Study: Tropical rain band shifting north

Earth's most prominent rain band, near the equator, has been moving north at an average rate of almost a mile a year for three centuries, likely because of a warming world, scientists say.

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EPA to Kansas: Start over on coal plant proposal. A federal official has told Kansas to start over its review process for a proposed coal-fired electric plant in southwest Kansas that Governor Mark Parkinson had endorsed. [News Source]

North Dakota co-op to get $100M to research CO2 reduction. A North Dakota utility cooperative will receive up to $100 million in federal stimulus funds for research into an experimental process to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday. [News Source]

Plant life saved the Earth from an icy fate. We owe our very existence to plants, which – thanks to their relationship with CO2 – have prevented the Earth from freezing over [News Source]

Abnormal nitrogen. Nitrate concentrations in Greenland ice have almost doubled since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, according to scientists. The rise in nitrate is accompanied by a sharp drop in the isotopic signature of the nitrogen just as greenhouse gas concentrations were starting to rise in response to the widespread burning of fossil fuels. [News Source]

ASU seeks funding to become green-energy powerhouse. An ASU Polytechnic lab is just one corner of a booming field of alternative-energy research at ASU that includes more than 14 research centers studying biofuels, solar power, efficient electricity grids and other technologies for a "post-petroleum world." [News Source]

Government’s ‘green guru’ suggests 19 ways to save the planet. The Sustainable Development Commission, headed by Sir Jonathan Porritt, said the Government has failed to meet a range of targets on green living. [News Source]

American chestnut’s revival may combat climate change. The American chestnut tree, which towered over eastern U.S. forests before succumbing to a deadly fungus in the early 20th century, appears to be an excellent sponge for greenhouse gases, according to a new study. [News Source]

Sinking finances throw Iceland’s ‘hydrogen-based economy’ into the freezer. The financial crisis that brought Iceland to the brink of bankruptcy has postponed this volcanic island's ambitious dream of ditching fossil fuels and transforming itself into the world's first hydrogen-based economy. [News Source]

Exit obstructed. Natural barriers could stop African birds winging it away from climate change. A new large-scale study finds that features such as rough mountain terrain and the borderlines between grassland and jungle are more important than temperature in limiting species' ranges. [News Source]

Earth faces ‘Waterworld’ as global warming ‘lasts centuries.’ Even if greenhouse gas emissions stopped tomorrow the oceans will continue to swell as they warm and as glaciers or ice sheets slide into the sea, according to experts. [News Source]