Climate Change, features and articles | Educational Science

Jul 31, 2007

Life Resurrected From Glaciers

Germs long frozen in glaciers may resurrect as Earth's warming climate melts ice, potentially speeding up the evolution of microbes, research now reveals. Although Earth germs can apparently survive up to millions of years on ice, scientists added the harsh rigors of space make it unlikely that alien life or...

Jul 31, 2007

Coral Reefs Disappearing Faster Than Thought

Coral reefs in the central and western Pacific are disappearing twice as fast as rainforests are on land—faster than was previously thought, a new study says. The reefs in this region, called the Indo-Pacific, are disappearing at a rate of 1 percent per year—nearly 600 square miles of reef have...

May 31, 2007

Arizona Dust Causes Colorado Meltdown

Wind-blown dust from the drought-stricken Southwest can speed the melt of snow in Colorado’s mountains, yet another unpredictable effect of climate change, a new study shows. In 2006, snows in areas of Colorado's San Juan Mountains above and below the tree line (above which trees can no longer grow), unexpectedly...

Apr 30, 2007

Extreme Summer Forecast: 10 Degrees Hotter by 2080

Global warming could turn the heat way up during the summer in the eastern United States, raising the average by nearly 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the 2080s, a new NASA study finds. “There is the potential for extremely hot summertime temperatures in the future, especially during summers with less-than-average frequent...

Apr 30, 2007

Surprise Increase in Global Carbon Dioxide Output

Carbon dioxide emissions have accelerated globally at a greater rate than expected in recent years, scientists announced today. The average growth rate of the emissions increased from 1.1 percent a year in the 1990s to 3 percent increase per year since 2000, according to a study published this week in...

Apr 30, 2007

Cyclones Could Save Oceanic Conveyor Belt From Global Warming

The ferocious winds of tropical cyclones churn up ocean water as they spin over the surface, significantly affecting the transport of heat in the ocean, a new study finds. And as global warming heats up the ocean surface, this process could be intensified, preventing the potential shutdown of the oceanic...

Mar 31, 2007

NASA: Arctic Meltdown Threatens Ice Cap's Stability

Perennial sea ice in the Arctic is melting faster each summer than it can be replaced during winter, a new study confirms. A study released last year found that perennial sea ice—which is at least 10 feet thick and remains throught the seasons and through the years—dropped 14 percent from...

Mar 31, 2007

Gambling on Global Warming Goes Mainstream

An MIT meteorologist said three years ago that he would bet money that global average temperatures would cool back down in 20 years. The quote triggered a flurry of Internet dialogues and prompted scientists to challenge each other to make bets on climate-change issues. One scientist took the wagering meteorologist,...

Mar 31, 2007

Warming Kicks Frogs While They're Down

As if frogs and other amphibians around the world didn’t have enough to worry about with a killer fungus spreading rapidly and humans encroaching on their habitats, now global warming seems to be affecting one of the few pristine habitats the frogs have left, a new study suggests. More than...

Mar 31, 2007

Study: Global Warming Could Hinder Hurricanes

Global warming might not fuel more intense hurricanes in the Atlantic after all. Despite increasing ocean temperatures that feed the monstrous storms, climate change may also be ramping up the winds that choke off a hurricane’s development, a new study claims. “The environmental changes here do not suggest a strong...

Feb 28, 2007

Charge: Carbon Dioxide Hogs Global Warming Stage

Carbon dioxide hogs the spotlight on the stage of chemical culprits causing global warming, but other greenhouse gases deserve some blame, scientists say. “People need to be aware that it isn’t just CO2 that’s the problem,” said Keith Shine of the University of Reading in England, co-author of an article...

Jan 31, 2007

Why Americans are Skeptical of Their Role in Global Warming

SAN FRANCISCO—While the evidence is clear that human-caused global warming is occurring and is a threat to many humans and other organisms on the planet, many Americans have been slow to buy the whole argument. Yesterday at its annual meeting here, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the...

Dec 31, 2006

Warmer Seas Leave Fish Gasping

Warming oceans, one of the major consequences of global climate change, are making another marine species feel like a fish out of water, scientists report. Biologists have known for years that global warming is linked to declining fish stocks, but a new study of eelpouts--big-headed fish that resemble eels--is the...

Dec 31, 2006

The History of Climate Change Science

This is the text of an essay on the web site “The Discovery of Global Warming” by Spencer Weart, January 2007. For an overview see the book of the same title (Harvard Univ. Press, 2003). Copyright © 2003-2007 Spencer Weart & American Institute of Physics. Reprinted here with permission. Here...

Nov 30, 2008

Great Empires Declined as Climate Changed

Great empires come and go, but it's not clear why some of them fell. New clues to the demise of two dynasties may have just emerged from a cave. Evidence found in a cave near Jerusalem reveal increasingly dry weather from 100 A.D. to 700 A.D., a period that coincided...