New Research Forecasts Better Weather Forecasts
February 28 — A team of researchers has used improved satellite imaging and powerful computer modeling to more accurately forecast the likelihood and intensity of storms and tornadoes. (Purdue University press release) More

The Critical Importance of Mangroves to Ocean Life
February 27 — Mangroves, the backbone of the tropical ocean coastlines, likely provide more than 10 percent of essential dissolved organic carbon that is supplied to the global ocean from land, researchers say. (American Geophysical Union press release) More

ESA Confirms CryoSat Recovery Mission
February 24 — Officials say the CryoSat-2 mission will replace the aborted CryoSat spacecraft to monitor the thickness of land and sea ice and help explain the connection between the melting of polar ice and the rise in sea levels. (European Space Agency press release) More

Europe's First Polar-Orbiting Satellite Dedicated to Operational Meteorology
February 23 — MetOp-A, planned to be launched this June, will be Europe's first polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology. (European Space Agency press release) More

Fossil Wood Gives Vital Clues to Ancient Climates
February 23 — New research into a missing link in climatology shows that the Earth was not overcome by a greenhouse period when dinosaurs dominated, but experienced rapid fluctuations in temperature and sea-level change that resulted in a balance of the global carbon cycle. (McMaster University press release) More

Inside the Ozone Layer
February 23 — A new atmospheric model is able to quantify man-made versus naturally occurring damage to the stratosphere with an eye toward repairing the ozone layer, say researchers. (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science press release) More

Changes in Reef Latitude
February 22 — New research suggests that by supporting blooms of harmful seaweed, increasing nutrient pollution levels are reducing the areas where reef-building coral can survive. (Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution press release) More

Oceans May Soon Be More Corrosive than When the Dinosaurs Died
February 20 — Increased carbon dioxide emissions are rapidly making the world's oceans more acidic and, if unabated, could cause a mass extinction of marine life similar to one that occurred 65 million years ago when the dinosaurs disappeared, say researchers. (Carnegie Institution press release) More

The Arctic and Global Warming
February 20 — Scientists report a warmer Arctic Ocean may mean less food for birds, fish, and baleen whales, a significant detriment to that fragile and interconnected polar ecosystem. (University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science press release) More

Toxic Waves
February 18 — New statistics show 2005 was the second deadliest on record for Florida's endangered manatees, with most of the fatalities caused by toxins produced by "red tide" blooms. (Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution press release) More

Studies of Ancient Climates Suggest Earth is now on a Fast Track to Global Warming
February 16 — Human activities are releasing greenhouse gases more than 30 times faster than the rate of emissions that triggered a period of extreme global warming in the Earth's past, according to an expert on ancient climates. (University of California-Santa Cruz press release) More

Phytoplankton Bounce Back from Abrupt Climate Change
February 16 — The majority of tiny marine plants weathered the abrupt climate changes that occurred in Earth's past and bounced back, according to a Penn State geoscientist. (Penn State University press release) More

Overseas [NOX] Could Be Boosting Ozone Levels in U.S.
February 16 — Large amounts of a chemical that boosts ozone production are being transported to North America from across the Pacific Ocean in May and may be contributing to significant increases in ozone levels over North America. (Georgia Institute of Technology press release) More

Clearest Video of Lightning-Generated 'Sprites' High above Thunderstorms Captured
February 15 — Researchers have captured the best images ever produced of "sprites" -- mysterious flashes of light resembling giant undulating jellyfish that can occur above strong thunderstorms -- using a high-speed camera that recorded thousands of video frames a second. (Duke University press release) More

Plant Enzyme Efficiency May Hold Key to Global Warming
February 15 — Scientists have discovered a mutant enzyme that could enable plants to use and convert carbon dioxide more quickly, effectively taking more of that gas out of the atmosphere. (Emory University press release) More

Volcanic Signatures Persist in Oceans
February 13 — Ocean temperatures might have risen even higher during the last century if it weren't for volcanoes that spewed ashes and aerosols into the upper atmosphere, researchers have found. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory press release) More

Frozen Methane Chunks Not Responsible for Abrupt Increases in Atmospheric Methane
February 9 — Icy chunks of frozen methane and water are not responsible for the periodic increases in atmospheric methane recorded in Greenland ice cores, new research shows. (Penn State University press release) More

Medieval Diaries Help Scientists Ascertain Increase in Hot Spots due to Global Warming
February 9 — A new study finds the number of "hot spots" has increased dramatically in the Northern Hemisphere in the last century compared to the past 1200 years. (University of East Anglia press release) More

Declining Snowpack Cools Off Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Winter Soils
February 8 — A recent decrease in Rocky Mountain snowpack has slowed the release of heat-trapping carbon dioxide gases from forest soils into the atmosphere during the dead of winter, according to a new study. (University of Colorado-Boulder press release) More

Theory Predicts Global Climate Patterns in Simple Way
February 8 — A unifying physics principle is helping researchers focus on the primary players in global circulation and climate. (Duke University press release) More

New Climate Research Reveals Growing Risk
February 7 — A new study shows that if the world continues to burn greenhouse gases, California may have an increased risk of winter floods and summer water shortages, even within the same year. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory press release) More

Flights Reveal Intriguing Information about Ice Particles in Clouds
February 6 — Ongoing research involving instrumentation on the Proteus, a space-age aircraft equipped with a suite of highly sophisticated sensors, reveals superior images of ice crystals in high-altitude tropical cirrus clouds. (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory press release) More

Methane Bubbling Through Seafloor Creates Undersea Hills
February 6 — Researchers report that methane gas bubbling through seafloor sediments has created hundreds of low hills on the floor of the Arctic Ocean. (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute press release) More

Researchers Identify Clay as Major Contributor to Oxygen that Enabled Early Animal Life
February 2 — New research suggests clay made animal life possible on Earth. (University of California-Riverside press release) More

Satellite Radar Reveals Ever-Changing Face of the Ocean
February 1 — Scientists are discussing the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite data to assess ocean currents, wave patterns, and local sea state. (European Space Agency press release) More

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