Climate Change, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2006

Study: Global Warming Near Critical Level

Global temperatures are dangerously close to the highest ever estimated to have occurred in the past million years, scientists reported today. In a study that analyzed temperatures around the globe, researchers found that Earth has been warming rapidly, nearly 0.36 degrees Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) in the last 30 years...

Jul 31, 2006

Americans Warm to Reality of Climate Change

A poll of more than 1,000 likely voters in the United States released this week showed that in the last two years Americans have become more convinced that global warming is happening. An increasing number also believe there is a link between the increase in temperature and severity of weather...

Jun 30, 2006

Flocking to the Coast: World's Population Migrating into Danger

New maps developed by investigating the relationship between human population and natural resources shows where people will most likely settle through 2025. Population will grow along various coastlines and in already densely populated developing countries. [Maps: The Americas | Africa, Asia & Europe] The number of people living within 60...

May 31, 2006

Global Warming Could Release Permafrost Carbon

Carbon that has been locked away for thousands of years could escape into the atmosphere if global warming thaws large patches of frozen ground in Alaska and Siberia as expected, a new study warns. Called permafrost, the frozen ground contains large amounts of carbon-rich grass and animal bones. The new...

Apr 30, 2006

Earlier Spring Starves Migratory Birds

Trees are blossoming, plants are flowering, and temperatures are warming up. Spring is finally is here and everyone seems happier. Well, except for the pied flycatcher, a small bird that can't schedule its breeding time to cope with the earlier spring season caused by climate change. The pied flycatcher winters...

Feb 28, 2006

Snow Melting Earlier In Eastern North America

In eastern North America, snow is melting and flowing into rivers earlier than it did in the first half of the 20th century, scientists said today. A new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is an extension of work reported last year, which found that the total number of...

Dec 31, 2005

Irrigation Fuels Warmer Temps in California's Central Valley

Irrigation of California's Central Valley, which turned it from desert to productive farmland, could be to blame for warmer summer nights that have been recorded in recent years. What was once dry, light-colored soil that didn't absorb much solar warmth is now dark and damp and can absorb heat like...

Dec 31, 2005

Baffled Scientists Say Less Sunlight Reaching Earth

After dropping for about 15 years, the amount of sunlight Earth reflects back into space, called albedo, has increased since 2000, a new study concludes. That means less energy is reaching the surface. Yet global temperatures have not cooled during the period. Increasing cloud cover seems to be the reason,...

Oct 31, 2007

320 Million Trees Lost to Katrina, Fuels Global Warming

Major hurricanes may not only be fueled by global warming, they may also contribute to it, according to a new study that puts the Hurricane Katrina death toll for trees at 320 million. Recent research suggests that in our warming world, devastating hurricanes, like Katrina, may become more common. The...

Oct 31, 2007

Technology Won't Stop Global Warming, Economists Say

Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States may grow faster in the next 50 years than they have in the past 50, and higher energy prices will curb the problem better than technology, two economists say. Despite many technological advances in the past half-century, the rates of growth of energy...

Sep 30, 2007

Is Global Warming Fueling Forest Fires?

Wildfires that raged in Southern California this week and forced more than half a million people from their homes spread so rapidly in part because the landscape was parched by a hot, dry summer—conditions that may become more of a norm for the Southwest, thanks to global warming. But can...

Aug 31, 2007

Scientists Give Odds on Arctic Sea Ice Shrinkage

Researchers are forecasting a one-in-three chance that the extent of sea ice covering the Arctic will reach an all-time record low this year. Sea ice forms as ocean water freezes. Sea-ice extent is the area of an ocean covered by at least 15 percent ice. Arctic sea ice has been...

Aug 31, 2007

Arctic Meltdown Opens Fabled Northwest Passage

A fabled sea route above North America linking the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans has become a reality thanks to global warming. Scientists have confirmed that in August, Arctic sea ice shrank to its lowest levels since satellite measurements began monitoring the region nearly 30 years ago. One consequence of this...

Aug 31, 2007

Greenland Snowmelt This Year Could Cover U.S. Twice

The amount of ice that has melted away from Greenland's ice sheet this year could cover an area twice the size of the United States, with more melting occurring in 2007 than the average going back to 1988, a new study finds. Using satellite data, NASA scientists compared the average...

Aug 31, 2007

Global Warming Fix: Help the Earth Cure Itself

Add a new one to the list of somewhat zany suggestions to counteract global warming, only this time the idea comes from the Gaia guy. James Lovelock, environmentalist, futurologist and creator of the Gaia hypothesis and its view of Earth as a huge organism, proposes that we help the planet...