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Red Knots Added to Threatened Species List Due to Climate Change

In December, the red knot was added to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s list of endangered and threatened wildlife, making it the first bird whose listing identifies climate change as a principal threat to its survival. In the past 30 years, the small shorebird’s population has declined by more than 75 percent, from almost 150,000 to possibly below 30,000.

7 Jan 2015

Exelis Awarded $3.5 Million NASA Contract to Support Research on Climate Change

Exelis has won a $3.5 million NASA contract that supports research to improve understanding of climate change by tracking how weather systems transport carbon dioxide, methane and other gases in the atmosphere.

6 Jan 2015

Tiny Creature Lives in Both Methane Seep and Non-Seep Habitats

You might have this past summer. That's when the national news media featured stories about a recent discovery of hundreds of methane seeps -- where methane gas bubbles up from the sea floor -- in the North Atlantic Ocean. The discussion about this scientific find typically turned to important questions about the methane's impact on climate change, but there is another interesting question about methane seeps.

6 Jan 2015

Certain Man-Made Emissions Can Transform Naturally Occurring Emissions from Trees into Organic Aerosols

The southeastern United States is a natural laboratory for scientists studying how chemicals emitted by human activities and trees interact with each other and affect air quality and climate.

26 Dec 2014

Some Plant Species Can Quickly Shape-Shift to Cope with Climate Change

Researchers have found that a Rocky Mountain mustard plant alters its physical appearance and flowering time in response to different environmental conditions, suggesting some species can quickly shape-shift to cope with climate change without having to migrate or evolve.

23 Dec 2014

Climate Change and Fishing Impact Distribution of Fish in Northeast U.S. Waters

Scientists studying the distribution of four commercial and recreational fish stocks in Northeast U.S. waters have found that climate change can have major impacts on the distribution of fish, but the effects of fishing can be just as important and occur on a more immediate time scale.

23 Dec 2014

Strong Pacific Trade Winds May Be Helping Prevent Rise in Global Temperatures

New research indicates that shifts in Pacific trade winds played a key role in twentieth century climate variation, a sign that they may again be influencing global temperatures.

23 Dec 2014

Major Transformations of Global Agriculture Systems Needed to Address Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change impacts will require major but very uncertain transformations of global agriculture systems by mid-century, according to new research from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

19 Dec 2014

Majority of U.S. Coastal Areas Likely to Face Nuisance Flooding in Excess of 30 Days per Year

By 2050, a majority of U.S. coastal areas are likely to be threatened by 30 or more days of flooding each year due to dramatically accelerating impacts from sea level rise, according to a new NOAA study, published today in the American Geophysical Union's online peer-reviewed journal Earth's Future.

19 Dec 2014

Rayleigh Jet Technique Proves to be Best for Marine Cloud Brightening

Marine Cloud Brightening is a reversible geoengineering method proposed to mitigate rising global temperatures. It relies on propelling a fine mist of salt particles high into the atmosphere to increase the albedo of clouds - the amount of sunlight they reflect back into space. This would then reduce temperatures on the surface, as less sunlight reaches the Earth.

18 Dec 2014