Climate
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Chemistry
Freon’s Cool Link to Climate
Quick: What’s the name of the big UN global climate treaty? If you said the Kyoto Protocol – you’d be wrong. Because it’s a trick question. Although the Kyoto Protocol is indeed the treaty developed to address the issue of arresting global warming and the climate perturbations that will be spawned by such a growing […]
By Janet Raloff -
Climate
Boreal forests shift north
As forests move northward and to higher elevations, they alter ecosystems and threaten to further heat the Arctic's already warming climate.
By Janet Raloff -
Animals
Polar bears listed
Polar bear declared "threatened," but Secretary limits decision's impact.
By Susan Milius -
Earth
Climate clues in ice
A kilometers-long ice core from Antarctica has been recording climate information for the past 800,000 years and has revealed a three millennia–long period when carbon dioxide levels in the air were lower than any previously measured.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Just ain’t natural
Monster data crunch strengthens case that climate is disrupted.
By Susan Milius -
Climate
A little drier every day
The Sahara, one of the hottest and driest regions on Earth, gradually became arid over a period of centuries, a finding that contradicts many previous studies.
By Sid Perkins -
Life
Brittle arms lose muscle
In lab simulations of future ocean conditions, brittle stars grow extra-calcified but puny arms.
By Susan Milius -
Earth
Babbitt to Southern Louisiana: Look into Gondolas
“New Orleans, at the end of the century, will be an island” — literally, predicts Bruce Babbitt. Whether or not you believe his assessment, he makes a good case for considering the implications of climate change when planning federal projects.
By Janet Raloff -
Climate
Air Pollution Can Be So Cool — ing
Fossil-fuel pollution has been offsetting global warming to the tune of about 30 percent per year. Cleaning up that pollution, a must, threatens to accelerate warming unless humanity changes its fuel-use strategy.
By Janet Raloff -
Life
The Arctic isn’t alone
Insects and other animals that regulate their body temperature externally may be especially vulnerable as the world warms.
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Climate
Olympic Clean Up
Rather than wowing its visitors this summer with world-class air pollution, China wants to impress them with its clean, green Olympics.
By Janet Raloff