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Earth Science
Key: Meeting Journal Funder Dissertation
Public Release: 20-Nov-2009
International expedition investigates climate change, alternative fuels in Arctic
NRL marine biogeochemistry and geology and geophysics scientists return from Arctic expedition exploring methane hydrate deposits in the Beaufort Sea and spatial variation of sediment contribution to Arctic climate change.

Contact: Daniel Parry
nrlpao@nrl.navy.mil
202-767-2541
Naval Research Laboratory

Public Release: 19-Nov-2009
Nature
Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica
A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis of ice core records suggests that Antarctic temperatures may have been up to 6°C warmer than the present day.
British Antarctic Survey

Contact: Heather Martin
hert@bas.ac.uk
44-122-322-1414
British Antarctic Survey

Public Release: 18-Nov-2009
NASA's QuikScat and Aqua providing important data on Tropical Storm Anja
Tropical Storm Anja has continued to weaken over the last 24 hours, and NASA's QuikScat satellite has confirmed that the once mighty Category 4 Cyclone is now a tropical storm in the southern Indian Ocean. Two instruments on NASA's Aqua satellite have also helped forecasters determine Anja's location and change of shape.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Cyclone Anja hits wind shear, weakens drastically
This morning, Cyclone Anja was a powerful Category 4 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Wind shear has now giving Anja a strong "punch in the gut" as the storm has weakened to a Category 1 cyclone.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Journal of Physical Chemistry A
Purdue, NASA research provides blueprint for molecular basis of global warming
A new study indicates that major chemicals most often cited as leading causes of climate change, such as carbon dioxide and methane, are outclassed in their warming potential by compounds receiving less attention.

Contact: Greg Kline
gkline@purdue.edu
765-494-8167
Purdue University

Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Nature Geoscience
Human emissions rise 2 percent despite global financial crisis
Despite the economic effects of the global financial crisis, carbon dioxide emissions from human activities rose 2 percent in 2008 to an all-time high of 1.3 tons of carbon per capita per year, according to a paper published today in Nature Geoscience.

Contact: Imogen Jubb
i.jubb@bom.gov.au
61-417-258-020
CSIRO Australia

Public Release: 17-Nov-2009
Nature Geoscience
Fossil fuel CO2 emissions up by 29 percent since 2000
The strongest evidence yet that the rise in atmospheric CO2 emissions continues to outstrip the ability of the world's natural "sinks" to absorb carbon is published this week in the journal Nature Geoscience.

Contact: Simon Dunford
s.dunford@uea.ac.uk
44-160-359-2203
University of East Anglia

Public Release: 16-Nov-2009
NASA's TRMM satellite mapped 'Ida the Low's' rainfall from space
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite known as "TRMM" has the ability to measure rainfall from space, and assessed the heavy rainfall from last week's coastal low pressure area, formerly known as "Ida" that drenched the US east coast.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 16-Nov-2009
NASA's Terra satellite spots Tropical Cyclone Anja, the first of the southern season
NASA's Terra satellite captured a stunning image of Anja, the first tropical cyclone of the southern Hemisphere cyclone season. When Anja formed on Saturday, Nov. 14, in the Southern Indian Ocean, about 330 miles south-southwest of Diego Garcia it was designated Tropical Cyclone 01S ("S" for south). By Sunday, Nov. 15, 01S had strengthened into a tropical storm and was named Anja.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 16-Nov-2009
Current Biology
Cautious conservation: How to ensure that slowing global warming will protect biodiversity
While it is clear that massive destruction of tropical rainforests poses a serious threat to the incredibly rich biodiversity found on Earth, other hazards are not so explicit. An international group of prominent scientists argue in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that the most promising new strategy to protect our planet may not live up to its full potential. The group calls for global implementation of careful and sensible protective policies.

Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press

Public Release: 15-Nov-2009
Nature Geoscience
Warmer means windier on world's biggest lake
Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren.
National Science Foundation

Contact: Ankur Desai
desai@aos.wisc.edu
608-265-9201
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Public Release: 13-Nov-2009
Cyclone Phyan raining on Tibet after breaking a record in India
Cyclone Phyan broke a 43 year record when it made landfall north of the city of Mumbai, India during the evening hours on Nov. 11. NASA's Aqua satellite captured Phyan's landfall with one instrument, and a day later, another of Aqua's instruments show the storm's remnants raining Tibet as Phyan continues to dissipate.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 13-Nov-2009
Satellite imagery confirms Ida's low is finally moving away from the east coast
Satellite imagery and weather ground station readings today along the Mid-Atlantic indicate "Ida the coastal low pressure area" is finally moving away from the US east coast.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 12-Nov-2009
Former Ida a huge rainmaker, causing flooding in the Mid-Atlantic
The GOES-12 satellite is tracking the coastal low, formerly known as Ida. It is currently quasi-stationary off the North Carolina coast, adding more rain on top of what it has already brought. The low is creating serious flooding from northeast North Carolina to coastal Virginia.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 12-Nov-2009
Ida now a coastal low assaulting the Mid-Atlantic
Ida is one stubborn girl. Her remnants have moved out to sea and reformed as a powerful coastal low pressure system that's been raining on the mid-Atlantic since Tuesday night, Nov. 10. The GOES-12 satellite showed its cloud cover stretching from North Carolina up to Maine.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 12-Nov-2009
Science
Greenland ice cap melting faster than ever
Satellite observations and a state-of-the art regional atmospheric model have independently confirmed that the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate, reports a new study in Science. This mass loss is equally distributed between increased iceberg production, driven by acceleration of Greenland's fast-flowing outlet glaciers, and increased meltwater production at the ice sheet surface.
Natural Environment Research Council

Contact: Cherry Lewis
cherry.lewis@bristol.ac.uk
44-117-928-8086
University of Bristol

Public Release: 11-Nov-2009
Nature
Earth's early ocean cooled more than a billion years earlier than thought: Stanford study
The global ocean covering the Earth 3.4 billion years ago was far cooler than has been thought, according to Stanford University researchers who analyzed isotope ratios in rocks formed on that ancient ocean floor. Instead of a hot primordial soup, much more tepid temperatures prevailed. Cooler temperatures may have had effects on the evolution of the early atmosphere and could have opened the door to an earlier spread of photosynthetic life forms across the planet.

Contact: Louis Bergeron
louisb3@stanford.edu
650-725-1944
Stanford University

Public Release: 10-Nov-2009
Geological Society of America's 2009 Annual Meeting & Exposition
Central Africa's tropical Congo Basin was arid, treeless in Late Jurassic
The lush, tropical Congo Basin was much different 150 million to 200 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed Gondwana, the single continent formed by Africa and South America. Geochemical analysis of rare ancient soils from Central Africa suggests the land was arid, with a small amount of seasonal rainfall, and few bushes or trees. There's very little data for the paleoclimate of the Late Jurassic, but it's important because climate determines plant communities.
Southern Methodist University

Contact: Kim Cobb
cobbk@mail.smu.edu
214-768-7654
Southern Methodist University

Public Release: 10-Nov-2009
NASA sees high thunderstorms in newly formed Tropical Cyclone 4A near India
Tropical Cyclone 4A formed yesterday, Nov. 10 off the western coast of India in the Arabian Sea, and NASA's infrared imagery captured some high, powerful thunderstorms developing in the storm's center.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 10-Nov-2009
Iowa State scientist develops lab machine to study glacial sliding related to rising sea levels
Neal Iverson has created a glacier in a freezer that could help scientists understand how glaciers slide across their beds. That could help researchers predict how climate change accelerates glacier sliding and contributes to rising sea levels.
National Science Foundation

Contact: Neal Iverson
niverson@iastate.edu
515-294-8048
Iowa State University

Public Release: 10-Nov-2009
GOES satellite sees bulk of Ida's clouds and rain inland while center making landfall
Tropical Storm Ida made landfall around 6:40 a.m. ET this morning on Dauphin Island, along the Alabama coastline. NASA's GOES Project created the latest image from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-12) data showed that the bulk of Ida's clouds and rain are now inland, even though Ida's center was just near the Alabama coast.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 9-Nov-2009
NASA satellites make a movie and get rainfall, wind info on Ida
NASA satellites are amazing examples of technology. The TRMM satellite peers into tropical cyclones and can tell how much rain is falling per hour and where. QuikScat uses microwave technology to measure Ida's surface wind speed. The GOES-12 satellite, operated by NOAA, produces stunning visuals that are now made into movies by NASA. Both of these satellites have provided the latest views of Tropical Storm Ida today.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 9-Nov-2009
NASA's TRMM Satellite sees most of Ida's heaviest rain stayed off coasts
NASA and the Japanese Space Agency's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite flew over Ida and captured her rainfall when she passed by Nicaragua, Honduras and Belize this weekend. TRMM data revealed that most of the heaviest rainfall totals, as much as 11 inches, were just off the coasts of those countries, even though all of those areas dealt with flooding rains.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 9-Nov-2009
NASA's GOES Project offers real-time hurricane alley movies
NASA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Project is offering real-time HDTV movies of the east- and west-coast "hurricane alley" regions. There are two types of movies for both the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. There are "Coastal" and "Global" movies.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Public Release: 9-Nov-2009
The GOES-12 satellite sees Large Hurricane Ida nearing landfall
Residents of the US Gulf coast thought they were getting a break this hurricane season until Ida showed up. Today, Nov. 9, Ida is a hurricane and is headed for a landfall in the western Florida Panhandle after midnight. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-12 captured a look at Ida's extensive clouds this morning, and they stretch from Florida's west coast to eastern Texas.
NASA

Contact: Rob Gutro
Robert.J.Gutro@nasa.gov
301-286-4044
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center