Scientists have known for years that methane and carbon monoxide have a warming effect, but new findings suggest these gases have a significantly more powerful warming impact than previously thought.
With seven science flights over Antarctica completed in the first 13 days of Operation Ice Bridge's southern campaign in NASA's DC-8 flying laboratory, the mission is on track to complete its planned flights by mid-November.
Every year, scientists learn something new about the inner workings of lightning.
GOES-P is being prepared for an early March 2010 launch and if the launch schedule holds, it boasts an unprecedented two launches in approximately 8 months.
NASA is releasing six short videos and NASA scientists are participating in a live, educational webcast to coincide with Earth Science Week 2009.
Gravity Wave Instability Dynamics at High Reynolds Numbers. Part II: Turbulence Evolution, Structure, and Anisotropy, David C. Fritts, Ling Wang, Joe Werne, Tom Lund, and Kam Wan, Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, May 2009 (Vol. 66, No. 5, doi:10.1175/2008JAS2727.1)
Biophysical Evaluation of Land-Cover Products for Land–Climate Modeling, Jianjun Ge, Nathan Torbick, and Jiaguo Qi, Earth Interactions, August 2009 (Vol. 13, doi: 10.1175/2009EI276.1)
Study of Columnar Aerosol Size Distribution in Hong Kong, Yang, X. and Wenig, M., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, August 31, 2009 (Vol. 9, No. 16)
Factors Controlling Contrail Cirrus Optical Depth, Kärcher, B., Burkhardt, U., Unterstrasser, S., and Minnis, P., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, August 31, 2009 (Vol. 9, No. 16)
Development of a Land Surface Heating Index–Based Method to Locate Regions of Potential Mesoscale Circulation Formation, Walker, J. R., J. R. Mecikalski, K. R. Knupp, and W. M. MacKenzie Jr., Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, August 29, 2009 (Vol. 114, D16112, doi:10.1029/2009JD011853)
Volcanic activity may split the African continent in two and create a new ocean, according to scientists who studied two volcanic eruptions in September 2005. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation/Agence France-Presse) more...
Some 85 percent of the ice that made up the mountaintop glaciers in 1912 was gone by 2007, researchers report. (ABC News) more...
More than a third of species assessed by a global biodiversity study are threatened with extinction, scientists warn. (BBC News) more...
Wildfires within California's world famous Yosemite National Park could become more frequent and severe due to climate change, say scientists. (BBC News) more...
Hoping to untangle a key mechanism by which Earth warms and cools, a new satellite will for the first time make ongoing measurements of the saltiness of Earth's seas and the water content of the land. (Discovery News) more...
Satellite images compiled over a decade to study volcanic activity in Kenya's section of the African Rift show deformation of four active volcanoes, which underscores the possibility for human hazard. (University of Miami press release)
A new study examines some of the potential problems with current prediction methods and calls for the use of a range of approaches when predicting the impact of climate change on organisms. (Lehigh University press release)
A study concluded that greener land cover contributes to cooler temperatures, and almost any other change leads to warmer temperatures. (Purdue University press release)
The vast muddy expanses of the abyssal plains occupy about 60 percent of the Earth's surface and are important in global carbon cycling, and based on long-term studies of two such areas, a new paper shows that animal communities on the abyssal seafloor are affected in a variety of ways by climate change. (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute press release)
Researchers spent two months this summer high in the Peruvian Andes and brought back two cores, the longest ever drilled from ice fields in the tropics. (Ohio State University press release)