Atmospheric Aerosols Found to Brighten Clouds
February 28 — Scientists have combined satellite measurements of cloud brightness, water content, and other variables with model calculations of atmospheric aerosols to demonstrate the brightening effect of aerosols in clouds, which should be accounted for in assessing the magnitude of global climate change. (U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory release) More

Arctic Meltdown
February 27 — Within a decade, the Arctic could be open to ordinary commercial shipping and open up new fisheries. (New Scientist release) More

Clues from Analysis of Fish Bones Supports Theory of Climate Shift 5000 Years Ago, Onset of El Niño
February 21 — New evidence from two Peruvian archeological sites excavated by researchers from the University of Maine (UMaine) and analyzed by University of Georgia (UGA) scientists supports the theory that a climate shift about 5,000 years ago led to modern weather patterns that include El Niño. (University of Georgia release) More

Temperature Inversion Brings Ultra-Clean Air Between Layers of Pollution
February 20 — The atmosphere often is highly layered, particularly when a temperature inversion blocks intruding air from above and below. A University of Washington scientist says that can mean a lower layer of polluted air, followed by 500 to 1,000 feet of pristine air -- a clean-air slot ? topped by another layer of pollution. (University of Washington release) More

Increased Water Vapor in Stratosphere Possibly Caused by Tropical Biomass Burning
February 20 — The doubling of the moisture content in the stratosphere over the last 50 years was caused, at least in part, by tropical biomass burning, a Yale researcher has concluded from examining satellite weather data. (Yale University release) More

A Current Controversy: Is Europe About to Freeze?
February 20 — One of the odd possibilities that could emerge from global warming is that much of Europe, robbed of the ocean current patterns that help keep it warm, could rather abruptly enter a deep freeze and have a climate that more closely resembles Alaska than the modest temperatures it now enjoys. (Oregon State University release) More

Global Warming Will Persist at Least a Century Even if Emissions Curbed Now
February 17 — Though significant uncertainty remains regarding the amount of global warming that will occur over the next century or two, scientists agree that the trend will continue for the next hundred years even if fossil fuel consumption is dramatically reduced. (Georgia Institute of Technology release) More

Sea Levels Likely to Rise Higher than IPCC Predictions
February 16 — From melting glaciers, to earlier spring seasons, to the collapsing fringes of the Antarctic ice sheet: climatic change is underway at the Earth's poles and high latitudes. (American Association for the Advancement of Science release) More

Enormous Iceberg May Be in Its Death Throes
February 15 — For perhaps the last time, a researcher has visited iceberg B-15A, an enormous fragment of ice that broke away from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000. (National Science Foundation release) More

Pinatubo Volcano Research Boosts Case for Human-Caused Global Warming
February 15 — Research into the worldwide climatic impact of the 1991 Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption during the 10 years since the eruption has strengthened the case for human causes of global warming. (Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey release) More

Scripps Scientist Discovers Warming Trend in Southern Ocean over the Last 50 Years
February 14 — An armada of autonomous marine "robots" deployed in the 1990s has helped produce new evidence that the Southern Ocean is warming faster than the rest of the world?s oceans. (Scripps Institution of Oceanography release) More

Global Warming Lengthens Day
February 11 — Global warming caused by increasing manmade carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lengthen the day, according to a study to be published this month by the journal, Geophysical Research Letters. Researchers used computer models to analyze the effect of adding one percent more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each year, in order to reach a doubling of the carbon dioxide concentration after 70 years. (American Geophysical Union Release) More

High CO2 Levels Hamper Nitrate Incorporation by Plants
February 4 — Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide that are associated with global warming can interfere with plants' ability to incorporate certain forms of nitrogen, dramatically altering the plant life worldwide and forcing significant changes in agricultural fertilizer use. (University of California-Davis release) More

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