislation — never an easy task — risks becoming harder still. And with fiscal austerity having been a leading campaign issue for the newbies, R&D is unlikely to see a major boost in federal funding during the next two years.
- Earth
Arctic lake yields climate record
A Siberian drilling project goes to great lengths to capture an ancient climate record in a 3.6 million-year-old crater.
- Humans
When to welcome ‘invading’ species
As climate changes, some environments are becoming hostile to the flora and fauna that long nurtured them. Species that can migrate have begun to move into regions where temperatures and humidity are more hospitable. And that can prove a conundrum for officials charged with halting the invasion of non-native species, notes Jon Jarvis, a biologist who for the past year has headed the National Park Service.
- Humans
GNP’s glaciers: Going, going . . .
Climate warming will eliminate them within a generation, data indicate.
