New View of Earth
May 31 — Mars Global Surveyor captures first photo from the perspective of another planet showing Earth as more than a point of light. (Science News)

Hard-to-forecast Atlantic System Causing Colder Temps
May 30 — If you want to lay blame for the groan-inducing weather that's been lingering over the Northeast, point your finger towards a highly variable weather pattern known as the North Atlantic Oscillation. (Newsday)

NASA: Coastal Cities Affect Climate, Generate Rainfall
May 29 — A NASA study of Houston's climate using the agency's unique rain-measuring satellite suggests that large coastal cities, because of increased heat radiating from all the extra concrete, generate extra rainfall for themselves and downwind areas. (AP, Scripps Howard News Service, LA Times)

Cities and Fields Make the World Seem Warmer
May 29 — Cities and agriculture make global warming difficult to assess, warns a new report. (Nature)

NASA Observations Improve Hurricane Forecasts
May 28 — With hurricane season approaching, scientists find that NASA observations can improve predictions of both the direction and strength of hurricanes. (SpaceDaily)

Death Toll from Heatwave in Southern India Reaches 430
May 27 — At least 430 people have died from sunstroke and heat exhaustion in the southern Indian State of Andhra Pradesh in the past 11 days, officials said Tuesday. (TerraDaily)

Strong Earthquakes Jolt Indonesian Island, Kill One
May 27 — A child was killed, seven people were injured and some 200 houses were damaged after two earthquakes hit an eastern Indonesian island within four hours of each other early Tuesday, the meteorology office said. (TerraDaily)

Sri Lanka Fears 200 Deaths from Floods and Mudslides
May 19 — Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe Monday appealed for unity after weekend flooding and mudslides left hundreds of thousands homeless and is feared to have killed more than 200. (TerraDaily)

2003 Hurricane Season Likely More Active than Usual: Forecasters
May 19 — The 2003 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be especially active, US weather forecasters announced Monday, with as many as nine hurricanes anticipated over the five month-long period. (CNN, TerraDaily)

GPS Satellite Receivers Found to Be New Tool for Earthquake Studies
May 19 — A serendipitous discovery by a University of Colorado at Boulder-led team has shown for the first time that satellite signals from the Global Positioning System are a valuable new tool for studying earthquakes. (SpaceDaily)

Satellite & Balloon Climate Data Corroborates Slower Warming
May 19 — A detailed comparison of atmospheric temperature data gathered by satellites with widely-used data gathered by weather balloons corroborates both the accuracy of the satellite data and the rate of global warming seen in that data. (SpaceDaily)

Going Deep
May 15 — A planetary scientist outlines a plan to probe Earth's middle by using a nuclear bomb to crack Earth's crust and sending in a grapefruit sized probe. (ABC News)

Black Soot Increases Global Warming
May 15 — Black carbon particles of soot are more plentiful in the world's atmosphere and contribute more to climate change than was previously assumed by the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC), a team of university and government researchers has found. (Environment News Service, LA Times)

Dust from China Settling in Alps
May 15 — Dust from China has ridden the wind nearly around the world, settling in the Alps in Europe, according to research made public Thursday. (AP, CNN)

Should Memphis Build for California Style Earthquakes?
May 14 — The federal government is urging Memphis and other parts of the Midwest to adopt a new building code that would make buildings as earthquake resistant as those in southern California, where shaking is much more likely to seriously damage a building. (SpaceDaily)

Global Warming's Local Crop Impacts Forecast
May 14 — A new technique that can estimate local weather patterns 50 years from now could help poorer countries to prepare for shifts in agricultural productivity. (Nature)

Study: Pollution Hides Layers of Clean Air
May 13 — Smoggy skies can sometimes hide strange layers of super-clean air, say scientists who have discovered what they call "clean air slots" over smoky winter skies of South Africa. (Discovery Channel)

Unique NASA Satellite Watches Rainfall from Space
May 12 — Your local weather forecaster uses Doppler radar systems, covering U.S. regions, to estimate rainfall and flooding, but NASA research satellites can see rainfall worldwide. (UPI, Spaceflight Now)

'Pollution' Threatens Night Sky
May 9 — A new campaign is being launched to combat the growing problem of so-called light pollution in the UK. (BBC)

Scientists Target Air Pollutants with Lasers
May 9 — Two New Brunswick scientists are developing a more versatile laser system to detect air pollution and help answer some of the biggest questions in physics. (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation)

Report: Warming May Double Australia Deaths
May 9 — Global warming may increase deaths and injuries due to flooding in Australia by as much as 240 percent by 2020, and cause a huge jump in the number of Pacific islanders whose homes could be washed away, a new report said (CNN).

Tornadoes Kill 39 in Central United States
May 6 — Tornadoes tore through the mid-western and southern United States killing at least 39 people, injuring dozens more and virtually wiping some towns off the map, emergency officials said Monday. (Space Daily)

US 'Tornado Alley' Claims Average 80 Lives Every Year
May 5 — The plains of the central United States are no strangers to tornadoes. About a thousand occur every year in "tornado alley," killing on average 80 people and leaving a trail of devastation in their wake at a cost of 300 million dollars. (Space Daily)

Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake Topples 1,600 Houses in Northwest China
May 5 — An earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale toppled 1,600 houses, damaged thousands more and killed at least one person in an area of northwest China devastated by an earthquake in February, local officials said Monday. (Space Daily)

The Soggy Secret of El Niño
May 2 — Scientists funded by NASA say they have discovered the secret of how El Niño moves rainfall around the globe. (Environment News Service, UPI)

New Evidence of Global Warming
May 1 — A new analysis of atmospheric temperatures recorded by satellites suggests that there has been significant global warming in the past two decades, a finding contrary to earlier studies. (Scripps Howard News Service)

Back to: News