Climate Change, features and articles | Educational Science

Sep 30, 2005

Global Warming Could Overwhelm Storm Drains

Scientists at a modest university in a small town in New Hampshire offered today a big tip to city planners around the world: Prepare your culverts for global warming. Nearly a foot of rain this weekend in Keene, NH, overwhelming the storm drains. Latham Stack Michael Simpson at Antioch New...

Sep 30, 2005

September is Warmest on Record

Last month was the warmest Setpember on record based on global data, officals announced today. The average global temperature for combined land and ocean surfaces for September, based on preliminary data, was 1.13 degrees Fahrenheit (0.63 degrees C) above the 1880-2004 long-term mean, according to NOAA, parent organization of the...

Aug 31, 2005

The Snowball Effect of Global Warming

In a twist to the proverbial snowball effect, warmer Arctic temperatures are stimulating plant growth, which darkens the landscape and causes more sunlight to be absorbed rather than reflected. The result: Winter heating could increase by 70 percent, according to a new study. The study examined western Alaska during the...

May 31, 2005

125 Large Northern Lakes Disappear

A new study finds 125 large lakes in the Arctic have vanished as temperatures rose over the past two decades. Many other lakes have shrunk. The lakes once sat atop permanently frozen soil called permafrost. Other studies have shown permafrost is melting around the world, causing low-lying ground to slump...

May 31, 2005

Space Ring Could Shade Earth and Stop Global Warming

A wild idea to combat global warming suggests creating an artificial ring of small particles or spacecrafts around Earth to shade the tropics and moderate climate extremes. There would be side effects, proponents admit. An effective sunlight-scattering particle ring would illuminate our night sky as much as the full Moon,...

Feb 28, 2005

No Stopping it Now: Seas to Rise 4 Inches or More this Century

Even if all industrial pollution and auto emissions suddenly ceased today, Earth's climate will warm at least 1 degree by the year 2100 and seas will rise 4 inches (11 centimeters), according to a new study. The warming is likely to continue through 2400, another study forecasts. The worst-case scenario...

Jan 31, 2005

Caution: Global Warming May be Hazardous to Your Health

If Earth's climate warms steadily in coming decades, as many scientists predict, heavy smog and extreme weather events could increase health risks in the United States and around the world, scientists said this weekend. Warmer temperatures could bring increased rainfall to some regions, computer models suggest, as well as heat...

Jan 31, 2005

A New Spin on Earth's Rotation

We all know that money makes the world go round, but what causes it to change speed ever so slightly? The Earth is known to constantly slow down and speed up, which imperceptibly alters the length of our days. We are taught that the day is 24 hours, or 86,400...

Dec 31, 2004

Internet Project Concludes Planet Could Warm by Nearly 20 Degrees

A broad look at possibilities for climate change suggests the planet could heat up much more significantly than other leading studies have predicted. The global temperature could rise between 3.6 and 19.8 degrees Fahrenheit (2-11 Celsius), scientist report in the Jan. 27 issue of the journal Nature. The report is...

Nov 30, 2006

Al Gore Urges Scientists to Speak Out on Climate Change

SAN FRANCISCO—Former Vice President Al Gore said here today that he would become a member of the American Geophysical Union, a sign of his dedication not only to protecting the environment but also his belief that science is vital when it comes to decisions impacting the fate of the planet....

Oct 31, 2006

Global Warming Could Trigger Insect Population Boom

A rise in the Earth's temperature could lead to an increase in the number of insects worldwide, with potentially dire consequences for humans, a new study suggests. New research shows that insect species living in warmer areas are more likely to undergo rapid population growth because they have higher metabolic...

Sep 30, 2006

Report: American West Faces Dire Future

Without action to reduce carbon emissions, global warming will dramatically alter the Western U.S. landscape, according to a nongovernmental report released Thursday by the National Wildlife Federation. America's addiction to fossil fuels is coming at an enormous price, one that threatens not only people but the fish, wildlife and ecosystems...

Sep 30, 2006

Alaskan Lakes Dry Up

More than 10,000 Alaskan lakes have dried up or shrunk in size in a span of 52 years, scientists reported today. Between 1950 and 2002, Alaska experienced longer growing seasons, increased thawing of permafrost, and greater water loss from evaporation of open waters. All of these changes, along with the...

Sep 30, 2006

Human Activity Linked to Antarctic Ice Shelf Collapse

Human-caused global warming was responsible for the collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf in 2002, scientists said today. Changing weather patterns, a consequence of global warming, has caused stronger westerly winds to blow warm air from the middle latitudes to the Antarctic Peninsula. These winds are responsible for the summer...

Aug 31, 2006

Global Warming Takes a Break

Despite the long term warming trend seen around the globe, the oceans have cooled in the last three years, scientists announced today. The temperature drop, a small fraction of the total warming seen in the last 48 years, suggests that global warming trends can sometimes take little dips. In the...