A national volunteer project, 4 years in the making, and now published as a peer reviewed scientific study, has discovered that the majority of the US climate monitoring network does not meet technical requirements for long term climate monitoring.

Researchers say regional surface temperatures can be affected by land use, suggesting that local and regional strategies, such as creating green spaces and buffer zones in and around urban areas, could be a tool in addressing climate change.

Most land-use changes occurring in the continental United States reduce vegetative cover and raise regional surface temperatures, says a new study by scientists at the University of Maryland, Purdue University, and the University of Colorado in Boulder.

By Patrick O'Driscoll Most of the global warm-up of the past 50 years is "very likely" the result of human activity, says a report due out today from international climatologists.

By TERENCE CHEA SAN FRANCISCO - Environmentalists sued the Bush administration Tuesday for failing to produce a report on global warming's impact on the country's environment, economy and public health.