The world must halt greenhouse gas emissions and reverse them within two decades or watch the planet spiral towards destruction, scientists said. (Reuters)
The only known wild stand of a tree species dating to Jurassic times has been endangered by a deadly disease probably introduced by an unauthorized hiker, a government official said. (Associated Press)
NASA reportedly plans to set up a weather research station in Cape Verde which will study the impact of African monsoons on the world's climate during one year, a local official said. (AFP)
The mass starvation deaths of murres on Tatoosh Island off the Olympic Peninsula may be due in part to unusual weather patterns along the West Coast, scientists say. (Associated Press)
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation began a yearlong air monitoring program to gauge levels of 40 airborne chemicals for the first time. (LiveScience.com)
The Augustine Volcano continued to erupt, producing a continuous crescent-shaped plume of steam, ash and gas speeding down the flanks of the island mount and into the sea. (Associated Press)
Lava channels created when Mount Etna blew its top in 2001 have prompted volcanologists to rethink the way volcanoes sculpt the Earth. (New Scientist)
Weather forecasters in the middle of the United States are making better local predictions for pilots and others thanks to an airborne sensor being tested by NASA's Aviation Safety Program. (SpaceRef.com)
Hurricanes can completely restructure themselves and recently a NASA satellite was able to see Hurricane Ophelia in 2005 rebuild the clouds and rains around its open "eye" of the storm. (Science Daily)
Using a fleet of NASA and other satellites as well as aircraft and other observations, scientists were able to unlock the secret of Hurricane Lili's unexpected, rapid weakening as she moved toward a Louisiana landfall in 2002. (Science Daily)
Several heat-busting strategies have recently been put in place to lessen the urban heat island effect in New York City, and NASA researchers have now taken a hard look at how well they are working, by using a combination of NASA satellite observations, computer models and geographic mapping information. (Science Daily)
Scientists are launching a new way of rating snowstorms, a scale with five categories of intensity to be used not as a warning tool but to allow storms to be compared. (Associated Press)
High-energy particles originate in outer space and in solar flares, and can have a small but significant effect on the weather, increasing the chances of an overcast day by nearly 20 percent. (New Scientist)
Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have more serious impacts than previously believed, a major scientific report has said. (BBC)
Portugal's south risks turning into a desert as temperatures rise, its coasts will erode and droughts will become more frequent, the country's most complete report on the impact of global warming showed. (Reuters)
More frequent floods and drought, blamed by some scientists on global warming, brought a near 20 percent rise in natural disasters in 2005, researchers said. (Reuters)
Scientists say coral reefs, flocks of sea birds, crab- and shrimp-filled meadows and dune-crowned beaches were wrapped up in and altered by the force of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Dennis. (Associated Press)
Scientists have discovered an undersea deposit of frozen methane just off the Southern California coast, but whether it can be harnessed as a potential energy source is unknown. (Associated Press)
After 10 days of relative calm, Alaska's Augustine Volcano roared back to life, shooting a cloud of ash 40,000 feet into the sky. (Reuters)
A strong earthquake struck in the Banda Sea in eastern Indonesia, but there were no reports of casualties or major damage, and local fears of a tsunami proved unfounded. (Reuters)
Cooler conditions and a little rain calmed deadly bushfires in the Australian state of Victoria and allowed weary firefighters to make some headway in their battle, but authorities warned the crisis was not over. (Reuters)
Forecasters studying data from July's Tropical Storm Cindy found a pocket of wind hit 75 miles-per-hour, making it a hurricane, and pushing the 2005 Atlantic hurricane count to 15. (Associated Press)
Hurricane Rita's pounding waves and a hotter-than-usual Gulf of Mexico took a toll on the Gulf of Mexico's only government-protected coral reefs about 100 miles off the Louisiana and Texas coasts. (Associated Press)
At least 11 rare spoon-billed sandpipers have been discovered along the coast of Bangladesh, scientists said, raising hopes for the survival of the birds, whose population has dwindled to just 300-350 pairs in the wild. (Associated Press)
China's skies have darkened over the past 50 years, possibly due to haze resulting from a nine-fold increase in fossil fuel emissions, according to researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy. (Associated Press)
The Andes mountains rose to their dizzying heights in as little as 7 million years, a new study concludes. (LiveScience.com)
Global warming will cause sea levels to rise up to 34 centimeters (11 inches) by the end of the century, causing increased flooding and coastal erosion, according to a new study by Australian researchers. (Associated Press)
Antarctica has at least 145 small lakes buried under its ice and one large one called Vostok - and now scientists have found the second and third largest known bodies of subsurface liquid water there. (Reuters)
Coral reefs and mangroves are worth protecting for economic reasons, contributing as much as 1 million U.S. dollars per square kilometer to tropical economies. (Reuters)
Australian marine scientists have joined an international census of marine life in the world's coral reefs and they estimate there are somewhere between one and nine million species living on coral reefs - but they have never been counted. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Researchers calculated that 2005 produced the highest annual average surface temperature worldwide since instrument recordings began in the late 1800s, said James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. (Associated Press)
Arizona researchers say that a fungal disease killing off frogs in the state probably isn't being triggered by global warming. (Associated Press)
A researcher at the University of Arkansas says recent research showing a build up of strain in the New Madrid Seismic Zone is inconclusive because the tension cannot be seen well enough to determine any earthquake hazard. (Associated Press)
A team of Japanese researchers drilling on Antarctica has recovered what is believed to be the oldest sample of ice ever -- possibly dating back 1 million years, officials said. (Associated Press)
Vienna's subway tracks cracked, German authorities shut a key canal to ships after it iced up, and a zoo moved its penguins indoors as a deadly deep freeze tightened its arctic grip on much of Europe. (Associated Press)
NASA scientists are leading an airborne field experiment to a warm tropical locale to take a close look at a largely unexplored region of the chilly upper atmosphere - critical to the recovery of the ozone layer and predicting future climate change. (Associated Press)
A major quake striking northeastern Japan could set off a 22-meter tsunami and kill nearly 3,000, according to a worst-case government scenario, Kyoto news agency said. (Reuters)
With wind farms popping up from New York to Texas to California, wind power is riding high in the saddle again and the explosive growth could make the United States the world's largest wind-power market, a new report shows. (Christian Science Monitor)
An endangered North Atlantic right whale calf was found dead off Florida's northeast coast, the second such death reported this month, officials said. (Associated Press)
A pilot nation-by-nation study of environmental performance shows that just six nations - led by New Zealand, followed by five from Northern Europe - have achieved 85 percent or better success in meeting a set of critical environmental goals. (The New York Times)
The lost and distressed whale stranded in the River Thames died as rescue workers attempted to ferry it out to sea for release, an animal rights group said. (Associated Press)
Japan's harshest winter in decades finally caught up to Tokyo and blanketed the capital in its heaviest snowfall in five years, forcing flight cancellations and slowing trains. (Reuters)
A NASA satellite studying Earth's magnetic field has stopped operating after six years, the space agency said. (MSNBC)
A survey of beluga whales in Cook Inlet finds that numbers remain stagnant and could be declining despite a lengthy effort to get the white whales to rebound. (Associated Press)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking an independent contractor to head development of a recovery plan for the threatened northern spotted owl, whose numbers are believed to be shrinking. (Associated Press)
Using nearly 500 instruments that record the amount of sunlight reaching the ground, researchers found that solar radiation has decreased by about 2 percent per decade since 1954, largely due to an increase in smog. (LiveScience.com)
California has the worst rate of soot pollution in the United States, according to a report released by an environmental group. (Associated Press)
Soot levels in Pittsburgh exceeded federal health standards on seven days in 2004, more than any other major metropolitan area, an environmental advocacy group reported. (Associated Press)
A U.N. report suggests that by 2050, liberal trade policies, concerted efforts to reduce poverty, improved education and public health, and an active response to environmental issues could yield low population growth and high economic growth, with mixed results on the environment. (Christian Science Monitor)
Scientists from 10 countries will release 1,000 weather balloons in Australia's northern city of Darwin over the next month as part an international experiment to try to find out the nature of tropical clouds. (Reuters)
Arctic temperatures gripped most of Russia for a fourth day, pushing the death toll across the frozen country to more than 30 people as even hardy Russians struggled to cope with the big freeze. (Associated Press)
Researchers say they want to conduct the first census of the American white pelican population in North America in about 25 years. (Associated Press)
A severe drought which has left millions of people hungry across East Africa is now threatening Kenya's famous animals, which are straying out of protected areas in search of water, wildlife officials said. (Reuters)
Wildfires that have scorched some 455,000 acres in Texas are likely to keep burning until the end of April, the state's emergency management coordinator said. (Reuters)
Europe's first aircraft de-icing hangar using infrared heat rather than polluting chemicals, opened at Oslo Airport-Gardermoen, airport officials said. (Associated Press)
Irrigation of California's Central Valley, which turned it from desert to productive farmland, could be to blame for warmer summer nights that have been recorded in recent years. (LiveScience.com)
NASA scientists say they have launched a new climate change study using a special aircraft that will enter the high troposphere -- the lowest level of the earth's atmosphere -- in the tropics. (USA Today)
The newly vigorous Augustine Island volcano is just one of the 18 most dangerous U.S. volcanoes, according to a report released by the U.S. Geological Survey that rates threat levels and assesses the monitoring activity at each site. (National Geographic News)
The rate of global sea-level rise has sped up during the twentieth century, Australian researchers have confirmed. (Nature)
Fish are sick and dying in many different rivers along the East Coast of the United States, and while different diseases are afflicting the fish, scientists are trying to determine if there is a common source of their ailments. (National Public Radio)
By observing more than 1,800 right whales in the southern Atlantic, researchers have determined that changes in climate are affecting the whales' reproductive success, as their food supply--mainly krill--is dying off. (National Geographic News)
Two endangered whales were spotted in the Corpus Christi Bay, well outside their typical winter territory of Florida and Georgia, authorities said. (Associated Press)
A team of international bird experts will begin surveying the Bangladesh coast in search of the endangered spoon-billed sandpiper, whose population they believe has dwindled to just 350 pairs in the wild, organizers said. (Reuters)
Twenty-seven previously unknown species of spiders, centipedes, scorpion-like creatures and other animals have been discovered in the dark, damp caves beneath two national parks in the Sierra Nevada, biologists say. (Associated Press)
Landslides kill 800-1,000 people a year and climate change may be adding to the risks from hillside slums in Latin America to Egypt's Valley of the Kings, U.N. experts said. (Reuters)
Hurricane Wilma hit densely populated south Florida at Category 2 strength, and the storm was stronger than estimated when it struck Mexico, the National Hurricane Center said in its final report on the storm. (Associated Press)
The Augustine Volcano erupted, sending an ash plume more than eight miles into the air, officials at the Alaska Volcano Observatory said. (Associated Press)
Whale sharks spotted off the coast of Australia are getting smaller, researchers have said. (BBC)
With the ecology of coral reefs around the globe increasingly under pressure, scientists on Australia's Great Barrier Reef are establishing a network of sensors to better understand this part of the underwater world. (BBC)
A proposal to haul old ships in Oregon for salvage and recycling is raising concerns about toxic materials - asbestos, waste oil, lead paint, mercury, PCBs, and radioactive substances - that would likely threaten marine life. (Christian Science Monitor)
Regional governments and conservationists have agreed on initial steps that need to be taken to save the African lion, which has been pushed to the brink of extinction throughout much of its range. (Reuters)
Tightly packed streets, parking lots, concrete buildings, and dark roofs absorb sunlight all day, and keeps cities 1* to 10*F (0.56* to 5.6*C) warmer than the surrounding countryside, reports a NASA scientist. (National Geographic News)
Nearly 60 percent of volcanic eruptions in Iceland occur beneath glacial ice - worrying scientists - who say Katla, one of Iceland's most notorious volcanoes, is overdue for an eruption. (The New York Times)
Rains last week have swelled dams over much of South Africa's grain triangle but water restrictions remain in place in some areas, a senior official with the water affairs department said. (Reuters)
Officials say Seattle's recent streak of rainy weather is increasing the spread of pollution from industry, septic tanks, manure-rich dairies, and other sources - putting salmon runs and killer whales at risk. (Associated Press)
Fewer migrating ducks, geese and wading birds are wintering in the United Kingdom because more are staying closer to their Arctic breeding grounds due to climate change. (BBC)
After a seven-year journey, a NASA space capsule returned safely to Earth with the first dust ever fetched from a comet, a cosmic bounty that scientists hope will yield clues to how the solar system formed. (Associated Press)
Towering blasts of ash and steam from an uninhabited island volcano in south-central Alaska will likely continue for days or weeks, but scientists say there's little chance of a catastrophic eruption. (Associated Press)
Global warming is set to accelerate alarmingly because of a sharp jump in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, scientists report. (The Independent, UK)
Marine researchers say satellite imagery from the United States will help them develop a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The remote 1,400-mile long string of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are blanketed with 14 million seabirds and numerous fish species, and over the next year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be developing rules for managing the waters under a proposed sanctuary status. (Associated Press)
Wildlife officials used a small plane, a helicopter and hunters on foot to track down and dart endangered rhinos with tranquilizers, the latest attempt to capture and relocate some of the animals from oldest Kenya's oldest park. (Associated Press)
Ravaged last year by one hurricane and slapped by the fringes of another, New Orleans faces a 2006 storm season that begins in less than five months - not much time to repair the tattered ramparts that keep the city from being swallowed by the sea. (Associated Press)
The death toll from heavy snow in Japan reached 87 as relatively mild weather over the weekend sparked several avalanches, the Fire and Disaster Management Agency said. (AFP)
An earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale toppled at least 13,752 houses in southwest China, forcing 20,000 people to be evacuated and causing at least one injury. (AFP)
Japanese researchers tested a huge quake simulator capable of jolting a six-storey building in a project that could help improve earthquake-resistant construction methods. (Associated Press)
Six of the world's biggest polluters endorsed a voluntary plan that they claim will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions 30 percent by 2050, but environmentalists called it an empty promise that will only benefit big business. (Associated Press)
In a milestone for renewable energy, California is expected to make the largest investment in solar power of any state in U.S. history. (San Luis Obispo Tribune)
Several speakers at the only public hearing on a plan to remove grizzly bears from federal endangered species protection called for more hearings on the proposal. (Associated Press)
La Nina, a mild cooling of the tropical Pacific Ocean which can affect weather in other areas, is being forecast for spring and should encourage wet weather in the Pacific Northwest and dry conditions in the South, say forecasters. (Associated Press)
Earth lacks the water, energy and agricultural land to allow China and India to attain Western living standards, a U.S. think-tank has warned. (BBC)
A government environmental review has recommended reducing the number of dams included in a controversial hydropower proposal on the Nu River in southwestern China in order to limit environmental damage and decrease the number of people who would be resettled, a Hong Kong newspaper has reported. (The New York Times)
Scientists in Germany have discovered that ordinary plants produce significant amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas which helps trap the sun's energy in the atmosphere. (BBC)
The dramatic decline of some frog populations is directly connected to global warming, a new study claims. (BBC)
A professor from the University of Montana had a simple message in Arkansas: if you like hunting ducks, support international efforts to prevent global warming. (Associated Press)
Overshadowed by a multibillion-dollar push into other "clean-coal" technologies, a handful of tiny companies are racing to create an even cleaner, greener process using the same slimy stuff that thrives in the world's oceans. (The Christian Science Monitor)
The string of powerful winter storms careening through the North Pacific Ocean over the last few weeks, along with some 21st century surf forecasting, has been proving a boon to monster wave surfers in California. (Discovery.com)
A volcano on an uninhabited island erupted, spewing an ash plume about five miles into the sky, but was expected to steer clear of Anchorage, the state's most populous city nearly 200 miles to the northeast, meteorologists said. (Associated Press)
In Lake Havasu, in the middle of the desert, Bureau of Land Management employees dump used trees to create an artificial reef for a fish habitat. (National Public Radio)
Alarmed by an accelerating loss of ice in the Arctic Ocean, scientists are striving to understand why the speedup is happening and say it could point the way to radical changes in the Earth's climate and weather systems. (Knight Ridder)
A three-century-long cold spell that chilled Europe 8200 years ago was probably caused by the bursting of a Canadian ice dam, which released a colossal flood of glacial meltwater into the Atlantic Ocean. (New Scientist)
France and Spain are ringing alarm bells over the climate, fearing a repeat of last year's drought that sparked deadly forest fires, costly crop failures and widespread water rationing in southern Europe. (Reuters)
During the record-setting hurricane season of 2005, three of the most powerful storms--Rita, Katrina, and Emily--had lots of lightning, and researchers are still struggling to understand why. (LiveScience.com)
Boating accidents and typhoons left 371 people dead or missing on China's seas in 2005, Xinhua news agency reported. (Reuters)
Saving the big fish that eats the little fish, which eats the seaweed, is now helping to revive once-dying tropical coral reefs. (Discovery.com)
Already imperiled by melting ice and a brew of toxic chemicals, polar bears throughout the Arctic, particularly in remote dens near the North Pole, face an additional threat as flame retardants originating largely in the U.S. are building up in their bodies, according to an international team of wildlife scientists. (The Chicago Tribune)
Warmer, wetter weather in Russia over the past 40 years has already changed the way forests there look - the trees are getting greener while their trunks are getting skinnier - a new study shows. (Albany Times-Union)
Surging oil prices, deepening concern about carbon pollution and sudden worries over Russia's reliability as a gas supplier have been a windfall for Europe's nuclear and renewable energy industries. (AFP)
A strong undersea earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked southern Greece, according to the Athens observatory, causing at least two injuries and property damage. (AFP)
U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu is leading a delegation to the Netherlands to study the flood control systems protecting a nation much farther below sea-level than New Orleans. (Associated Press)
Delegates from 30 Caribbean states are to meet on the island of Barbados next week to plan the setting-up of a tsunami early warning system, UNESCO said in a statement. (Associated Press)
The Augustine volcano in Alaska continued to show increased unrest this week with small steam explosions and small ash bursts coming from the summit. (Associated Press)
A leading Australian scientist believes the world has just 20 years to turn the tide on global warming and that leaders at a summit in Sydney next week must take concrete steps to tackle the problem. (Associated Press)
Predictions early in 2005 that the year would be the warmest on record turned out to be off the mark, but a new study finds last year tied for the second-warmest year since reliable records have been kept starting in the late 1800s. (LiveScience.com)
Aspen is headed toward warmer, shorter snow seasons, according to preliminary findings of an ambitious study on global warming's local effects. (Aspen Times)
Heavy snowfall in the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang and temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit have forced the evacuation of almost 100,000 people, the state weather bureau said. (Reuters)
Troops and volunteers shoveled snow from roofs and roads in Japan and India's capital New Delhi recorded its lowest temperature in 70 years as a cold wave swept across parts of Asia. (Reuters)
Tropical Storm Zeta weakened and began to break apart, bringing a final and overdue end to the costliest and busiest Atlantic hurricane season on record, U.S. forecasters said. (Reuters)
One of the world's leading seismologists has warned of the possibility of more earthquakes in the Kashmir region over the next 50 years. (BBC)
Salvage logging of scorched and fallen trees in the aftermath of the gigantic 2002 Biscuit fire in Oregon appears to have slowed the forest's recovery and increased fire risks, say forestry scientists. (Discovery.com)
A federal grizzly bear expert contends wildlife managers desperately need more resources to monitor the threatened bears in northwestern Montana, where he says the 11 known illegal grizzly killings last year were the highest in recent memory. (Associated Press)
Conservationists sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking protection for a rare butterfly they say is threatened by off-road vehicles at one of the largest sand dunes in the West. (Associated Press)
Armed with radio collars and high-tech cameras, hundreds of wildlife experts fanned out across a vast mangrove in India as part of the world's largest census of the endangered tiger. (Reuters)
Stripped of tinsel and ornaments, thousands of Christmas trees across the United States are becoming reefs for fish in fresh-water lakes. (Reuters)
Topex-Poseidon, the durable U.S.-French spacecraft that made El Nino a household term as it revolutionized understanding of the role of ocean temperature on climate, has been decommissioned after circling the globe 62,000 times over 13 years. (Associated Press)
Marine reserves give a boost to coral reefs as well as fish stocks, new research shows. (BBC)
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority says a rise in temperatures over the next couple of months could trigger more coral bleaching. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission estimated 366 manatee deaths through early December 2005, compared to 276 in 2004. (Associated Press)
The Gulf of Maine is home to more than 3,300 marine species, or roughly 1,300 more than scientists thought less than a decade ago, according to a new study. (Associated Press)
An extraordinary burst of global warming that occurred around 55 million years ago dramatically reversed Earth's pattern of ocean currents, a finding that strengthens modern-day concern about climate change, a study says. (AFP)
Negligent and inexperienced boaters are damaging fragile seagrass in the shallow Florida Bay, destroying habitat crucial to the state's fishing industry, a conservation advocacy group said. (Associated Press)
Australia had its hottest year on record in 2005, official data showed, with meteorologists saying the rising temperatures were due to global warming. (Reuters)
A portion of $24 million appropriated by Congress in May to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will allow 24-hour staffing, seven days a week, at the nation's two tsunami warning centers in Alaska and Hawaii, near areas that have both experienced deadly tsunamis. (Associated Press)
In the year since a tsunami devastated much of coastal Southeast Asia, a Pacific Northwest aid group has digitally remapped some villages that were reduced to rubble fields in the Indonesian province of Aceh. (Associated Press)
Deep sea fish species in the northern Atlantic are on the brink of extinction, new research suggests. (BBC)
Britain could see a dramatic increase in food poisoning cases and waterborne disease as the warmer, wetter weather linked to climate change takes hold. (BBC)
Tree plantations have often been touted as a tool for scrubbing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere -- at least for a while -- to combat global warming, but a new study suggests that new tree plantations also could degrade soil and deplete groundwater, depending on their location. (Christian Science Monitor)
As California towns hit hard by flooding after days of heavy rains cleaned up, a state lawmaker said officials would add affluent Marin County, north of San Francisco, to a list of counties eligible for disaster funds. (Reuters)
Vineyards in California's chic wine country went unscathed in the deadly storms that flooded towns, knocked out electricity, and triggered landslides, wineries said. (Reuters)
Hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers struggled to reach villages devastated by floods and landslides in Indonesia's East Java as the known death toll climbed to 63. (Reuters)
The record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season refused to end as Tropical Storm Zeta defied expectations and gained strength as it churned well offshore. (Associated Press)
Beijing is fitting out 50 of its buses with experimental braking systems that it hopes could cut fuel use by up to 30 percent and help clear its smoggy skies, officials said. (Reuters)
Earthquakes at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, sharply declined during 2005, leading geophysicists to believe the world's largest volcano is less likely to erupt than they earlier thought. (Associated Press)
Cooler weather and light rain across southeastern Australia helped contain scores of bushfires that destroyed 15 homes and vast areas of farmland over the weekend. (Reuters)
Defense and space projects account for most increases in the $135 billion federal research and development budget, worrying scientists who fear that after years of growth the nation is beginning to skimp on technology that fuels marketplace innovation. (Associated Press)
Heavy rains continued to cause flooding in towns across Northern California's wine country, with more stormy weather expected over the next day, the National Weather Service said. (Reuters)