Climate

  1. Climate

    Carbon dioxide breaking down marine ecosystems

    Scientists capitalize on 'natural’ experiment to chronicle how ecosystems will change as oceans continue to acidify.

    By
  2. Climate

    Humans’ greenhouse gas emissions throw next ice age off schedule

    By
  3. Climate

    Amazon may become greenhouse gas emitter

    South America’s massive rain forest may soon release more carbon into the atmosphere than it absorbs.

    By
  4. Climate

    Soil’s Hidden Secrets

    Shocking discoveries from the underground may shake up climate science.

    By
  5. 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.

    By
  6. Climate

    Matt Crenson, Reconstructions

    In ancient Southwest droughts, a warning of dry times to come.

    By
  7. Humans

    Contrasting the concerns over climate and ozone loss

    On November 7, ozone and climate scientists met in Washington, D.C., to discuss whether the history of stratospheric ozone protection offered a useful case study about how to catalyze global action on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The simple answer that emerged: No.

    By
  8. Humans

    Sarah’s tale of Arctic warming

    Over a half-century or so, Sarah James' town of some 150 Athabascan Indians has watched as the formerly extreme but fairly predictable climate in this amazingly remote region of inland Alaska has become warmer and more erratic. Overall, that’s definitely not been a change for the better, she says. James ventured to South Florida this week — and the Society of Environmental Journalists’ annual meeting — to describe what it’s like to weather life on the frontlines of climate change.

    By
  9. Humans

    Really bad year for Arctic sea ice

    On October 4, the National Snow and Ice Data Center posted information on its website indicating that the summer melt of sea ice in the Arctic, this year, approached — but did not quite match — the record set four years ago. A team of European scientists now concludes NSIDC underestimated those Arctic losses.

    By
  10. Humans

    Study recalibrates trees’ carbon uptake

    Photosynthesis appears to be somewhat speedier than conventional wisdom had suggested, a new study finds. If true, this suggests computer projections are at risk of overestimating the potential for trees to sop up carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

    By
  11. Earth

    Summer Arctic melt among worst ever

    With no obvious weather pattern to explain this year’s near-record annual ice retreat, generally warming climate appears to be the culprit.

    By
  12. Chemistry

    HIPPO reveals climate surprises

    A major pollution-mapping program that ends September 9 has turned up startling trends in climate-warming gases and soot.

    By