Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka have reported that, despite the loss of human life in the Asian disaster, there have been no recorded animal deaths. (BBC, Associated Press)
The devastating earthquake that struck the Indian Ocean probably caused some islands to move by several meters. (BBC)
Scientists say grinding geologic circumstances similar to those in Sumatra also exist just off the Pacific Northwest coast, which could trigger a major tsunami off northern California, Washington, Oregon or British Columbia in minutes � too fast for the nation's deep-sea tsunami warning system to help. (Associated Press)
A tsunami early alert system, which could have saved thousands of lives around the Indian Ocean this week, should be in place in South and Southeast Asia within a year, a U.N. official says. (Reuters)
The taming of lightning by technology is proving harder than expected, say researchers working on ways to use the latest femtosecond lasers to make lightning strike when and where they want. (Discovery.com)
Permafrost is beginning to melt in many areas of the globe, including Alaska and Canada, likely due to global warming, say scientists. (BBC)
Caribbean and Atlantic coastlines � not just the Indian Ocean's tsunami-ravaged shores � would benefit from a tsunami warning system like the one in the Pacific, says the chief of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). (Associated Press)
Additional observations have ruled out the chance that a recently discovered asteroid, believed to be about 1,300 feet long, could hit Earth in 2029, NASA scientists say. (Associated Press)
The extraordinary loss of life from the recent earthquake and tsunami waves is prompting Asian governments to consider developing a more comprehensive and effective warning system. (Associated Press)
The deadly Asian earthquake may have permanently accelerated the Earth's rotation -- shortening days by a fraction of a second -- and caused the planet to wobble on its axis. (Reuters)
The massive earthquake that devastated parts of Asia permanently moved the tectonic plates beneath the Indian Ocean as much as 98 feet, slightly shifting islands near Sumatra an unknown distance. (Reuters)
Scientists describe the December 26 devastating earthquake off the island of Sumatra as a "megathrust" -- a grade reserved for the most powerful shifts in the Earth's crust. (Associated Press)
The chain reaction that sent enormous, deadly tidal waves crashing into the coasts of Asia and Africa on December 26 started more than six miles beneath the ocean floor off the tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. (Associated Press)
The incredibly powerful earthquake in Sumatra had a preliminary magnitude of 9.0, classifying it as a great quake and making it the strongest in 40 years - but its exact power is unknown, partially because such quakes are so rare. (Associated Press)
A creeping rise in sea levels tied to global warming, pollution and damage to coral reefs may make coastlines even more vulnerable to disasters like tsunamis or storms in future, experts say. (Reuters)
The catastrophic death toll in Asia caused by a massive tsunami might have been reduced had India and Sri Lanka been part of an international warning system designed to warn coastal communities about potentially deadly waves, scientists say. (Associated Press)
Australia's southern state of Tasmania was rocked by the world's largest earthquake in three-and-a-half years when it struck under the sea half way between Australia and Antarctica, seismologists say. (Reuters)
Populations of the hamster-like American pika continue to decline in the West and global warming is partly to blame, a new study says. (Associated Press)
A NASA study finds some clouds that form on tiny haze particles are not cooling the Earth as much as previously thought. (Science Daily)
Hong Kong's air quality worsens as pollution drifts in from Guangdong, which has no real environmental laws. (Christian Science Monitor)
University of Maine researchers say evidence from ice cores point to an association between the waxing and waning of zonal wind strength around Antarctica and a chemical signal of changes in the Sun's output. (Big News Network)
Lake Tahoe is warming up twice as fast as the world's oceans and it is probably because of climate change, a new study says. (Knight Ridder News)
The worst of the ozone hole has pulled back once more to Antarctica this southern spring, leaving behind a shadow of uncertainty for the people living at the bottom of the Americas. (Associated Press)
Meteorologists fear they are losing one of their essential forecasting tools microwave frequencies uniquely able to "see" through clouds from satellites, because commercial applications such as mobile phones are interfering with microwave weather technology. (BBC)
The Environmental Protection Agency says 224 counties in 20 states and the District of Columbia don't meet new air quality health standards because of microscopic soot from diesel-burning trucks, power plants and other sources. (Associated Press)
At least 120,000 Sri Lankans spent a fourth day sheltering in schools and temples as monsoon floods spread, and an eighth person was killed, buried in an earth slip. (Reuters)
An unprecedented amount of data from a major central California earthquake is generating new insight into how and where quakes strike, but hasn't improved scientists' ability to predict them. (Associated Press)
Scientists look to ocean phytoplankton to see how environmental change everything from land-borne pollution to global warming affects ocean ecosystems and the atmosphere. (Christian Science Monitor)
The once-suspected safe zone for satellites, called the Van Allen Radiation Belt Slot, is probably not free from radiation or magnetic storms, narrowing the area in which satellites can orbit. (Space.com)
The year 2004, punctuated by four powerful hurricanes in the Caribbean and deadly typhoons lashing Asia, was the fourth-hottest on record, extending a trend since 1990 that has registered the 10 warmest years, a U.N. weather agency says. (Associated Press)
A NASA-funded study provides direct measurements confirming aerosols, tiny particles in the atmosphere, may be changing how much carbon plants and ecosystems absorb from or release to the air. (Science Blog)
A comprehensive study of plants in the Northeast shows they are responding to the global warming trend. (Associated Press)
It may be freezing cold and covered in ice now, but 70 million years ago the Arctic Ocean was as tepid as the Mediterranean, with temperatures as warm as 60 degrees Fahrenheit, according to British researchers. (Reuters)
Global warming is set to continue, and bring with it an increase in extreme weather such as hurricanes and droughts, scientists from the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization say. (Reuters)
NASA's Aura spacecraft has begun the first-ever daily tracking of air pollution movement around the globe. (Reuters)
Scientists say a long-term increase in global temperature of 3.5 degrees could threaten Latin American water supplies, reduce food yields in Asia and result in a rise in extreme weather conditions in the Caribbean. (Associated Press)
NASA scientists say a giant, smoggy atmospheric brown cloud, which forms over South Asia and the Indian Ocean, has intercontinental reach. (Space Daily)
Greenland's coastline ice thinned between 1997 and 2003 much more substantially than in the past. (Science Daily)
Scientists present findings on dramatic changes to Arctic sea ice and warming, glacier acceleration, and newly discovered relationships between ice sheets, sea level rise and climate warming. (United Press International)
Widespread ecological impacts of climate change are already visible in every part of the world, and in every ecosystem, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature. (Reuters)
Ten percent of all bird species are set to disappear by the end of this century, and with them the services they provide such as cleaning up carcasses and spreading seeds, U.S. researchers say. (Reuters)
Insect control and tree planting could greatly affect Earth's greenhouse gases, according to NASA scientists. (Science Daily)
NASA's Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite's (ICESat) precise measurements of Earth's ice sheets, atmosphere, land masses and volcanoes provide a unique look at our planet. (Space Daily)
Developing nations Brazil and China reveal details of their greenhouse gas emissions and efforts to halt global warming. (BBC)
Global warming could render reindeer extinct by the end of the century, according to new research that examined fossils from a cave in southwestern France. (Discovery.com)
Two researchers say they've discovered a pattern of tremors deep beneath the San Andreas Fault that someday may yield clues into unlocking the mysteries of California earthquakes. (CNN)
Burning of the Amazon and other forests accounts for three quarters of Brazil's greenhouse gas emissions and has made the country one of the world's leading polluters, says a new report. (Reuters)
Scientists are tracking a 400 square-mile bloom of red tide algae lurking off the Gulf Coast, pointing to it as the likely cause of a mass fish kill and several dolphin deaths at the tip of the Florida peninsula. (Associated Press)
About 70 percent of the world's coral reefs have been damaged or are at risk from human activities, but some are showing surprising resilience to global warming, a report says. (Reuters, Associated Press)
A tin bath on the cliffs of northern Iceland, where locals take a dip to treat skin complaints, could help scientists give an early warning of big earthquakes and save thousands of lives. (Reuters)
Scores of geologists are keeping their eyes riveted on Mount St. Helens for clues to help predict the violent whims of its kin that tower over metropolitan areas worldwide. (Discovery.com)
Global warming could lead to a big chill in the North Atlantic, at least if history is anything to go by, researchers say. (Reuters)
Hurricane forecasters are calling for an above-average Atlantic hurricane season again next year after one of the most destructive seasons on record. (Associated Press)
U.K. leaders adopt a long-term plan of investment in science education and hi-tech industry. (BBC)
Washington State's top polluter isn't a pulp mill, a power plant, or refinery - it's the newly awakened Mount St. Helens. (Associated Press)
A new index using satellite wind and rain data will help scientists detect the development of El Nino conditions. (Science Daily)
Emissions of greenhouse gases have more than doubled the risk of European heat waves similar to last year's, according to a study by U.K. scientists. (Reuters)
A proposed change in how the federal government measures water for fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta has environmental groups alarmed and California officials concerned about potential harm to wildlife habitat. (Associated Press)
An area of Amazon jungle larger than the state of New Jersey has been destroyed this year and work on a new highway is mainly to blame, environmental group Friends of the Earth and the government says. (Reuters)
Global warming caused by increasing greenhouse gas emissions from burning of fossil fuels will only worsen water shortages and farming difficulties in South Asia, says the U.N. (Reuters)
Air pollution clearly causes immediate damage to the heart, including heart attacks, but its short-term effects on asthma and other respiratory symptoms are harder to document, U.S. researchers say. (Reuters)
A Brazilian garbage dump could be a trailblazer for thousands of projects in developing nations under a U.N. plan to battle global warming, a Norwegian company says. (Reuters)