Wednesday, 8 February, 2012

The ocean’s most valuable fish are caught in a vise. Areas known as dead zones are encroaching on their living zones and pinning them closer to the surface, where they are more vulnerable to becoming the day’s catch. The predicament is yet another side effect of climate change.

If scientists agree that the globe is warming, aren’t hot, dry spells more evidence of warming? Yes, but. The Texas heat wave shows how weather blends climate change and natural variation. In looking for the fingerprints of global warming, we may have to separate drought from heat.

If conflicts are more common near the equator, what will global warming affect do? A new study shows increases in conflict during el Niño periods — but only during the warm, dry part of the cycle, and only in places affected by these big climatic cycles.

Tornadoes need wet air, dry air, and wind shear. Understanding these has lead to major improvements in tornado prediction. Is climate change boosting these storms?

Earth’s orbit subtly changes over thousands of years, in complex cycles that affect the timing and delivery of sunlight to various regions of the globe. Climatologists have said that when this “Milankovitch cycle” warms the Arctic, it somehow warms the Antarctic. A new study finds that the cycle acts more directly.

The ozone layer protects Earth from UV rays: Twenty-two years after a treaty to protect ozone, how is the layer doing? What has happened to the ozone hole above Antarctica?

Carbon tax never even got considered, but it may produce more carbon control at a lower price. Comparing carbon tax with cap and trade…

How do hurricanes form? How do we predict their paths? How can we improve predictions?

Some call it Fall. Some call it spring. But nobody in the Midwest, East Coast or Northern Europe is calling it “winter.” What’s up with our weather?

Measurements show a huge ozone hole. How can this happen? We thought ozone-destroying chemicals were being phased out…