Audio Slideshow: Kenya's Drought
August 31, 2009Land that was once pasture is turning to desert, tens of thousands of animals have died, and the UN has warned that nearly four million people need help. (BBC News) more...
Watch: Behind the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
August 31, 2009Explore how hurricanes are measured using the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. (Discovery News) more...
Mysterious Weather Pulses Help Predict Hurricanes
August 31, 2009A mysterious weather pattern over the Indian Ocean may help hurricane prediction. (Discovery News) more...
Coldest, Driest, Calmest Place on Earth Found
August 31, 2009The search for the best observatory site in the world has lead to the discovery of what is thought to be the coldest, driest, calmest place on Earth — a place where no human is thought to have ever set foot. (Live Science) more...
Watch: Climate Change's Impact on Your Region
August 29, 2009Climate scientist Gerald Meehl explains how the latest findings affect you. (ABC News Now) more...
Watch: Fish Can't Survive in 'Fishing Dead Zone'
August 29, 2009A lack of oxygen in Gulf waters makes the world's largest "fishing dead zone." (ABC News) more...
Summer Bloom in the Barents Sea
August 28, 2009In the chilly waters of the Barents Sea in mid-August, the ocean switched on its carbon dioxide vacuum as it often does, creating a giant bloom of single-celled, plant-like organisms called phytoplankton. (Live Science) more...
Ocean 'Deserts' Becoming More Lifeless
August 27, 2009Ocean "deserts" — where tiny amounts of life subsist on a scant trickle of nutrients — have gotten more extreme in the last 10 years, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
'Nowcasts' Give Thunderstorm Early Warning
August 26, 2009A new system for predicting where thunderstorms will go next will soon be in use in Australia, after outperforming existing methods. (New Scientist) more...
Climate Tipping Point Defined for U.S. Crop Yields
August 26, 2009Researchers used a high-resolution dataset of weather patterns from 1950 to 2005 to discover how yields of three key U.S. crops would respond to increasing temperatures. (New Scientist) more...
Warming Oceans May Shift Earth's Pole
August 24, 2009Human-induced warming of the oceans could shift Earth's axis up to 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) by the end of the century, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
Alaska's Oceans Turning Acidic
August 24, 2009A marine scientist says that Alaska's marine waters are turning acidic from absorbing greenhouse gases faster than tropical waters. (Discovery News) more...
Upwards Lightning Caught on Film
August 23, 2009Scientists have photographed "upwards lightning," a rarely-seen phenomenon where electricity from storms flows into the upper atmosphere. (BBC News) more...
Upwards Lightning Caught on Film
August 23, 2009Scientists have photographed "upwards lightning," a rarely-seen phenomenon where electricity from storms flows into the upper atmosphere. (BBC News) more...
Australians 'Need More Seasons'
August 22, 2009An Australian scientist says the continent needs five or six seasons to suit its climate. (BBC News) more...
Climate Change Means More Heavy Rain
August 21, 2009Climate change will lead to an increase in heavy rainfall events across most of the world, according to a new study. (USA Today) more...
World's Oceans Set Temperature Record
August 20, 2009July marked the hottest the world's oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping, and meteorologists said a combination of forces are at work: A natural El Nino system on top of worsening man-made global warming and a dash of random weather variations. (Associated Press/Discovery News) more...
Slide Show: Coastlines under Threat
August 20, 2009As hurricane season begins, we take a look at the tough questions facing the U.S. regarding our coastlines -- where should we attempt intervention and where should we let nature take its course. (Discovery Earth)
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Plastics Decompose in Ocean
August 20, 2009The decomposition of plastic in the ocean, caused by exposure to rain, sun and other environmental factors, happens with surprising speed, a new study suggests. (Live Science) more...
Ink Found in Jurassic-Era Squid
August 19, 2009Paleontologists have extracted ink from a preserved fossilized squid uncovered during a dig in England -- and drew to tell about it. (BBC News) more...
Methane Seeps from Arctic Sea Bed
August 18, 2009Scientists say that the powerful greenhouse gas methane is escaping from the sea bed off Norway as the ice it is trapped in melts. (BBC News) more...
Watch: Hurricane-Prone Coastlines
August 17, 2009Hurricanes can do a lot of damage, but can they do any good? (Discovery News) more...
Next-Gen Storm Trackers Open Window on Hurricane Bill
August 17, 2009Amateur meteorologists now have a host of options to track developing storms, from Twitter feeds to Facebook status updates. (Christian Science Monitor Horizons Blog) more...
Wheat Gets Worse as CO2 Rises
August 17, 2009We might grow more crops thanks to all the CO2 we're pumping into the atmosphere – but they'll be poorer quality and not as good for us. (New Scientist) more...
Air Pollution Travels, Kills Thousands Annually
August 14, 2009Particulate pollution born overseas that floats into Canada, Mexico and the United States accounts for 6,600 premature deaths each year, a team of researchers found. (Discovery News) more...
Wobbling Earth Triggers Climate Change
August 14, 2009Regular wobbles in the Earth's tilt were responsible for the global warming episodes that interspersed prehistoric ice ages, according to new evidence. (Discovery News) more...
NASA Drops Probes into Volatile Volcano
August 14, 2009High-tech sensor pods were recently air lifted into the mouth of a volcano to monitor hot spots and provide early warning if the peak starts to blow. (Live Science) more...
Ocean Temperatures are Highest on Record
August 14, 2009The average sea surface temperature was 1.06 degrees higher than the 20th-century average of 61.5 degrees. (The New York Times) more...
China: Air Pollution Changes Rainfall Patterns
August 14, 2009Air pollution in eastern China is altering rainfall patterns there, resulting in fewer days of light rain, American and Chinese researchers reported. (The New York Times) more...
Antarctic Glacier Thinning Fast
August 13, 2009One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is thinning four times faster than it was ten years ago, according to research seen by the BBC. (BBC News) more...
Many Hurricanes in Modern Times
August 13, 2009Hurricanes in the Atlantic are more frequent than at any time in the last 1,000 years, according to research just published in the journal Nature. (BBC News) more...
Ozone is a Long-Range Killer
August 13, 2009More than 20,000 lives a year could be saved if major industrial regions cut their emissions of ozone-triggering gases by a fifth, a new study found. (New Scientist) more...
Climate Controls Mountain Heights
August 12, 2009From the highest peaks of the Himalayas to the flat-topped rises found in Canada, the height of Earth’s mountains may be controlled more by climate-influenced glaciers than the tectonic uplift of Earth's surface, a new study finds. (Live Science) more...
Recent Hurricanes Not Matched Since Middle Ages
August 12, 2009The past decade has been the most intense period of hurricane activity since the medieval ages, according to a new study that found that conditions were ideal for hurricanes about 1,000 years ago. (National Public Radio) more...
Earth Science from the Sky: The Next Generation
August 12, 2009NASA's new program prepares young Earth scientists to tackle tough environmental issues -- in an airplane laboratory, students study everything from the growth of unusual algae blooms to the methane from a dairy cow's burp. (National Public Radio) more...
Acid in the Oceans: A Growing Threat to Sea Life
August 12, 2009Carbon dioxide isn't just affecting our climate, it is also increasing the acidity of our seas, and scientists worry that corrosive conditions will harm marine life, and could change our oceans in ways they're just now starting to understand. (National Public Radio) more...
'Spiderbots' Talk Amongst Themselves Inside Active Volcano
August 11, 2009A squadron of 'spiderbots' inside Mount St. Helens is the first network of volcano sensors that can automatically communicate with each other and with satellites, rather than sending data to a base station first. (New Scientist) more...
Satellites Track, Improve French Wine Crop
August 11, 2009French winegrowers are reaping the benefits of satellite imagery to improve their grape harvests, in a fusion of cutting-edge technology and the ancient art of winemaking. (Discovery News) more...
Earth Hums, and it's "Loudest" in Europe, Americas
August 10, 2009Earlier studies had recorded an increase in the hum's intensity when storm-generated waves hit coasts, but no one had pinpointed the exact coasts involved until a new study that found it's the west coasts of Europe and parts of the Americas that are the main sources of the sound. (National Geographic News) more...
Freak Wave 'Hot Spots' Identified
August 9, 2009A computer simulation developed by oceanographers in the United States could help locate where and when "rogue" monster waves, which present a major risk to ships and offshore platforms, are most likely to occur. (BBC News) more...
Vast Expanses of Arctic Melt in Summer
August 9, 2009The Arctic Ocean has given up tens of thousands more square miles of ice in a relentless summer of melt, with scientists watching through satellite eyes for a possible record low polar ice cap. (Associated Press/CBS News) more...
Climate Fixes 'Pose Drought Risk'
August 7, 2009The use of geo-engineering to slow global warming may increase the risk of drought, according to a new study. (BBC News) more...
Wildfires May Impact Air Quality, Damage Lungs
August 7, 2009As the climate gets warmer and dryer, forest fires will become as much as three times more common in parts of the American West, and as a result, air quality will suffer and so will our ability to breathe, found a new study. (Discovery News) more...
In Quest for Efficiency and Conservation, NASA Turns Technology Earthward
August 7, 2009NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory's latest mission is a bit closer to home: helping Los Angeles save water and energy while cutting the sprawling metropolis’s greenhouse gas emissions. (The New York Times, Green Inc.) more...
Ganges Delta: Gorgeous, Wild and Deadly
August 7, 2009Satellites have captured a snapshot of the Ganges delta, the world’s largest river delta and one of the most geographically turbulent spots in the world. (Live Science) more...
Water Triggers New Zealand Quakes
August 6, 2009Researchers say the accumulation of water deep beneath earthquake zones in New Zealand is contributing to its shaky reputation. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Hurricane Season 2009: Where Are All the Storms?
August 6, 2009Before the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season kicked off on June 1, forecasters were calling for 12 named storms, with about half developing into hurricanes, but now about two months into the season, zero storms have formed in the Atlantic. (National Geographic News) more...
Before-And-After Photos: Vast Aral Sea Vanishing
August 6, 2009From 2006 through 2009, Central Asia's vast Aral Sea dramatically retreated, with its eastern section losing about 80 percent of its water in just four years. (National Geographic News) more...
Arctic Ocean May be Polluted Soup by 2070
August 6, 2009Without drastic cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions, the Transpolar Drift, one of the Arctic's most powerful currents and a key disperser of pollutants, is likely to disappear because of global warming. (New Scientist) more...
Water Atlas a 'Crystal Ball' for Rainfall
August 4, 2009Combining global rainfall projections and 20 computer models, researchers have created the world's first visual atlas of global rainfall projections over the next century. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Seismic Boom: Breaking the Quake Barrier
August 4, 2009Supershear earthquakes are the fastest thing underground -- and they tear along hidden "superhighways" in areas previously not considered at risk . (New Scientist) more...
Tracking Alien Species with Smart Phones
August 3, 2009New smart-phone applications may enable the public to help scientists monitor invasive species and collect data in a fraction of the time it normally takes. (National Geographic News) more...