Friday's AP Science

Lake Superior changes mystify scientists

MARQUETTE, Mich. - Deep enough to hold the combined water in all the other Great Lakes and with a surface area as large as South Carolina, Lake Superior's size has lent it an aura of invulnerability. But the mighty Superior is losing water and getting warmer, worrying those who live near its shores, scientists and companies that rely on the lake for business.

The changes to the lake could be signs of climate change, although scientists aren't sure.

Superior's level is at its lowest point in eight decades and will set a record this fall if, as expected, it dips three more inches. Meanwhile, the average water temperature has surged 4.5 degrees since 1979, significantly above the 2.7-degree rise in the region's air temperature during the same period.

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Atlantic Bird Makes Slow Resurgence

CHARLESTOWN, R.I. (AP) -- The tiny Atlantic piping plover, a federally protected bird, has given beachgoers headaches for decades. The species breeds on East Coast beaches during warm weather, which means entire stretches of shoreline can be put off limits just as people want to enjoy the coast. But today, two decades after the plover was declared a threatened species, biologists are crediting the beach closures, twine barriers and other buffers between birds and humans for a 141 percent increase in the Atlantic piping plover population.

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Bill Promotes Math, Science Programs

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress on Thursday approved broad legislation to promote math and science skills and develop the technology needed to compete in the global economy.

The House-Senate compromise combines elements of five bills already passed by the House creating programs to encourage people to study and teach math and science, support high-risk technology research and increase funds for the National Science Foundation and other science-based agencies.

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