One of the most traumatic hurricane seasons in Florida history officially ended Tuesday with the state's governor calling the occasion a time for "reflection and celebration." (Associated Press, BBC)
A University of Alabama scientist and other researchers have found coral growing at extreme depths in the Gulf of Mexico - on several ships sunk during World War II by Nazi submarines. (Associated Press)
China's explosive economic growth is outpacing environmental protection efforts, leaving the country awash in "out of control" acid rain, the China Daily says. (Reuters)
In the decades to come, Asia -- home to more than half the world's 6.3 billion people -- will lurch from one climate extreme to another, with impoverished farmers battling droughts, floods, disease, food shortages and rising sea levels. (Reuters)
A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.1 hit a wide area of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, says the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). (Reuters)
A 3.1-magnitude earthquake shook the crater at Mount St. Helens, the strongest quake at the volcano since mid-October. (Associated Press)
The European wind energy industry, thriving as climate change tops the global agenda, says it could eventually supply all of the continent's electricity, but must first overcome public resistance over eyesore turbines. (Reuters)
Arctic peoples aim to team up with tropical islanders in a campaign against global warming, arguing that polar bears and palm-fringed beaches stand to suffer most. (Reuters)
A huge international collaboration involving hundreds of scientists has revealed thousands of previously unknown marine species lurking in the shadowy depths and currents of the world's oceans. (Associated Press, Reuters)
The newly elected president of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) says that global warming and the lack of protected marine zones are key challenges that need to be hoisted high on the green agenda. (Reuters)
About half of Brazil's original Amazon rainforest has been occupied by man, deforested or used for industry like logging and its destruction is worse than government data shows, a leading environmental group says. (Reuters)
Sea temperatures in the southeastern Pacific show no sign of bringing extreme "El Niño" weather conditions in the next two months, Peru's Maritime Institute (IMARPE) says. (Reuters)
Scientists have begun releasing floods of water into the Grand Canyon in an attempt to boost local wildlife. (Associated Press, BBC)
A strong earthquake shakes New Zealand's South Island, but there are no reports of injuries or major damage, officials and witnesses say. (Reuters)
The Galeras volcano in southern Colombia erupts, spraying rocks and starting short-lived forest fires, but no injuries are reported, the government says. (Reuters)
A long-term drought could cause severe water shortages for many Australian cities by 2006. (Christian Science Monitor)
Even though nearly two thirds of coral reefs are now officially endangered, some are bouncing back despite warmer oceans and pollution, giving hope the marine marvels are not completely doomed, scientists say. (Reuters)
More severe tropical cyclones, heat waves, and a dramatic shift in rainfall patterns could batter Asia by the end of the century as its factories boom, a leading climate expert tells Asian chief executives. (Reuters)
A major argument used by skeptics of global warming is flawed, a UK Met Office study says. (BBC)
Researchers will establish a network of sensors in the Arctic to better record climate changes. (Christian Science Monitor)
NASA will now help to map the Earth in the name of conservation, the agency says. (Associated Press, Reuters)
By 2025, a third of the world's population will be facing acute water shortages and farmers, academics and governments must work together to solve the problem, global experts say. (Reuters)
Environmentalists forecast a grim future for planet Earth, predicting that droughts, heat waves and hurricanes will become increasingly common and more severe if global warming is allowed to continue unchecked. (Reuters)
Scientists funded by NASA and the US Geological Survey (USGS) find a link between the losses of wetlands and more severe freezes in some agricultural areas of south Florida. (Science Daily)
Mountain glaciers, which act as the world's water towers, are shrinking at ever faster rates, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people and the future of countless species, scientists say. (Reuters)
Records of the harvest dates, which are closely related to temperature and have been registered in local archives for hundreds of years, show that last year's sweltering summer days were probably the hottest in more than 600 years. (Reuters)
Mount Everest should be put on a United Nations danger list as global warming threatens the Himalayan region, environmentalists say. (Reuters)
Switzerland's glaciers are melting faster than expected, shrinking by as much as one-fifth of their size over the 1985-2000 period alone, scientists at Zurich University say. (Associated Press, Reuters)
Australia could expect more frequent droughts, heat waves, rainstorms and strong winds because of greenhouse gas-induced climate change, the country's main science research body says. (Reuters)
Scientists produce the first simulated earthquakes designed to test how well common building materials and critical infrastructure, such as power lines, can withstand a quake's destructive forces. (Associated Press)
Oyster reefs in Alabama suffered severe damage from Hurricane Ivan's wave surge, which flushed out an estimated 80 percent of the $4 million crop, disrupting the livelihood of some 200 oystermen who work the reefs in winter. (Associated Press)
Arctic indigenous peoples urge the United States to join other nations in cutting greenhouse gas emissions to break an accelerating thaw of polar ice. (Reuters)
The space agencies of India and France sign an agreement to cooperate in launching a satellite in four years that will help make climate predictions more accurate. (Associated Press)
Mexico and a U.S. environmental group agree on a plan to protect 370,000 acres of tropical forest on the Yucatan Peninsula. (Associated Press)
This year's hurricanes spread citrus canker to at least 11,000 trees in Charlotte County, one of the largest outbreaks of the fruit-damaging infection to ever affect Florida's citrus industry, state officials say. (Associated Press)
Mount Rainier shook with a 3.2-magnitude earthquake, but scientists say the quake was not related to recent rumblings at Mount St. Helens, its sister volcano 50 miles to the south. (CNN)
Environmentalists are warning that the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas could spell disaster for millions of people living in the region. (BBC)
The decline of migratory birds due to an accelerating Arctic thaw may also disrupt the delicate ecosystems of their far-flung winter homes from Africa to South America, experts say. (Reuters)
A faster-than-expected thaw of the Arctic is likely to open legendary short-cut routes between the Pacific and the Atlantic but experts say icebergs and high costs will prevent any trans-polar shipping boom. (Reuters)
Britain must make aircraft pollution a priority to confront the problems of climate change, an expert parliamentary committee of peers say. (Reuters)
For the first time, NASA researchers have been awarded the Scientific American Top 50 Scientist Award. (Science Daily)
Global warming is melting Arctic ice faster than expected, and the world's oceans could rise by about a meter by 2100, swamping homes from Bangladesh to Florida, a new study shows. (Reuters)
Warming temperatures over the last three decades has resulted in considerable ice loss in a major glacier in Tibet, home to some of the loftiest highlands on Earth. (New York Times)
With things like Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, space-based radar imagery, micro-technology, and much more powerful computers, geologists are much better equipped to predict earthquakes and volcanoes. (Christian Science Monitor)
China can expect more droughts, floods and other extreme weather as it struggles to balance rapid development with environmental concerns, according to a new report. (Reuters)
A sustained drought in Australia could mean the loss of drinking water in some of the country's large cities. (Associated Press)
North American wildlife species ranging from butterflies to red fox are scrambling to adapt to Earth's rising temperatures and may not survive, according to a new study. (Reuters)
Global warming is heating the Arctic almost twice as fast as the rest of the planet in a thaw that threatens millions of livelihoods and could wipe out polar bears by 2100, an eight-nation report indicates. (Reuters)
A proposal to send more water to Central Valley fields and Southern California neighborhoods could undermine ecological gains in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, environmentalists say. (Associated Press)
NASA scientists recently found the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the main driver of the change in rain patterns all around the world. (Science Daily)
A drought that has lasted more than five years and increasing water demand from growing metropolitan areas are forcing farmers in the West and Midwest into trying new farming methods that use less water, such as no-till. (Associated Press)
With a little help from good weather, air in Los Angeles was the cleanest on record this year, regulators say. (Associated Press)
A quarter-billion years ago, forested islands flashed with autumnal hues near the South Pole -- a polar scene unlike any today, researchers say. (Discovery.com)
A spectacular volcanic eruption under an Iceland glacier, with explosions sending ash up to 40,000 feet in the air, has forced airlines to divert flights to avoid flying through gas emissions from the blast. (BBC)
International action to cut greenhouse gases is on the way, a leading British expert on the environment believes. (BBC)
Memphis didn't have a day of excessive air pollution during the seven-month ozone season for the first time in seven years. (Associated Press)
The world can ward off a dangerous rise in temperature much more cheaply than many people think, a UK scientist says. (BBC)
A severe drought has made Glen Canyon, at the shallow confluence of Coyote Creek and Escalante River in Utah, open and visible, much as it was before the dam was built. (New York Times)
A new study finds that wind turbines slow down air flow and help create warmer, drier conditions at the surface. (New York Times)
Italy is basking in an unseasonable heat wave with record high temperatures as the year of highly abnormal weather continues. (Reuters)
A new research center at the University of New Hampshire hopes to help reduce a huge threat to water quality nationwide: stormwater carrying pollutants into streams, wetlands and coastal harbors. (Associated Press)
Improved fish passage on the Penobscot River and recovery of a salt marsh on the west branch of the Pleasant River could bring environmental benefits to the Gulf of Maine, according to a new report. (Associated Press)
The Arctic is undergoing rapid and possibly irreversible change, according to a new report prepared for the eight nations which rim the region. (BBC)
The timberline on Cascade peaks will creep upward, waves will grow taller on the Oregon coast and plants and animals will breed earlier in the summer, according to a report on the effects of global warming in the Pacific Northwest. (Associated Press)