Problem with figure spanning two columns

[Nirmal Govind]

Hi.. I have a figure float in which I've checked the option to span 
columns (this is a two-column paper in the article class).. the 
placement is set to default placement. For some reason, on the page 
preceding the figure, the paragraphs have an extra lineskip between 
them... any ideas on how I can get rid of these extra lines? If I 
uncheck the span columns option, the spacing between the paragraphs 
is fine. The figure doesn't fit in one column width so I need to use 
the span columns option...

Thanks,
nirmal