National Science Foundation Supports Antarctic Research on Larsen Ice Shelf
March 29 — Hamilton College and other institutions are about to begin new research on the Antarctic Peninsula's Larsen Ice Shelf that has experienced catastrophic decay since the mid 1990s. (Hamilton College press release) More

Improved Crop Production and Fewer Greenhouse Gases
March 29 — Researchers say a new farming technique can both increase crop yields and reduce the release of carbons that develop into greenhouse gases. (Boston College press release) More

Nanoparticles from the Oceans and Vehicle Emissions
March 29 — A new study finds atmospheric nanoparticles are an important missing factor in understanding global climate change. (University of California-Davis press release) More

Southern Californians Commonly Misinformed About Beach Water Quality, Study Says
March 24 — Scientists at the University of California-Irvine have found serious flaws in the methods used for warning Southern Californians about the quality of coastal water. (University of California-Irvine press release) More

National Academies News: Report on EPA’s Particulate Matter Research
March 24 — The National Academies’ National Research Council evaluates the EPA’s research on the link between human respiratory ailments and tiny soot particles emitted by vehicles, power plants, forest fires, and other pollution sources. (The National Academies press release) More

Ozone Destroying Gas in Atmosphere Increased Significantly during Industrial Age, Study Shows
March 23 — Human activity in the Industrial Age, approximately the last 150 years, has significantly increased atmospheric levels of methyl bromide, a gas known for harming the ozone layer in the Earth’s stratosphere. (University of California-Irvine press release) More

Physicists Help Met Office Predict Severity of Snow Falls
March 23 — Developments in predicting snow formation, snapshot MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), organic semiconductor technology, high temperature superconductivity, and progress towards quantum computers are some of the topics being presented at a major conference organized by the Institute of Physics next month. (Institute of Physics press release) More

ESA’s Orbiting Hurricane Hunter Back in Action
March 23 — After a three-year gap, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts is again routinely assimilating data from an instrument aboard ERS-2 that ‘sees’ wind fields over the ocean, leading to improved weather predictions, particularly in forecasting strong storms and hurricanes. (European Space Agency press release) More

Patagonian Ice Dam Studied from Space, Cracks Open
March 19 — A spectacle unseen for 16 years occurred in Patagonia this week: a natural dam of blue ice gave way to crushing lake waters trapped behind it, finally breaking apart. (European Space Agency press release) More

Isolated Coral Reefs are at Riskfrom Global Climate Change
March 18 — For species like corals, researchers say dispersal of larvae and restocking of damaged reefs is critical to surviving the changes produced by global warming. (Blackwell Publishing press release) More

Glacial Records Depict Ice Age Climate in Synch Worldwide
March 18 — An answer to the long-standing riddle of whether the Earth's ice ages occurred simultaneously in both the Southern and Northern hemispheres is emerging from the glacial deposits found in the high desert east of the Andes. (University of Wisconsin-Madison press release) More

Oceans' Acidity Influences Early Carbon Dioxide and Temperature Link Estimates
March 16 — An international team of geoscientists believes that carbon dioxide, and not changes in cosmic ray intensity, was the factor controlling ancient global temperatures. (Penn State University press release) More

Challenging Shrubland Fire Management
March 16 — A new study suggests natural fire regimes, such as those found in southern California, are “more driven by extreme weather conditions” than age-related traits of the region’s plant life. (Ecological Society of America press release) More

UC Study Sheds New Light on Climate-change Processes
March 10 — A new study from the University of California shows, for the first time, that the deep-ocean circulation system off the north Atlantic, which controls ice-age cycles of cold and warm periods in the Northern Hemisphere, is integrally coupled to salinity levels in the Caribbean Sea. (University of California-Davis press release) More

New Radar System May Help Airplanes Avoid In-flight Icing
March 10 — Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, are testing a new system this month that may pinpoint water droplets in clouds that cause icing, potentially enabling pilots to avoid dangerous areas. (National Science Foundation press release) More

Undisturbed Amazon Forests are Changing, Say Scientists
March 10 — A research team of U.S. and Brazilian scientists has shown that rainforests in central Amazonia are experiencing striking changes in dynamics and species composition, possibly driven by rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. (Smithsonian Institution press release) More

Research Links Long Droughts in U.S. to Ocean Temperature Variations
March 9 — Large-scale, long-lasting droughts in the U.S., such as the present one in the West, tend to be linked to warmer than normal sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean, according to a new study. (U.S. Geological Survey press release) More

New Evidence Suggests Early Oceans Bereft of Oxygen for Eons
March 4 — Geochemists say the Earth's ancient oceans contained less oxygen than today's and could have been nearly devoid of oxygen for a billion years longer than previously thought, possibly helping explain why complex life barely evolved for billions of years after it arose. (National Science Foundation press release) More

Ocean's Surface Could Have Big Impact on Air Quality, Study Says
March 3 — Certain ions bouncing on the ocean's surface and in droplets formed by waves may help increase ozone levels in the air we breathe. (Ohio State University press release) More

Climate Change Could Release Old Carbon Locked in Arctic Soils, Researchers Say
March 2 — Warming of the Arctic could affect northern peats, collectively one of the largest reservoirs of organic carbon on Earth. (American Geophysical Union press release) More

Back to: News