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Addressing the Kavli Prize Science Forum: 2010, Norway's foreign minister highlights the impact of global climate change on the Arctic region, and the need for scientific guidance as nations respond to receding Arctic sea ice. Along with the prepared remarks, the address is now available as a slide show and audio presentation at: http://www.kavlifoundation.org/2010-kavli-prize-science-forum-jonas-store-opening-address

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Some middle school students will get a unique perspective on research conducted more than 9,000 miles away by a team that includes a veteran of Antarctic expeditions. A five-member team from North Dakota State University’s Department of Geosciences heads to Antarctica this October to conduct research on Antarctica’s climate history. The team, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation, includes Allan Ashworth, distinguished professor of geosciences; Adam Lewis, assistant professor of geosciences; geology undergraduate students Michael Ginsbach and Chad Crotty, and Alex Smith, graduate student in environmental and conservation sciences.

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Researchers looking at corals in the western tropical Pacific Ocean have found records linking a profound shift in the depth of the division between warm surface water and colder, deeper water traceable to recent global warming.

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Changes in population growth and composition, including aging and urbanization, could significantly affect global emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 40 years, according to a new study in PNAS out next week.

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Hopes that coral reefs might be able to survive, and recover from, bleaching caused by climate change may have grown dimmer for certain coral species, according to new research by University at Buffalo marine biologists published this week in PLoS One.

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New research adds to growing evidence that, even though the temperature increase associated with a warming climate has been smaller in the tropics, the impact of warming on life could be much greater there than in colder climates.

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As the century warms, tropical forests will be at risk from many threats, especially conversion to cropland to sustain the population. A new report shows that crop productivity improvements and carbon emission limits together could prevent widespread tropical deforestation over the next 100 years.

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What does it take to save a species in the 21st century? The specter of climate change, with predicted losses to biodiversity as high as 35 percent, has some scientists and managers considering taking their conservation strategies on the road.

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At the 2010 Kavli Prize Science Forum, John Holdren, Science Advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama, detailed the need and efforts to mitigate "global climate disruption." The complete presentation, as well as a transcript of the address, is available at www.kavlifoundation.org.

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A Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) study on nesting birds in Argentina finds that increasing temperatures and rainfall—both side effects of climate change in some parts of the world—could be bad for birds of South America, but great for some of their parasites which thrive in warmer and wetter conditions.

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Rising CO2 levels in atmosphere contribute to lower ocean pH levels, which interfere with development of shellfish larvae.

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The Mathematics and Climate Change Network is led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with the UNC Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) providing logistical support and cyber tools to support the creation of a virtual organization spanning the United States. The foundation is providing $1 million annually for five years to support the project.

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A new project funded by the National Science Foundation links researchers at leading U.S. universities to study the mathematical problems related to climate change research.

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The nearly $3.6 million in Interior Department funding announced today will ramp up efforts already underway at three Pacific Northwest universities to help resource managers tailor the latest climate change findings to forests, waterways, parks and other lands where they work.

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New research shows a mid-20th century pause in global warming in the Northern Hemisphere might have resulted from an abrupt cooling event centered over the North Atlantic around 1970.

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How could climate change and our response to it affect the Great Lakes' water quality? That's the primary question a team of 27 researchers from across the University of Michigan and collaborators at other institutions will answer with a new $5-million grant from the National Science Foundation.

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More than 220 international scientists will meet at a conference in Adelaide, Australia next week (19-24 September) to discuss the biology of plant membranes, an understanding of which is crucial to developing crops that will feed us into the future.

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A newly formed partnership will enable Kansas State University to help rural communities identify ways to adjust to future climate scenarios that may affect their families and livelihoods.

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Using data from several research satellites, scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville will spend the next three years trying to understand the climate impacts of about 770 million tons of dust carried into the atmosphere every year from the Sahara.

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The existing and potential benefits of clean energy to the upstate region will be touted in a half-day program hosted by Ithaca College. “The Clean Energy Summit: Re-Imagining Upstate New York’s Energy Future” is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 17, in the Ithaca College Campus Center.

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August 2010 was the second hottest August in the 32-year satellite dataset, with a global temperature that was only 0.01 C cooler than the record set in August 1998. That difference is within the error range, so the two months might as well be tied for the hottest August in 32 years.

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A white paper on California’s Proposition 23 finds the initiative would create legal turmoil, cut state revenue, and jeopardize clean energy jobs. Prop. 23 would also slow state efforts to reduce climate change and could have a domino effect nationwide.

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What is Agriculture’s role in greenhouse gas emissions, capture?

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Scientists in the United Kingdom are reporting potential new uses for an unusual substance known as “dry water,” which resembles powdered sugar. The powder could provide a convenient and efficient way to absorb and store carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, the scientists said. Their study is scheduled for presentation in August at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Boston.

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Mount Holyoke's Al Werner leads undergraduates on a climate change research trip to Svalbard, Norway--and the results are chilling.

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In response to doubts about the causes and potential extent of global climate change, a panel of four climate experts will review the current state of climate science and discuss observed and predicted changes. The special forum, which will include conclusions from recent national and international climate change reports, will be part of the American Chemical Society’s 240th National Meeting & Exposition in Boston. The event takes place on Aug. 23.

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Buried in mountains of meteorological and hydrological data are likely clues that could help in predicting floods, hurricanes and other extreme weather events.

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Scientists can now study climate change in far more detail with powerful new computer software released by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The Community Earth System Model (CESM) will be one of the primary climate models used for the next assessment by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

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While Arctic sea ice has been diminishing in recent decades, the Antarctic sea ice extent has been increasing slightly. Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology provide an explanation for the seeming paradox of increasing Antarctic sea ice in a warming climate.

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"Heat waves are a growing concern and current climate models indicate they will increase in duration and intensity especially in the mid-latitudes of which Indiana and the Midwest is a part," says climate researcher and IUPUI Professor Daniel Johnson. "Heat waves are known to kill hundreds of people in the United States every year and are the leading cause of weather-related fatalities; usually outstripping the combined effects of hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning and flash floods. "

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As much as 12 percent of the world’s human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset by producing the charcoal-like substance biochar, concludes a study published in the journal Nature Communications

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Glaciologists who drilled through an ice cap perched precariously on the edge of a 16,000-foot-high Indonesian mountain ridge say that the ice field could vanish within in the next few years, another victim of global climate change.

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Web-based tool helps farmers reduce greenhouse gas losses and gain economic advantage.

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A University of Delaware researcher reports that an “ice island” four times the size of Manhattan has calved from Greenland's Petermann Glacier. The last time the Arctic lost such a large chunk of ice was in 1962.

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In trying to predict how species will respond to climate change caused by global warming, researchers and scientists are turning to comparative physiology, a sub-discipline of physiology that studies how different organisms function and adapt to diverse and changing environments. By comparing different species to each other, as well as to members within a species that live in different environments, researchers are learning which physiologic features establish environmental optima and tolerance limits. This approach gives the scientific community a “crystal ball” for predicting the effects of global warming, according to George N. Somero, Associate Director of Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station.

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With global warming and climate change making headlines nearly every day, it could be reassuring to know that some creatures might cope by gradually moving to new areas as their current ones become less hospitable. Nevertheless, natural relocation of species is not something that can be taken for granted, according to Jessica Hellmann, Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame Department of Biological Science in Notre Dame, Ind. By studying two species of butterfly, she and her team have found evidence suggesting that a number of genetic variables affect whether and how well a species will relocate.

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It has been widely reported that the build up of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air, which is caused by human behavior, will likely lead to climate change and have major implications for life on earth. But less focus has been given to global warming’s evil twin, ocean acidification, which occurs when CO2 lowers the pH of water bodies, thus making them more acidic. This lesser known phenomenon may have catastrophic effects on all sea life.

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Human impact is causing lower oxygen and higher carbon dioxide levels in coastal water bodies. Increased levels of carbon dioxide cause the water to become more acidic, having dramatic effects on the lifestyles of the wildlife that call these regions home. The problems are expected to worsen if steps aren’t taken to reduce greenhouse emissions and minimize nutrient-rich run-off from developed areas along our coastlines.

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In 2003, a massive heat wave struck and killed some 30,000 people in Europe in an area where heat was not considered a major threat. Similar mass die-offs occur in wild birds and some mammals during heat waves, but unlike humans, birds may not be able to take shelter or find fresh water in order to survive devastating heat. What is the outlook for desert bird communities in light of expected global temperature increases on Earth?

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Average temperatures for the globe, as well as the northern and southern hemispheres, went up in July despite the continued cooling of the El Nino Pacific Ocean warming event and the apparent transition to a La Nina Pacific Ocean cooling event.

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Researchers at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, Pa., are working to isolate the bacterial pathogen Xylella fastidiosa, a bacterial pathogen causing the early demise of some campus oak trees. They will then study how climate change affects the progression of the disease it causes, which is known as leaf scorch.

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A climate-change study at Sandia National Laboratories that models the near-term effects of declining rainfall in each of the 48 U.S. continental states makes clear the economic toll that could occur unless an appropriate amount of initial investment — a kind of upfront insurance payment — is made to forestall much larger economic problems down the road.

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U.S. military operations to protect oil imports coming from the Middle East are creating larger amounts of greenhouse gas emissions than once thought, new research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln shows.

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If a new hi-tech “smart" metal could help cool your home 175 percent more efficiently, imagine the effect on your electric bills. University of Maryland researchers are testing a "thermally elastic" metal alloy for use in advanced refrigeration and a/c systems. The technology promises far greater efficiency and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

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Choices made now about carbon dioxide emissions reductions will affect climate change far into the future.

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In a pioneering use of computed tomography (CT) scans, scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have discovered that carbon dioxide (CO2)-induced global warming is in the process of killing off a major coral species in the Red Sea.

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Decision-makers and senior experts on disaster-risk management met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to focus on Africa's use of space-based applications and solutions.

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Indian Ocean sea levels are rising unevenly and threatening residents in some densely populated coastal areas and islands, a new study concludes. The study, published in Nature Geoscience, finds that the sea level rise is at least partly a result of climate change.

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Researchers have demonstrated a relatively simple regeneration technique that could utilize waste steam to remove carbon dioxide from solid amine materials used to capture the greenhouse gas from the flue gases of coal-burning facilities. This steam-stripping technique could produce concentrated carbon dioxide ready for sequestration.

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Global average temperatures through the first six months of 2010 continue to not set records. June 2010 was the second warmest June in the 32-year satellite temperature record and the first six months of 2010 were also the second warmest on record.