Atmospheric

Ride-Hitching Microbes In Dust From Asia Influence U.S. Rain And Climate

Dusty air blowing across the Pacific from Asia and Africa is playing a critical role in precipitation patterns throughout the drought-stricken western U.S. The exact chemical make-up of that dust, including microbes found in it, is the key to how much rai ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 13 2014 - 11:00pm

In Europe, Criticizing Wealthy, Environmentally Aware Travelers Is A CO2 Taboo

Transport accounts for an up to 30% of CO2 emissions in the EU, with estimates claiming that emissions from that sector rose 36% between 1990 and 2007.  A new analysis conducted by Lund University and the University of Surrey takes on the widely-held view ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2014 - 11:00am

African Dust Impacts South America Air Quality

A recent study analyzed concentrations of African dust transported to South America and finds large seasonal peaks in winter and spring, which provides new insight into the overall human health and air quality impacts of African dust, including climate ch ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2014 - 7:30pm

US Coal Emissions Could Drop 21 Percent While Helping American Industry

American CO2 emissions have plummeted thanks to natural gas and energy emissions from coal have not been this low since the early 1980s, but a decades long war against energy science meant nuclear power- a truly viable emissions-free source- was scuttled ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2014 - 9:29am

Global Warming Didn't Divorce Us, It's Just On A Break

Global warming is currently taking a break. Global temperatures seemed to have risen drastically into the late 1990s but the global average temperature has risen only slightly since 1998 – surprising, considering scientific climate models predicted consid ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 19 2014 - 11:27pm

Your Landscaping Could Be Causing Tornados

By Karin Heineman, Inside Science When tornadoes hit, they are often quick, deadly and come without warning. In 2013, more than fifty people were killed during tornadoes. “We have tornadoes at daytime, we have tornadoes at night,” said Dev Niyogi, a clima ...

Article - Inside Science - Aug 22 2014 - 12:41pm

Monsoon Season Affects Methane Emissions

Changes in the Asian monsoon have affected emissions of methane from the Tibetan Plateau over the last 6,000 years, finds a new paper. The concentration of methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled over the past century, though it is very short lived ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 20 2014 - 8:31am

Carbon Tetrachloride: Ozone-depleting Compound Persists Decades Later

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) was once used in dry cleaning and as a fire-extinguishing agent but once it was found to be a cause of ozone depleted, it was regulated in 1987 under the Montreal Protocol along with other chlorofluorocarbons. Parties to the Mo ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 20 2014 - 4:46pm

Sunlight To Blame For CO2 Release In Arctic Permafrost, Not Microbes

The vast reservoir of carbon stored in Arctic permafrost is gradually being converted back to carbon dioxide (CO2) after entering the freshwater system in a process thought to be controlled largely by microbial activity, but a new study concludes that sun ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 22 2014 - 12:30pm

Don't Dismiss A 2014 'Super' El Niño Just Yet

By Agus Santoso, Senior Research Associate at UNSW Australia. It looks like it’s all over bar the shouting for the chance of this year bringing on a “super” El Niño. Or is it? ...

Article - The Conversation - Aug 21 2014 - 8:30pm