Climate Change, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2008

Science Returns to the White House

In announcing four top science advisers Saturday, President-elect Barack Obama set lofty goals for an open and honest scientific process and dialogue in his new administration. The truth is that promoting science isn't just about providing resources — it's about protecting free and open inquiry, Obama said in his weekly...

Nov 30, 2008

Global Warming Might Cook Up Too Many Male Fish

Many reptiles have no sex chromosomes. Instead, their gender is determined by temperature. In crocodiles, for example, males are hot: eggs incubated in sand above a certain “pivotal temperature” almost always hatch males. That could spell trouble, because Earth is warming so fast that natural selection may not have time...

Jul 31, 2008

Oceans Running Low on Oxygen

Parts of the world's oceans are running low on oxygen, a new study finds. Fertilizers and other chemical pollutants in river runoff fuel blooms of algae that cause oxygen levels to dip precipitously when they die. A review of research into these so-called dead zones, detailed in the Aug. 15...

Jun 30, 2008

Why You Will Eat Less in the Future

With food and fuel costs soaring and the financial costs of global warming becoming reality, a new cure-all prescription has emerged: The average American should eat less. And with a new University of Illinois report forecasting even higher food prices next year, the suggestion could become an inevitable way of...

Apr 30, 2008

Tropical Trouble: Species to Struggle in Heat

Polar bears may be the poster children for the havoc that climate change could wreak on sensitive species, but animals and plants in the tropics could actually be in the greatest peril from global warming, a new study suggests. While temperature changes in the tropics are expected to be much...

Apr 30, 2008

Runaway Global Warming 635 Million Years Ago

A sudden and extreme case of runaway global warming 635 million years ago was caused by an abrupt release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, scientists said today. The methane seeped from ice sheets that covered much of the planet toward the end of a frigid era called Snowball Earth....

Mar 31, 2008

Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas

Top 10 Craziest Environmental Ideas Many people have proposed wild ways to solve the myriad problems facing Earth, including water pollution, smog, mounds of trash and global warming. Ideas range from the rational (if not always easily implemented) to the downright zany. We've compiled a list of some of the...

Feb 29, 2008

Lights Out Globally Saturday Night for 'Earth Hour'

It may not sound like a classic Saturday night blow-out, but at 8 p.m. on March 29, millions of people around the world will turn off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour. This event, sponsored by the WWF, a global conservation organization, is intended to increase awareness of global warming...

Dec 31, 2007

Humans Force Earth into New Geologic Epoch

Humans have altered Earth so much that scientists say a new epoch in the planet's geologic history has begun. Say goodbye to the 10,000-year-old Holocene Epoch and hello to the Anthropocene. Among the major changes heralding this two-century-old man-made epoch: Vastly altered sediment erosion and deposition patterns.Major disturbances to the...

Nov 30, 2009

The Most Surprising Results of Global Warming

At the United Nations meeting on climate change next week, scientists will be discussing some of the potentially devastating effects of global warming, such as rising temperatures, melting ice caps and rising sea levels in the near future. But Earth's changing climate is already wreaking havoc in some very weird...

Nov 30, 2009

The Reality of 'Climategate'

At a Danish climate summit this week, one subject will certainly be raised: The theft of thousands of private e-mails and files recently hacked from computers at East Anglia university, a leading climate research center. The e-mails, which were made public and appear to show scientific misconduct, have fueled a...

Nov 30, 2009

Gravestones Hold Secrets to Earth's Climate Past

Gravestones may hold secrets of how the Earth's atmosphere has changed over the centuries, and scientists are now asking for the public's help to read these stones. Little by little, atmospheric gases dissolved in raindrops cause the marble in gravestones to erode. As such, headstones can serve as diaries of...

Nov 30, 2009

Time-Lapse Photos Show Dramatic Erosion of Alaska Coast

SAN FRANCISCO — Time-lapse photography of crumbling Alaskan coastlines is helping scientists understand the triple whammy of forces eroding the local landscape: declining sea ice, warming ocean waters and more poundings by waves. The erosion rates from these forces are greater than anything seen along the world's coastlines, with the...

Oct 31, 2009

Orwellian or Green? Carbon Taxes on Individuals

Vote below. But first, this news ... The Dutch government wants to tax residents for every mile they drive to cut down on carbon dioxide emissions. The new green tax would replace taxes on the sales and ownership of autos, AFP reports. Each vehicle will be equipped with a GPS...

Aug 31, 2009

Arctic Ice at 3rd Lowest in Recent Decades

The Arctic sea ice cover appears to have reached its minimum extent for the year, the third-lowest recorded since satellites began measuring sea ice extent in 1979, according to the University of Colorado at Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center. Scientists have been watching the ice return with less...