The magnetosphere, long seen as our benign protector from the sun, may actually be focusing energy into the poles and aiding atmospheric loss . (New Scientist) more...
An American Indian reservation deep in the Grand Canyon has long been known for its towering blue-green waterfalls, but returning tourists will be greeted by an altered landscape. (The New York Times) more...
Authorities say an acid problem in the Murray's lower lakes and adjoining Coorong wetlands in South Australia is the worst seen anywhere in the world. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Some rules have no exceptions, and this is one: whenever there is a big earthquake, and especially if lives are lost, some journalist asks, "when will we be able to predict them?" (BBC News) more...
The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting -- and that could spell trouble for the northeast coast of the United States and eastern Canada. (Discovery News) more...
The measurement of red fluorescent glow of certain ocean plants, detected by a NASA satellite, serve as a unique signal that can reveal the health of the global ocean and how human activities are affecting it. (Live Science) more...
Carbon from a massive volcanic eruption caused a mass extinction on Earth 260 million years ago, according to a new study that is the first definitive link between a volcano and extinction. (Discovery News) more...
A major earthquake off the shores of Honduras packed enough punch to endanger lives and warranted a brief tsunami watch for Belize, Honduras and Guatemala -- the countries with coastlines closest to the epicenter -- and scientists say it was an interesting quake in other ways. (Discovery Global Science Blog) more...
Like giant sponges draped across the land, peat bogs may soak up enough water to partially offset global sea level rise, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
With the sun at its lowest activity level in nearly 100 years, scientists are taking advantage of its quiet state to ferret out some of the more subtle -- and occasionally insidious -- ways the sun impacts Earth's climate and atmosphere. (Discovery News) more...
If an unusually detailed computer simulation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has it right, global warming in this century is on track to be about twice as bad as predicted six years ago. (The Washington Post) more...
The oldest and largest trees within California's world famous Yosemite National Park are disappearing and climate change appears to be a major cause of the loss, according to an analysis of data collected over 60 years by forest ecologists. (BBC News) more...
In oceans around the world, heat-resistant algae are offering the prospect of a colorful future for corals—the reef-forming animals are upgrading their symbiotic algae so that they can survive the bleaching that occurs in waters warming under climate change. (New Scientist) more...
A rise in concentrations of a powerful greenhouse gas over the Arctic after a decade of stability is stirring worries about a possible thaw of vast stores trapped in permafrost, experts said. (Reuters/Scientific American) more...
Life on Earth may have sparked into existence as early as 4.4 billion years ago, hundreds of millions of years sooner than previously thought possible, according to a study that suggests much of the planet's earth was cool enough to accommodate different families of microbes. (Agence France-Presse/Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
According to a new study, it's now possible to hear the rise of global warming in the form of more, larger, more intense storms—signs of climate change, many scientists say. (National Geographic News) more...
Forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say they are expecting an average Atlantic hurricane season this year, with four to seven hurricanes. (National Public Radio) more...
Evidence from distant parts of Earth's crust suggests the core is pulsing, according to a controversial claim that would revise our picture of the center of the planet. (New Scientist) more...
Many computer users have become fans of Google Earth, a search tool provided by the Google organization that lets people hone in on remote corners of the Earth, and now computer programmer and inventor Michael Jones' company is working on Google Oceans, a project to map the water world. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Urban trees act as sentinels using their leaves to measure microscopic particles of pollution, and they are so precise in this task that researchers are turning to them as reliable, street-level pollution monitors. (Discovery News/Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land in Juneau is rising much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. (The New York Times) more...
Ice crystals plucked from clouds contain biological material, including bacteria, which play a role in the formation of clouds, offering the first direct evidence of airborne bacteria in clouds, researchers say. (Reuters/Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
No matter the shape, giant dunes grow by the amalgamation of smaller dunes, researchers discovered, and their ultimate size depends upon the average thickness of the lowest layer of the atmosphere. (Live Science) more...
It turns out that islands are about nine times as valuable as an equally large piece of mainland, according to the first worldwide analysis of the importance of different regions for maintaining global biodiversity. (New Scientist) more...
Thanks to deforestation by European settlers, Australia's droughts are more extreme than they would be otherwise, models suggest . (New Scientist) more...
Many raindrops travel at "super-terminal" velocities, faster than was thought possible, and as a result, meteorologists may be miscalculating how much it rains. (New Scientist) more...
The collapse of a major polar ice sheet will not raise global sea levels as much as previous projections suggest, a team of scientists has calculated. (BBC News) more...
A new study suggests that tropical cyclones shoot water high into the atmosphere, and the result may be a small but significant contribution to the greenhouse effect. (Discovery News) more...
The National Science Foundation put out a special report detailing known changes to the planet related to global warming -- not things that might happen, but things that have. (Live Science) more...
The world's most important coral region is in danger of being wiped out by the end of this century unless fast action is taken, says a new report. (BBC News) more...
Early in our planet's history, volcanoes stopped spewing out lava for around 250 million years, leaving Earth in almost perpetual winter. (New Scientist) more...
A massive iceberg with enough freshwater in it to fill Sydney Harbour 135 times over is about to break off the Mertz glacier in Antarctica. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...
It's time for the sun to move into a busier period for sunspots, and while forecasters expect a relatively mild outbreak by historical standards, one major solar storm can cause havoc with satellites and electrical systems here on Earth. (Associated Press/Discovery News) more...
Global warming is shrinking Europe's alpine glaciers with such dramatic acceleration that Italy and Switzerland must now redraw their mountain borders, says a proposed law approved by the lower house of the Italian parliament at the end of April. (Discovery News) more...
Vast natural stores of carbon dioxide and methane start to thaw out. (ABC News) more...
A huge ocean wave has been filmed from beneath the surface, revealing the hidden power of a four-meter-tall monster barrel wave, and showing the first images of underwater spiraling vortices created by the wave's action. (BBC News) more...
To keep track of air pollution plumes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency relies on a bevy of satellites that observe Earth's atmosphere. (Scientific American) more...
A robotic submarine is undergoing final preparations to dive to the deepest-known part of the oceans, in the west Pacific, proving new technology and providing scientists with a new vehicle to explore the ocean depths. (BBC News) more...
Scientists have discovered the source of the gigantic green tide of algae that almost derailed sailing regatta during the Beijing Olympics. (BBC News) more...
An epizootic -- the wildlife equivalent of a human epidemic -- of black band disease has appeared in the Great Barrier Reef, say Australian researchers. (ABC Science Online/Discovery News) more...
Of Earth's hundreds of active volcanoes, Ol Doinyo Lengai is the only one currently producing a black, runny lava and now, an international team of researchers thinks it has found the explanation for the unusual behavior of the Tanzanian volcano, linked to its location and the future of the African continent. (Science Now) more...
Although rising global temperatures could lead to much drier trees and forests around the world, that may not necessarily translate to an increased risk for wildfires, according to a new study. (USA Today) more...
Throughout much of the Tibetan Plateau, high-altitude glaciers are dwindling in the face of rising temperatures, but a new study found that in the rugged western corner of the plateau, the story is different -- glaciers with a penthouse view of the world are growing, and have been for almost three decades. (Discovery News) more...
A new study of ancient "desert pavement" in Israel's Negev Desert finds a vast region that's been sitting there exposed, pretty much as-is, for about 1.8 million years, making it the oldest known vast expanse of surface area. (Live Science) more...
In the ancient oceans, stagnant depths harbored poison-belching bacteria that crippled life on Earth, leaving it vulnerable to a knockout punch from volcanic eruptions, according to a new study. (Discovery News) more...
A prolonged lull in solar activity has astrophysicists glued to their telescopes waiting to see what the sun will do next -- and how Earth's climate might respond. (National Geographic News) more...
A huge wave crashed into the New York City region 2,300 years ago, dumping sediment and shells across Long Island and New Jersey and casting wood debris far up the Hudson River. (BBC News) more...
Southern hemisphere glaciers evolve quite differently than those in the north, according to a new study. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...