Improved tools and increasingly sophisticated approaches are helping researchers gain a better understanding of how organisms respond to and interact with their environment. (Oak Ridge National Laboratory press release)

After the state had been battered by three hurricanes last year, many Florida residents ignored the threat of Hurricane Jeanne and refused to leave their homes in evacuation zones, county emergency managers say. (University of Central Florida press release)

Two new studies of gases trapped in Antarctic ice cores have extended the record of Earth's past climate almost 50 percent further, adding another 210,000 years of definitive data about the makeup of the Earth's atmosphere. (Oregon State University press release)

Global ocean levels are rising twice as fast today as they were 150 years ago, and human-induced warming appears to be the culprit, scientists say. (Rutgers University press release)

People will soon be able to find out how vulnerable their local area is to global warming, thanks to new techniques developed by a European-wide research group. (University of East Anglia press release)

A rare volcanic eruption is expanding the size of an island in British Overseas Territory. (British Antarctic Survey press release)

The successful launch of Ariane 5 Flight 167 leaves the launch campaign of Europe's newest meteorological satellite on track to meet its new target date of December 21. (European Space Agency press release)

The Victoria Experimental Network Under the Sea (VENUS) will be the world's most advanced, cabled seafloor observatory and pioneers a new approach to studying the oceans. (University of Victoria press release)

U.S. Geological Survey scientists have a clearer picture of global shifts in water availability after examining a century of streamflow measurements from 165 locations around the world. (USGS press release)

A team of health and climate scientists has shown that the growing health impacts of climate change affect different regions in markedly different ways. (University of Wisconsin-Madison press release)

Satellite images show that, after decades of stability, a major glacier draining the Greenland ice sheet has dramatically increased its speed and retreated nearly five miles in recent years. (University of California-Santa Cruz press release)

The migration of subtropical plants to northern climates may not be too far-fetched if future global warming patterns mirror a monumental shift that took place in the past, new research suggests. (University of Florida press release)

New software is helping scientists get a more complete view of the environment from satellites that orbit the Earth. (Ohio State University press release)

A new report indicates that the vast majority of the rapid temperature increase recently observed in Europe is likely due to an unexpected greenhouse gas: water vapor. (American Geophysical Union press release)

Tsunami damage to coral reefs closest to the epicenter of the 2004 Sumatra-Andaman earthquake was occasionally spectacular--but surprisingly limited--particularly when compared to damage from chronic human misuse in the region. (Cell Press press release)

The total number of days of ice on the region's rivers has declined significantly in recent decades and particularly in the spring, according to new research. (U. S. Geological Survey press release)

Researchers have utilized more than a decade's worth of data from radar altimeters on satellites to produce the most detailed picture yet of thickness changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. (European Space Agency press release)

Scientists will soon test how well the volcanic rocks below the Columbia and Snake river plains store carbon dioxide. (Idaho National Laboratory press release)

Scientists have successfully cultured in a laboratory a microorganism with a gene for an alternate form of photochemistry--an advance that may ultimately help shed light on the ecology of the world's oceans. (Oregon State University press release)

In searching for ways to counteract the greenhouse effect, some scientists have proposed capturing the culprit--carbon dioxide--as it is emitted from power plants, then liquefying the gas and injecting it into the ocean. (University of Michigan press release)

If humans continue to heavily use fossil fuels for the next several centuries, the polar ice caps will be depleted, ocean sea levels will rise by seven meters and median air temperatures will soar 14.5 degrees Fahrenheit. (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory press release)