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Last year was the hottest on record, or the second hottest, depending on the records climatologists look at. The planet has warmed .8 degrees C over the past 150 years, and scientists are generally agreed that greenhouse gases have played a major part in that warming. They also agree that the warming will continue in the decades to come. Many experts are concerned that warming may make two unpleasant things more common: extinctions and diseases. In tomorrow's issue of Nature (link to come here), a team of scientists report on a case that ties these two dangers together: frogs have...

A Case of the Vapors By Vincent Gray Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, a fact which is agreed by all climate scientists, but is concealed or covered up by politicians, environmentalists, journalists and scientists alike. It is difficult to give a figure on how important water vapor is, since the infra red absorption spectrum of water vapor overlaps that of carbon dioxide. Published figures range from estimates of between 60% and 90% of the total greenhouse effect coming from water vapor. Apart from its role as vapor, water has a large influence on the climate from its...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 September 21 Moonset, Planet Earth Credit: STS-35 Crew, NASA Explanation: During the Astro-1 astronomy mission of December, 1990, Space Shuttle astronauts photographed this stunning view of the setting full moon poised above the Earth's limb. In the foreground, towering clouds of condensing water vapor mark the extent of the troposphere, the lowest layer of the planet's life-sustaining atmosphere. Strongly scattering blue sunlight, the upper atmospheric layer, the...