Atmospheric

Ozone Layer Loss In The Arctic May Be A Record (But Don't Panic)

Low temperatures in the Arctic 'ozone layer' have recently initiated massive ozone depletion, which means the Arctic could experience a record loss of this trace gas that protects the Earth's surface against ultraviolet radiation from the su ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 14 2011 - 3:18pm

How The West Was Warm(er)

The eastern continental boundaries of America and Asia are colder than the same latitudes on their western boundaries-  no one thinks of Barcelona or London as colder than New York City but they are both north of the Big Apple.   I think any of us would tr ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 31 2011 - 12:51pm

Solving The Ozone Problem Caused By Electric Cars

Ozone is a known pollutant at low levels in the earth’s atmosphere, which causes harmful effects on the respiratory system and sensitive plants.    Ozone forms as hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides emitted into the air react with sunlight. Two of the largest ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 19 2011 - 5:47pm

Harvesting Fog- A New Way To Bring Water To Poor Nations

Access to water is a pressing global issue; the World Health Organization and UNICEF estimate that nearly 900 million people worldwide live without safe drinking water.   Taking a cue from the beetle Stenocara gracilipes, researchers from MIT think one sol ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 21 2011 - 5:31pm

The U.N. Is The Enemy Of Climate Science

Many might want to believe the United Nations, a world political mediation body created in the aftermath of World War 2, would be a friend of climate science since they are the governing body behind the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)- but ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Apr 22 2011 - 9:51pm

Sorry Vegetarians, Cow Burps Are Not Causing (As Much) Global Warming

In 2006-2007, the heyday of CO2 hysteria, we noted that a large problem that we could control without wrecking the global economy (not that it mattered, the global economy was kind enough to wreck itself) was methane production.  Methane has 23X the impact ...

Blog Post - Hank Campbell - Sep 6 2012 - 9:22am

Ethane: A Fingerprint For Life On Exoplanets

Before discussing the conclusions of this paper released this week, I'll start with a pub-quiz style question. How much of Earth's atmosphere has not been made by living things? The answer is: less than 1%, which is mostly argon. The overwhelming ...

Article - Oliver Knevitt - Jun 16 2011 - 12:36am

Geological Record: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Won't Cause Rapid Climate Change

You've heard or read the scenarios- rapidly escalating levels of CO2 could cause rapidly escalating temperatures, even as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit.    The problem is that they are just scenarios based on a growing, yet incomplete, understanding o ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 20 2011 - 10:17am

Are Inaccurate Climate Models Making Us Feel Too Secure?

The common refrain when climate science detractors point out the flaws in numerical models is that, if no one is sure of the accuracy, the risks are being exaggerated. It could be the opposite.   Numerical models could be giving us a false sense of securit ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 26 2011 - 12:34pm

Can Science 2.0 Help Bridge The Gap Between Climate Science And The Public?

Writing at the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang blog,  Jason Samenow advocates an idea he recently saw pitched by atmospheric scientist Alan Betts, namely that science studies be accompanied by layperson explanations. ...

Article - Hank Campbell - Jun 23 2011 - 10:25am