Climate

Humans

Cold spells were dark times in Eastern Europe

Cooler periods coincided with conflicts and disease outbreaks, a tree-ring study spanning the last millennium finds.

Climate

Climate change goes to extremes

Some recent weird weather tied to warming.

Climate

Extremely Bad Weather

Teasing out global warming's role in worsening hurricanes, droughts and other extreme events.

Climate

Gulf Stream might be releasing seafloor methane

Greenhouse gas may be flowing into ocean waters off the U.S. east coast.

Earth

Himalayan melt may be less than thought

Satellite data suggest net ice loss has been modest.

Earth

Extreme hot spells rising

Analyzing six decades of temperature records reveals inexorable warming and increasing episodes of extreme heat.

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.