Monte Morin

Talk about a red-eye flight. After attaching electronic monitors to half a dozen Alpine swifts, researchers say they were shocked to discover that migrating birds flew nonstop for 200 days.

It's a climate puzzle that has vexed scientists for more than a decade and added fuel to the arguments of those who insist man-made global warming is a myth. Since just before the start of the 21st century, the Earth's average global surface temperature has failed to rise despite soaring levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases and years of dire warnings from environmental advocates.

Arctic sea ice is shrinking at a rate much faster than scientists ever predicted and its collapse, due to global warming, may well cause extreme weather this winter in North America and Europe, scientists say.