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Hundreds of private e-mail messages and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change. The e-mail messages, attributed to prominent American and British climate researchers, include discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments -- in some cases derisive -- about specific people known for their skeptical views. Drafts of scientific papers and a photo collage that portrays climate skeptics on an ice floe were also among the hacked data, some of which dates back 13 years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hundreds of private e-mail messages and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change. The e-mail messages, attributed to prominent American and British climate researchers, include discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments -- in some cases derisive -- about specific people known for their skeptical views. Drafts of scientific papers and a photo collage that portrays climate skeptics on an ice floe were also among the hacked data, some of which dates back 13 years. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Al Gore will return to the subject of global warming in a book to be released by Rodale, the publisher said in a news release. The book, ''Our Choice,'' will return to the milieu of Mr. Gore's 2006 best seller, ''An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It.'' In a statement, Mr. Gore said the book would offer plans for addressing the climate crisis while creating jobs and promoting economic growth that were developed through meetings he held with scientists, engineers and policy experts. Rodale said that the book would be published on Nov. 3 and would be printed on 100 percent recycled paper, with all proceeds being donated to the nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A new study finds that the strongest of hurricanes and typhoons have become even stronger over the last two and a half decades, adding grist to the contentious debate over whether global warming has already made storms more destructive. ''I think we do see a climate signal here,'' said James B. Elsner, a professor of geography at Florida State University who is the lead author of the paper, being published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author discusses steps that academics can take to reduce energy use. He recounts a visit to his school by environmentalist lecturer Al Gore and the great interest Gore inspired in green issues such as greenhouse gases and recycling. Spurred to action by the idea of preventing global climate change, the author persuaded his department at the University of Oklahoma to reduce its use of paper by using electronic substitutes more extensively. Turning off power strips and lights before leaving the office is also presented as a way of helping to stave off environmental catastrophe.

The article reports on an opinion poll related to global warming conducted by the news paper "The New York Times" and CBS News Inc. The poll reveals that most of the Americans say that global warming is having effects on the environment. Ninety percent of Democratic respondents, 80 percent of independent respondents and 60 percent of Republican respondents said immediate action was required to check global warming.