The North Pacific became more stratified during the last ice age, explaining reduced productivity then and perhaps the observed low 1003glacial CO2 levels.

Satellite measurements of the global distribution of methane, an important greenhouse gas, show that tropical rainforests are a surprisingly large source of emissions.

Fossils from shallow marine rocks in China imply that lichens, the symbiotic association between fungi and algae or bacteria, had arisen by 600 million years ago.