30-Year Low For Northern Hemisphere Tropical Cyclone Activity

The past two years have seen a "remarkable" downturn in hurricane activity, contradicting predictions of more storms, researchers at Florida State University say. The 2007 and 2008 hurricane seasons had the least tropical activity in the Northern Hemisphere in 30 years... Read more »

Hurricane Season Ending After Record Damage In US

The Atlantic hurricane season in 2008 is coming to a close after producing 16 storms, including eight hurricanes, and inflicting record damage in the United States, a report by university researchers said on Wednesday. The storm activity was "well above-average" overall and "very active" in terms of storms making US landfall... Read more »

Current Warming Sharpest Climate Change In 5,000 Years

Research on Arctic and North Atlantic ecosystems shows the recent warming trend counts as the most dramatic climate change since the onset of human civilization 5,000 years ago, according to studies published Thursday. Read more »

Extreme Weather Postpones Flowering Time Of Plants

Extreme weather events have a greater effect on flora than previously presumed. A one-month drought postpones the time of flowering of grassland and heathland plants in Central Europe by an average of 4 days. With this a so-called 100-year drought event equates to approx. a decade of global warming. Read more »

Study Probes Clouds' Climate Role

The clouds, some of which are bigger than the US, reflect sunlight back into space and cool the ocean below. Read more »

Antarctic Flights Could Help Reveal What Drives Climate Change

A team of scientists will use a World War II-era plane to explore one of the last uncharted regions of Earth, in hopes of learning more about climate change. The first flights will take off from Casey Station and will survey an area that may have ice up to 3 miles thick. Read more »

NOAA and NSF Commission National Study of Ocean Acidification

The first comprehensive national study of how carbon dioxide emissions absorbed into the oceans may be altering fisheries, marine mammals, coral reefs, and other natural resources has been commissioned by NOAA and the National Science Foundation. Read more »

Satellites Collect Data on Sea Temperatures, Reefs

Satellites are helping scientists expand a virtual network to watch for increases in ocean temperatures that can damage or kill the fragile ecosystems of coral reefs worldwide. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday its Coral Reef Watch network has been... Read more »

Tropical Species Also Threatened By Climate Change

If you can't stand global warming, get out of the tropics. While the most significant harm from climate change so far has been in the polar regions, tropical plants and animals may face an even greater threat, say scientists who studied conditions in Costa Rica. Read more »

Eat Kangaroo to Help Combat Climate Change: Ross Garnaut

Professor Ross Garnaut has suggested in his final report on climate change that the nation's farmers should switch to the low-emission meat. He also suggests Australian families should give up beef and eat more kangaroo. "Sheep and cattle production is highly vulnerable to... Read more »

Wisconsin and Germany Join Forces to Fight Global Warming

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and German officials say they will work together to reduce the causes of global warming.Doyle's office issued the statement on Tuesday. The governor is in Berlin attending a conference on trans-Atlantic climate and energy cooperation. Read more »

Colorful Study Probes Climate Change, Fall Foliage

Could climate change dull the blazing palette of New England's fall foliage? The answer could have serious implications for one of the region's signature attractions, which draws thousands of "leaf peepers" every autumn. Read more »

Study Looks at Beetles' Effect on Weather

Can a plague of beetles change the weather? That's one question researchers hope to answer in a four-year research program in Western forests that are being infested by pine mountain beetles, leading to the deaths of great swathes of trees. Read more »

AP: At Top of Greenland, New Worrisome Cracks In Ice

In northern Greenland, a part of the Arctic that had seemed immune from global warming, new satellite images show a growing giant crack and an 11-square-mile chunk of ice hemorrhaging off a major glacier, scientists said Thursday. Read more »

Climate Change Debate Coins New Jargon

To understand the climate-change debate, it helps to understand the jargon, a mixture of diplomatese, pundit-speak and techno-talk. Here are some terms used at meetings on global warming. Read more »

2006-2007 "Climatological Winter" Summary

Overall...Warmer and drier than normal conditions prevailed through the three month period (December - February)...But with a considerable and distinct drop in daily average temperatures noted in the second half. Read more »

CBS 3 Springfield Weather - Climate Center