Summaries | Headlines

Antarctic Temperatures Disagree With Climate Model Predictions (February 17, 2007) -- A new report on climate over the world's southernmost continent shows that temperatures during the late 20th century did not climb as had been predicted by many global climate models. This comes ... > full story

Little Creatures, Big Blooms (February 17, 2007) -- The San Francisco area is one of the most biologically productive areas in US waters. But with global warming, says Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grantee Vera Pospelova, those ... > full story

Doctors Urged To Measure Carbon Footprint Of Their Conference Activities (February 17, 2007) -- Doctors must lead by example on climate change by reducing the carbon footprint of medical conferences, says an editorial in this week's British Medical ... > full story

Peruvian Glacier May Vanish In 5 Years (February 17, 2007) -- When glaciologist Lonnie Thompson returns to Peru's Qori Kalis glacier early this summer, he expects to find that half of the ice he saw during his visit there last year has vanished. What troubles ... > full story

Bacterial Gene May Affect Climate And Weather (February 17, 2007) -- A University of Queensland microbiologist is part of an international team that has identified a bacterial gene that may affect climate and weather. Phil Bond and colleagues have found how a ... > full story

Antarctic Warming To Reduce Animals At Base Of Ecosystem, Shift Some Penguin Populations Southward (February 16, 2007) -- The warming most global climate models predict will do more harm than simply raise the sea levels that most observers fear. It will make drastic changes in fragile ecosystems throughout the world, ... > full story

Health Of Nation's Water Supply May Be Found At The Head Of The River (February 16, 2007) -- Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court have focused national attention on what bodies of water fall under federal jurisdiction for protection under the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA). The CWA ... > full story

NASA Study Reveals Leaks In Antarctic 'Plumbing System' (February 15, 2007) -- Scientists using NASA satellites have discovered an extensive network of waterways beneath a fast-moving Antarctic ice stream that provide clues as to how "leaks" in the system impact sea level and ... > full story

A Crystal Ball Of Earthquakes (February 15, 2007) -- When the next big earthquake hits a region like San Francisco, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grantee Kristy Tiampo wants to ensure that communities will not only be able to ... > full story

Open Source Software Toolkit Plays Key Role In New Climate Simulations (February 15, 2007) -- The Model Coupling Toolkit created by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory played a key role in the climate simulations used in preparing the new U.N. report "Climate Change ... > full story

Study Expands Potential For Using Nanotubes In Water Purification, Genetic Research (February 15, 2007) -- By fusing wet and dry nanotechnologies, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have found a way to control the flow of water through carbon nanotube membranes with an unprecedented level of ... > full story

Air Contaminants Databases Ease Healthy Homes Planning (February 15, 2007) -- Air pollution sources are everywhere in the home, from the bacon and eggs frying in the kitchen, to the woodburning stove in the family room, the newly painted hallway, and even the carpet in the ... > full story

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Solstice -- The summer solstice is an astronomical term regarding the position of the sun in relation to the celestial equator. The summer solstice is the day of the year with the longest daylight period and ... > full article

Mid-Atlantic United States flood of 2006 -- The Eastern United States flooding of June 2006 is a significant flooding event in much of Mid-Atlantic region of the eastern United States. The flooding was very widespread, affecting numerous ... > full article

Japanese beetle -- The Japanese Beetle (Popillia japonica) is a beetle about 1.5 cm (0.6 inches) long and 1 cm (0.4 inches) wide (smaller in Canada), with shiny copper-colored elytra and a shiny green top of the thorax ... > full article

Gypsy moth -- The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, is a moth of European origin. Gypsy moth larvae prefer hardwoods, but may feed on several hundred different species of trees and shrubs. In the East the gypsy moth ... > full article

Tree -- A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. Though there is no set definition regarding minimum size, the term generally applies to plants at least 6 m (20 ft) high at maturity and, ... > full article

Agriculture -- Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired products by the cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). The practice of ... > full article

Plant -- Plants are a major group of living things including familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, ferns, and mosses. About 350,000 species of plants, defined as seed plants, bryophytes, ferns and ... > full article

Fungus -- A fungus (plural fungi) is a eukaryotic organism that digests its food externally and absorbs the nutrient molecules into its cells. Fungi are very important economically: yeasts are responsible for ... > full article

Photosynthesis -- Photosynthesis, generally, is the synthesis of sugar from light, carbon dioxide and water, with oxygen as a waste product. It is arguably the most important biochemical pathway known; nearly all life ... > full article

Carbon dioxide -- Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. It is often referred to by its formula CO2. It is present in the Earth's atmosphere at a low concentration and acts ... > full article

Earth's atmosphere -- Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen 0.97% argon and carbon dioxide 0.04% trace ... > full article

Solar radiation -- Solar radiation is radiant energy emitted by the sun, particularly electromagnetic energy. About half of the radiation is in the visible short-wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The other ... > full article

Ultraviolet -- Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength shorter than that of the visible region, but longer than that of soft X-rays. The Sun emits ultraviolet radiation in the UVA, ... > full article

Solar wind -- A solar wind is a stream of charged particles (i.e., a plasma) which are ejected from the upper atmosphere of a star. When originating from stars other than the Earth's Sun, it is sometimes called a ... > full article

Greenhouse gas -- Greenhouse gases (GHG) are gaseous components of the atmosphere that contribute to the greenhouse effect. The major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor, which causes about 36-70% of the ... > full article

Greenhouse effect -- The term greenhouse effect may be used to refer to two different things in common parlance: the natural greenhouse effect, which refers to the greenhouse effect which occurs naturally on Earth, and ... > full article

Methane -- Methane is a significant and plentiful fuel which is the principal component of natural gas. Burning one molecule of methane in the presence of oxygen releases one molecule of CO₂ (carbon ... > full article

Nitrous oxide -- Nitrous oxide, also known as dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide, is a chemical compound with chemical formula N2O. It is commonly known as laughing gas due to the exhilarating effects of ... > full article

Sulfur hexafluoride -- Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) is a gas whose molecules consist of one sulfur atom and six fluorine atoms. It is colorless, odorless, non-toxic, and non-flammable, and is soluble in water and some other ... > full article

Haloalkane -- The haloalkanes (also known as Halogenoalkanes) are a group of chemical compounds, consisting of alkanes, such as methane or ethane, with one or more halogens linked, such as chlorine or fluorine, ... > full article