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		<title>Earth Institute RSS Feed: Press Releases</title>
		<link>http://earth.columbia.edu/</link>
		<description>The latest press releases from the Earth Institute</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 May 2012 03:55:07 GMT</pubDate>
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			<title><![CDATA[New Grants to Extend Reach of Africa's Green Revolution]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2978]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[The push for a &amp;ldquo;Green Revolution&amp;rdquo; in African agriculture has boosted crop yields as much as three-fold and helped reduce hunger for about 20 million rural Africans. But the remarkable effort has yet to reach 250 million rural people who remain malnourished in rural Sub-Saharan regions.

Now, two new programs in Ethiopia and Tanzania will adapt modern technology such as an inn...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, May 18th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2978]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Experiments May Understate Plant Responses to Climate]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2968]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


In an effort to understand how plants around the world will act in a warming climate, researchers have relied increasingly on experiments that measure how they respond to artificial warming. But a new study says that such experiments are underestimating potential advances in the timing of flowering and leafing four to eightfold, when compared with natural observations. As a result, species c...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, May 2nd 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2968]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Do Urban 'Heat Islands' Hint at Trees of the Future?]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2967]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


City streets can be mean, but somewhere near Brooklyn, a tree grows far better than its country cousins, due to chronically elevated city heat levels, says a new study. The study, just published in the journal Tree Physiology, shows that common native red oak seedlings grow as much as eight times faster in New York&amp;rsquo;s Central Park than in more rural, cooler settings in the Hudson Va...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, Apr 24th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2967]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Top Planetary Scientist to Lead Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2961]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger and Provost John H. Coatsworth have named Sean C. Solomon, a leading geophysicist whose research has combined studies of the deep earth with missions to the moon and the solar system&amp;rsquo;s inner planets, to be director of Columbia&amp;rsquo;s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Solomon, a research scientist and director emeritus at the Carn...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Apr 4th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2961]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[First World Happiness Report Launched at the United Nations]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


The happiest countries in the world are all in Northern Europe  (Denmark, Norway, Finland, Netherlands). Their average life evaluation  score is 7.6 on a 0-to-10 scale. The least happy countries are all poor  countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (Togo, Benin, Central African Republic,  Sierra Leone) with average life evaluation scores of 3.4. But it is not  just wealth that makes people happy: Po...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, Apr 2nd 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Asthma Hot Spots Linked to Trucks, Low-Grade Heating Oil]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2958]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


According to a new study, neighborhood differences in rates of childhood asthma may be explained by local levels of soot produced by trucks and residential oil burners. The study, by public-health and air-pollution scientists at Columbia University, appears online in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology.
In New York City, where the study was conducted, asthma among...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Mar 29th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2958]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[New Study Lowers Estimate of Ancient Sea-Level Rise]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2955]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


The seas are creeping higher as the planet warms, but scientists have not yet reached a consensus about how high they may go. Projections for the year 2100 range from inches to several feet, or more. The sub-tropical islands of Bermuda and the Bahamas contain important sites where researchers have gone looking for answers. By pinpointing where shorelines stood on cliffs and reefs there durin...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Mar 14th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2955]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Ocean Acidification Rate May Be Unprecedented, Study Says]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2951]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


The world&amp;rsquo;s oceans may be turning acidic faster today from human carbon emissions than they did during four major extinctions in the last 300 million years, when natural pulses of carbon sent global temperatures soaring, says a new study in Science. The study is the first of its kind to survey the geologic record for evidence of ocean acidification over this vast time period.
&amp...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Mar 1st 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2951]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Waiting For Death Valley's Big Bang]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2944]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


In California&amp;rsquo;s Death Valley, death is looking just a bit closer. Geologists have determined that the half-mile-wide Ubehebe Crater, formed by a prehistoric volcanic explosion, was created far more recently than previously thought&amp;mdash;and that conditions for a sequel may exist today.
Up to now, geologists were vague on the age of the 600-foot deep crater, which formed when a...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, Jan 23rd 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2944]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Scientists Make Progress in Assessing Tornado Seasons]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2943]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[



Meteorologists can see a busy hurricane season brewing months ahead, but until now there has been no such crystal ball for tornadoes, which are much smaller and more volatile. This information gap took on new urgency after tornadoes in 2011 killed more than 550 people, more than in the previous 10 years combined, including a devastating outbreak in April that racked up $5 billion in insure...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Jan 19th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2943]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Cuts in Non-CO2 Pollutants May Slow Climate Change]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2936]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


A study by a large international team of scientists says that relatively cheap, simple measures to cut two common pollutants could substantially reduce global warming and improve human health and agriculture in coming decades. Instead of focusing on carbon dioxide&amp;mdash;the main culprit in climate change--they target specific ways to cut methane and soot from industrial and farming proce...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Jan 12th 2012, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2936]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[In Himalayas, Assessing Climate Threats to Ice, and Water Supply]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2932]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[In many ways, the tiny, landlocked eastern Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan sits apart from the modern world; its rugged landscapes cradle swift-flowing rivers, expansive old-growth forests and hundreds of glaciers. Combining selective modernization with ancient traditions, it is the only country that uses Gross National Happiness as a metric for success. But the world is intruding. Rapid climate chang...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Dec 21st 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2932]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Researchers Unravel Origins of Antarctica's Ice-Covered Mountains]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2918]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Buried  below more than a mile of ice, Antarctica&amp;rsquo;s Gamburtsev  Mountains have  baffled scientists since their discovery in 1958. How  did the mountains  get there, and what role did  they play in the spread  of glaciers over the continent 30 million years  ago? In the latest  study on the mountains, scientists this week in the  journal Nature say  they have pieced together the puz...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Nov 17th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2918]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[New York State May Soon Suffer Outsize Effects from Climate, Says Report]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2916]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


In the first statewide climate change outlook for New York, scientists say that the state may suffer disproportionate effects in coming decades compared with other regions, due to its geography and geology. The report paints a harsh picture, including possible extreme temperature and sea-level rises, downpours, droughts and floods. The changes are projected to affect nearly every region and ...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Nov 16th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2916]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Trees on Tundra’s Border Are Growing Faster in a Hotter Climate]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2912]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Evergreen trees at the edge of Alaska&amp;rsquo;s tundra are growing faster, suggesting that at least some forests may be adapting to a rapidly warming climate, says a new study.
While forests elsewhere are thinning from wildfires, insect damage and droughts partially attributed to global warming, some white spruce trees in the far north of Alaska have grown more vigorously in the last hund...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Nov 10th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2912]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Earth Institute Receives Funds To Scale Up Effort To Reach Millennium Development Goals]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2910]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[The Bill &amp;amp; Melinda Gates Foundation has given a $15 million five-year grant to the Earth Institute, Columbia University, to support scientific research and create science-based tools and technologies that can be used by sub-Saharan African countries and other developing nations throughout the world to alleviate poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The new grant will suppo...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, Nov 7th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2910]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Scientists Predict Faster Retreat for Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2904]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


The retreat of Antarctica&amp;rsquo;s fast-flowing Thwaites Glacier is expected to speed up within 20 years, once the glacier detaches from an underwater ridge that is currently holding it back, says a new study in Geophysical Research Letters.
Thwaites Glacier, which drains into west Antarctica&amp;rsquo;s Amundsen Sea, is being closely watched for its potential to raise global sea levels ...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Oct 26th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2904]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Scholarship Funds to Educate Girls in Africa]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2899]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


NEW YORK &amp;mdash; Renowned agronomists Pedro Sanchez and Cheryl Palm have set up a new scholarship fund for young girls throughout poor, rural parts of Africa who are hoping to attend secondary school. The husband and wife team have designated $370,000 to create the Sanchez-Palm Girls Scholarship Fund, which will directly support Connect to Learn, a project aimed at getting young girls in...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, Oct 10th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2899]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Natural Processes Can Limit Spread of Arsenic in Water, Says Study]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2900]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Many people in Bangladesh and other parts of Asia have been poisoned by drinking groundwater laced with arsenic&amp;mdash;not introduced by humans, but leached naturally from sediments, and now being tapped by shallow drinking wells. In recent years, to avoid the problem, deeper wells have been sunk 500 feet or more to purer waters&amp;mdash;but fears have remained that when deep water is pu...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, Oct 10th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2900]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[New Salt Map of Seas Gives Scientists Taste of Discoveries Ahead]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2893]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[After less than a month in operation, a new NASA satellite has produced the first map showing how saltiness varies across the surface of the world&amp;rsquo;s oceans. Salt influences how seawater and heat move around the globe and also tells oceanographers how much rain and evaporation is happening at the surface. Until now, salt measurements came only from ships, moorings and buoys floating at se...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, Oct 3rd 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2893]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Humans Shaped Stone Axes 1.8 Million Years Ago, Study Says]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2839]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[A new study suggests that Homo erectus, a precursor to modern humans, was using advanced tool-making methods in East Africa 1.8 million years ago, at least 300,000 years earlier than previously thought. The study, published this week in Nature, raises new questions about where these tall and slender early humans originated and how they developed sophisticated tool-making technology.



Homo er...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Sep 1st 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2839]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Climate Cycles Are Driving Wars, Says Study]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2842]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


In the first study of its kind, researchers have linked a natural global climate cycle to periodic increases in warfare. The arrival of El Ni&amp;ntilde;o, which every three to seven years boosts temperatures and cuts rainfall, doubles the risk of civil wars across 90 affected tropical countries, and may help account for a fifth of worldwide conflicts during the past half-century, say the au...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Aug 24th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2842]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[In a First, Scientists Successfully Forecast Undersea Eruption]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2837]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Researchers returning from a cruise  some 250 miles off the coast of Oregon have reported seeing a volcanic  eruption on the seafloor that they accurately forecast five years  ago&amp;mdash;the first successful prediction of an undersea eruption. The event  took place at Axial Seamount, one of the most active and intensely  studied undersea peaks in the world.
Bill Chadwick, an Oregon State...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, Aug 9th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2837]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Childbearing May Hinder Higher Education for Women]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2819]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


In almost every country, women with more education have fewer children. But does education reduce childbearing-- or does having children get in the way of education? A new large-scale study done in Norway has found that, at least among some women, childbearing kept women from pursuing a higher education. The findings are reported online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, Jul 5th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2819]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Ocean Currents Speed Melting of Antarctic Ice]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2815]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[Stronger ocean currents beneath West Antarctica&amp;rsquo;s Pine Island Glacier Ice Shelf are eroding the ice from below, speeding the melting of the glacier as a whole, according to a new study in Nature Geoscience. A growing cavity beneath the ice shelf has allowed more warm water to melt the ice, the researchers say&amp;mdash;a process that feeds back into the ongoing rise in global sea levels....]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Sun, Jun 26th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2815]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[New Google Ocean Maps Dive Deep]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2814]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Starting today, armchair explorers will be able to view parts of the deep ocean floors in far greater detail than ever before, thanks to a new synthesis of seafloor topography released through Google Earth. Developed by oceanographers at Columbia University&amp;rsquo;s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory from scientific data collected on research cruises, the new feature tightens resolution in ...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Jun 8th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2814]]></guid>
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		<item>
			<title><![CDATA[Cities Lead on Climate Problems, and Solutions]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2813]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


Cities are emerging as most threatened by climate change, and as the first responders to it, says a new international report. The report, led by researchers at Columbia University and the City University of New York (CUNY), is the most comprehensive study to date detailing the risks cities face, and how they are preparing for impacts such as increased heat waves, drought and rising sea level...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, Jun 1st 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2813]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Earth Institute and Merck Foundation Expand Health Program in Africa’s Millennium Villages]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2806]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[


With $1 million in renewed support from The Merck Company Foundation, the Millennium Villages project will continue to strengthen its Community Health Worker (CHW) program to address gaps in primary health care availability in sub-Saharan Africa.&amp;nbsp; Initial funding of $869,000 from The Merck Company Foundation launched the first phase of the project in 2009 by establishing a skilled g...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, May 17th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2806]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Jeffrey Sachs Extends Term as Director of Earth Institute]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2803]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[
The Earth Institute, Columbia University announced that Professor Jeffrey Sachs has agreed to extend his term as its director. Since his tenure began in 2002, Sachs has led the Earth Institute to become a leading scientific authority on sustainable development while simultaneously expanding its reach worldwide. Through his guidance, the Earth Institute and its scientists and researchers have con...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, Apr 28th 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2803]]></guid>
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			<title><![CDATA[Study Links Ozone Hole to Weather Shifts]]></title>
			<link><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2802]]></link>
			<description><![CDATA[The hole in the Earth&amp;rsquo;s ozone layer over the South Pole has affected atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere all the way to the equator, and a new study says this has led to increased rainfall in the subtropics. The study [pdf], which appears in the April 21 issue of the leading journal Science, is the first time that ozone depletion has been linked to climate change over such...]]></description>
			<pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, Apr 22nd 2011, 00:00 GMT]]></pubDate>
			<guid><![CDATA[http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2802]]></guid>
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