Climate
- Humans
Record ‘Arctic’ ozone minimum expands beyond Arctic
In mid-March, our online story about the thinning of stratospheric ozone over the Arctic noted that conditions appeared primed for regional ozone losses to post an all-time record. On April 5, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Michel Jarraud announced that Arctic ozone had indeed suffered an unprecedented thinning. And these air masses are on the move to mid-latitudes.
By Janet Raloff -
- Earth
2010 ties record for warmest year yet
El Ni±o heated things up even as global temperatures continue to rise in the hottest decade on record.
- Earth
Climate action could save polar bears
Cutting fossil fuel emissions soon would retain enough sea ice habitat for threatened species, scientists say.
- 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.
By Janet Raloff - 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.
By Janet Raloff - 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.
By Janet Raloff - 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.