Climate Central: With the federal government shut down for the first time in 17 years, many of the nation's weather forecasters remain at work, but longer-term climate research is taking a hit. According to Commerce Department documents, 6,601 of the 12,001 employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) -- or 55 percent of the agency's workforce -- have been sent home without pay. That leaves 5,400 "excepted' from the shutdown, mainly because they are needed for the protection of life and...