Carbon Dioxide Continues Its Rise
March 31, 2005The atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide has reached a new high, say U.S. researchers. (BBC)
World's Largest Iceberg on Move Again
March 31, 2005The threat of sea access being blocked to U.S. and New Zealand bases in Antarctica may have receded after the world's largest iceberg broke free from the McMurdo Sound sea bed last month, New Zealand Antarctic officials say. (AFP)
Study Finds Dandruff in Air Pollutants
March 31, 2005A researcher has discovered unexpectedly large amounts of dandruff and other flaking skin, fur, pollen and similar materials in air pollutants known as aerosols. (Associated Press)
Human Bodies Major Polluters
March 31, 2005Long ignored for villains like industrial smokestacks and auto exhaust, the human body is a significant air polluter, according to a new study. (AFP)
Maps Need to Be Redrawn
March 31, 2005Three months after the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster saw Indonesia's Sumatra Island nudged slightly towards Sri Lanka, the latest quake to hit the region has again altered the landscape. (AFP)
Quake's Movement Behind Lack of Tsunami
March 31, 2005After a magnitude-8.7 earthquake off Indonesia on 2005-03-28, tsunami warnings blared along coastlines in Thailand, India and Sri Lanka, but the big waves never came, and scientists say differences in the ocean topography and the movement of the earth's crust are the reasons. (Associated Press)
Costly Tsunami Outlook Drawn Up For California
March 31, 2005A new study puts the price tag for a worst-case scenario at $42 billion, and that does not include billions of dollars in additional damage caused directly by an earthquake that is pegged as the likely source of a potentially devastating tsunami. (LiveScience.com)
December 26 Quake Twice as Powerful
March 31, 2005In a reassessment of the December 26 earthquake that unleashed the Indian Ocean killer tsunami, scientists say the temblor measured 9.3 on the Richter scale, more than twice as powerful as originally estimated and the second-biggest quake ever recorded. (Associated Press)
Group: Tsunami Salt Damage Not As Severe
March 31, 2005The contamination of soil by salt water � a potentially serious effect from December's devastating Indian Ocean tsunami in December � has been less severe than originally expected, agricultural experts say. (Associated Press)
Japan Unveils Tsunami Warning System Plan
March 31, 2005Japan launches a stop-gap plan for alerting Indian Ocean nations of impending tsunami: it will send them a fax within half an hour, an official says. (Associated Press)
Quake Behind Asian Tsunami Was Longest on Record
March 30, 2005The earthquake that triggered the devastating December 26 tsunami was the longest on record -- extending over 750 miles -- but poses little further immediate danger, scientists say. (Reuters)
Coastal Dwellers Up Disaster Risk
March 30, 2005While the earthquake in Indonesia and last December's Asian tsunami have focused attention on natural disasters, hundreds of smaller disasters cause widespread devastation every year. (Associated Press)
Volcano Flow Prediction Nearing
March 30, 2005Some of a volcano's deadliest weapons � the red-hot, high-speed lava flows and mudflows � may someday be easily sidestepped. (Discovery.com)
Wintry Canada to Use Solar Power to Heat Homes
March 30, 2005Canada, better known for snow than Sun, plans to build a 52-home solar powered community in Alberta that will harvest the Sun's rays in summer and use them to heat homes in winter, the government says. (Reuters)
Report: Earth's Ecosystem at Risk
March 30, 2005Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or "dead zones" in the seas, an international report says. (Reuters)
Study: Global Warming of Atlantic Could Hit Fish
March 30, 2005The potential shutdown due to climate warming of the key Atlantic Conveyor current that warms northern Europe could have a major impact on fish stocks in the region, a scientist says. (Reuters)
UH Studying Possible Coral Reef Link to Global Warming
March 30, 2005Hawaii's coral reefs produce carbon dioxide when they calcify and researchers from the University of Hawaii are trying to figure out whether the emissions contribute significantly to global warming. (Associated Press)
Latest Earthquakes Surprise Seismologists
March 29, 2005The latest deadly earthquake off the coast of Indonesia wasn't unexpected, but may have arrived earlier than experts anticipated. (Associated Press)
Earth's Downward Motion Prevented Tsunami
March 29, 2005The latest earthquake that hit Southeast Asia did not cause a tsunami because the earth moved downward rather than upward, a British seismologist says. (Big News Network)
Further Quake Can't Be Ruled Out: Scientist
March 29, 2005A prominent seismologist said he could not rule out the risk of a third big quake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where two massive temblors have occurred in just three months. (AFP)
Tsunami Warning System Helped Spread Word
March 29, 2005Within minutes of the March 28 earthquake, the word went out: radio and television stations repeated government warnings, workers at beachfront hotels pounded on doors to awaken guests, and police used loudspeakers to urge residents away from the sea. (Associated Press)
Scientists Debate Quake vs. Aftershock
March 29, 2005Earthquake or aftershock? For thousands of Indonesians digging out from the latest devastating geologic jolt, the question is academic. (Associated Press)
Test of Tsunami-Alert System Planned for Alaska
March 29, 2005A U.S. tsunami warning system will get its first public tryout on 2005-03-30, when federal emergency officials issue a statewide test alert in Alaska. (Reuters)
New Method Promises Better Earthquake Prediction
March 29, 2005Predicting major earthquakes, at least the type that produce tsunamis, may get a little easier with knowledge gleaned from a new study of past events. (LiveScience.com)
Major Quake Off Indonesia Kills 300
March 28, 2005A powerful earthquake off Indonesia's west coast kills at least 300 people, whose homes collapsed on them. (Associated Press)
Massive Quake for Sumatra Predicted Two Weeks Ago
March 28, 2005With eerie precision, seismologists warned less than two weeks ago that Sumatra was at imminent risk of being hit by a quake of roughly the same magnitude that struck the Indonesian island. (AFP)
Expert: Hurricane Ivan Caused Sand Loss
March 27, 2005New measurements of Hurricane Ivan's erosion of beaches, dunes and barrier islands along the Gulf of Mexico underscore how vulnerable the American shoreline is to such storms, a U.S. Geological Survey oceanographer says. (Associated Press)
Envisat Enables First Global Check of Regional Methane Emissions
March 26, 2005The SCIAMACHY sensor aboard Europe's Envisat satellite has performed the first space-based measurements of the global distribution of near-surface methane, one of the most important greenhouse gases. (Science Daily)
Scientist Probes Climate Problem
March 25, 2005A NASA scientist, using orbiting satellites to investigate the Earth's atmosphere, has become increasingly interested in one of the major unanswered aspects of the global warming debate: the role of aerosols. (Los Alamos Monitor)
New Volcano Threat: Just When You Think It's Safe
March 25, 2005When a volcano blows and you think you're safe by the sea after the main event subsides - watch your back - that's the message in a new study of an eruption in the Caribbean. (Space.com)
Experts: Central U.S. Could Have Quakes
March 25, 2005Two earthquake experts say the quake that produced the deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean in December should remind residents of the central United States that they live in an area where a devastating quake could occur. (Associated Press)
Tsunami Alert Technology - the Iron Link
March 25, 2005By December 2006, the Indian Ocean should be fully kitted out with a brand new hi-tech tsunami early warning system. (BBC)
Tsunami Region Takes Stock of Reef Damage
March 25, 2005Three months after the Indian Ocean tsunami, divers are still pulling mattresses and metal from the coral-lined bays of Thai paradise isles, although experts say overall reef damage is not that bad. (Reuters)
Japan to Warn of Tsunami Threats
March 25, 2005Japan will begin relaying to six western Pacific nations information on where and when earthquake-spawned tsunamis might hit their shores, a government agency says. (Associated Press)
Wildlife Winces at Early Spring
March 25, 2005Many native British species are struggling to cope with the "stop-start spring," wildlife experts say. (BBC)
Scientists' Tsunami Mercy Mission
March 24, 2005Experts have launched a project aimed at helping people hit by the Asian tsunami to plan for any future emergency and rebuild for the future. (BBC)
Northwest Salmon Habitat Threatened by Warming
March 24, 2005If current warming trends continue unchecked, more than 20 percent of the Pacific Northwest's rivers could become too warm for salmon, steelhead and trout by 2040, a new Northwest Wildlife Federation report says. (Associated Press)
Expert: Nature, Not Mankind, to Blame for Strong Storms
March 24, 2005Nature, not mankind, is to blame for a period of increased hurricane activity that could last for another 20 or 30 years, tropical weather expert William Gray says. (Associated Press)
Weather Service to Keep Hurricane 'Line'
March 24, 2005The National Weather Service will keep using a "skinny black line" to project hurricane tracks on forecast maps although some officials worry people in wider warning areas on either side may fail to take precautions. (Associated Press)
NASA Study Finds Soot May Be Changing the Arctic Environment
March 23, 2005New findings show soot may be contributing to changes happening near the North Pole, such as accelerating melting of sea ice and snow and changing atmospheric temperatures. (Los Angeles Times)
U.S. Government to Track Greenhouse Gas Reductions
March 23, 2005The U.S. government will start keeping track of all the "greenhouse" gases that farmers and foresters voluntarily reduce to help combat global warming. (Associated Press)
Nuclear Energy Touted as Solution
March 22, 2005Only by building more nuclear power plants can the world meet its soaring energy needs while averting environmental disaster, specialists at an international conference say. (Associated Press)
Illuminating Retreating Glaciers: Swiss Glacier to Get Heat Shield
March 22, 2005Swiss technicians are to use insulating foam to wrap up a glacier that has been shrinking under the summer sun, an official from a resort whose clients ski down the ice-field say. (Discovery.com)
Sediments in Northern Gulf Of Mexico Not Energy Efficient
March 22, 2005Marine sediments in the northern Gulf of Mexico are likely too warm and salty to hold substantial methane gas hydrates � a potential energy resource. (PhysOrg.com)
Pollution Plagues China's Giant Irrigation Scheme
March 22, 2005China's massive project to pump water to its parched north has a problem: a lack of clean water to pump. (Reuters)
South America Wetlands May Be 'Next Everglades'
March 21, 2005Giant South American wetlands are under threat from farming and house building and could shrink like the Florida Everglades, say U.N. experts. (Associated Press, Reuters)
Pollution Killing Asia's River Dolphins
March 21, 2005Asia's dwindling populations of river dolphins are under increasing threat from pollution, dam construction and entanglement in fishermen's nets, says the global nature conservation body WWF. (Reuters)
North Sea Crater Shows Its Scars
March 18, 2005What is thought to be the United Kingdom's only space impact crater has been mapped in detail in 3D for the first time. (BBC)
Scientists: Road Salt May Harm Environment
March 18, 2005The use of salt to melt snow and ice from slippery roads has an environmental downside that can affect a widespread area long after winter has passed, scientists say. (Associated Press)
Hurricane Center to Offer Probability Map
March 18, 2005The National Hurricane Center hopes to discourage residents from relying too much on that skinny black line in forecasts by offering a new map that shows the probability of an area being hit. (Associated Press)
No Drought Relief in Northwest
March 17, 2005Spring rains will provide the Pacific Northwest with only limited relief from a drought, say forecasters, increasing the risk of wildfires in the region. (Reuters)
NASA Researchers Use Imaging Radar to Detect Coastal Pollution
March 17, 2005A NASA-funded study of marine pollution in Southern California concluded space-based synthetic aperture radar can be a vital observational tool for assessing and monitoring ocean hazards in urbanized coastal regions. (Science Daily)
No Stopping Global Warming
March 17, 2005Even if all industrial pollution and auto emissions suddenly ceased today, Earth's climate would warm at least 1 degree Fahrenheit by the year 2100, according to a new study. (Reuters)
Small Vibrations Lend New Insights on Earth's Crust
March 17, 2005Scientists are gathering new data about Earth's crust, building detailed images of what lies beneath by exploiting vibrations usually discarded as noise. (Christian Science Monitor)
Tsunami Reveals Ancient Ruins in India
March 17, 2005For a few minutes after the water had receded from the shore, and before it came raging back as a tsunami, some in Mahabalipuram, India, stood along the beach and stared at the remains of ancient temples. (Associated Press)
New Asian Quake Threat Warning
March 16, 2005A build-up of stress on faults in Sumatra following the Indonesian earthquake is likely to trigger another large quake and perhaps a tsunami. (Associated Press)
Study: Tsunami Threat High in Caribbean
March 16, 2005Studies of both history and geology indicate that the northern Caribbean faces a high threat of devastating tsunami damage. (Associated Press)
Grizzlies Encroaching on Polar Bear Country
March 15, 2005The polar bears of the far north, already suffering from food shortages that appear to be the result of global warming, may have to make room for a fierce competitor - grizzly bears. (ABC)
Group Warns of Shrinking Glaciers' Effect
March 14, 2005The shrinking of Himalayan glaciers could fuel an upswing in flooding in China, India and Nepal, before creating water shortages for hundreds of millions of people across the region, a leading environmental group says. (Associated Press)
Don't Pick These Daisies
March 13, 2005You normally don't equate California's Death Valley with lush landscapes, but thanks to recent record rainfall, U.S. park rangers are reporting that the desert's hills are alive with wildflowers this month. (CBS)
Levels of Great Lakes Rising
March 13, 2005Increased precipitation has led to rising water levels in the Great Lakes during the past year, helping the fishing industry while allowing a variety of plants and animals to flourish. (Associated Press)
L.A. Looks at Harvesting Rain Water
March 12, 2005An environmental group has convinced the city of Los Angeles to invest in underground cisterns to catch rain water for irrigation needs. (ABC)
Mexico's 'Fire Volcano' Spews Hot Lava
March 11, 2005Western Mexico's Volcano of Fire spews hot lava, the latest in a series of spectacular but non-threatening eruptions in the past few weeks. (Associated Press)
Meteor Crater Formation Revisited
March 10, 2005The iron mass that smashed into Arizona some 49,000 years ago to create Meteor Crater was just the crumbled remains of a far larger rock body. (Reuters, BBC)
Experts Not Worried About Mount St. Helens
March 10, 2005Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey say the recent ash plume from Mount St. Helens is "just another beat," in the volcano's escalating drum roll. (Associated Press, Reuters)
Runoff May Harm Marine Life in Mexico
March 10, 2005Agricultural runoff is triggering massive algae blooms that could harm marine life in the Gulf of California, one of Mexico's most important fishing regions, according to a Stanford University study. (Associated Press)
NASA Team Provides Pilots Better Weather Information
March 10, 2005NASA is bringing better weather information to pilots and forecasters with the help of airborne sensors installed on a fleet of commuter airliners. (Science Daily)
The Struggle to Save Earth's Largest Life Form
March 10, 2005To save Australia's Great Barrier Reef, ecologists now focus on resilience in the face of recurring disturbances. (Christian Science Monitor)
Indian Ocean Tsunami Alert Agreed
March 9, 2005Indian Ocean countries and UN experts have agreed on a timetable for a tsunami early warning system. (BBC)
Experts Weigh Super-volcano Risks
March 9, 2005Geologists have called for a taskforce to be set up to consider emergency management in the event of a massive volcanic eruption, or super-eruption. (Reuters, BBC)
Australian Scientists Prove Less Trees, Less Rain
March 9, 2005Australian scientists have found that deforestation along the Amazon River in South America was reducing rainfall and causing climate change in the region. (Reuters)
Canada Smelter Blamed for Lake's Pollution
March 9, 2005Most of the lead, cadmium and other heavy metals pollution sampled from Lake Roosevelt, the reservoir behind the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state, came from a smelter in Trail, British Columbia, according to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey. (Associated Press)
Mexico's Gulf Coast in Peril from Global Warming
March 9, 2005Experts say the lowest-lying villages along Mexico's southern Gulf of Mexico coast will be hit hard as the fog of gas belched out by rich countries sends weather patterns haywire and as melting glaciers swell global sea levels up to 3 feet by 2100. (Reuters)
Fish Numbers Drop After Grand Canyon Flood
March 8, 2005The number of juvenile endangered fish recovered in the Colorado River declined dramatically after officials flooded the Grand Canyon in an effort to aid them and their fragile ecosystem. (Associated Press)
Group: China Timber Demand Threatens World's Forests
March 8, 2005China's rising demand for wood threatens to devastate timber stocks in countries from Indonesia to Russia, an environmental group says, calling for more efficient wood use and measures to discourage illegal logging. (Associated Press)
Invasive Tree Species Infestation Spotted
March 8, 2005Researchers using a sophisticated sensor aboard a NASA aircraft flying at the edge of space were able to spot an invasive tree species starting to take over native forests near Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano, according to a new study. (Associated Press)
NASA Finds Lightning Clears Safe Zone in Earth's Radiation Belt
March 8, 2005Lightning in clouds, only a few miles above the ground, clears a safe zone in the radiation belts thousands of miles above the Earth, according to NASA-funded researchers. (MSNBC)
New Ecosystem at Atlantic Hydrothermal Vent
March 4, 2005A strange world of see-through shrimp, crabs and other life forms teems around a newly explored field of thermal vents near the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, scientists report. (Associated Press)
Quake Swarm Off Oregon Coast Prompts Research
March 4, 2005An earthquake "swarm" that began last weekend has resulted in thousands of small earthquakes off the Oregon coast in recent days, but the size of the quakes did not pose any tsunami threat, officials say. (Reuters)
Restless Volcano Creates Hazards in Alaska
March 4, 2005Volcanic rumblings at Mount Spurr are creating hazardous conditions for extreme skiers, snowboarders and pilots landing in the area, the Alaska Volcano Observatory says. (Associated Press)
Forests Could Be Key to Curbing Global Warming
March 3, 2005Effective control of forest fires may prove crucial in the fight against global warming since blazes from Alaska to Indonesia spew out vast amounts of heat-trapping gases, Canadian foresters say. (Reuters)
Huge Space Clouds May Have Caused Mass Extinctions
March 3, 2005Giant space clouds of gas may have changed the climate or atmosphere on Earth and fueled mass extinctions millions of years ago, scientists say. (Space.com)
Home Cooking Clogs Climate
March 3, 2005The major source of potentially climate-changing soot in the air over south Asia is home cooking fires, according to a team of Indian and American researchers. (Associated Press)
El Nino Growth Stunted In Pacific
March 3, 2005The mild El Nino conditions that have prevailed in the Pacific in recent months seem to be weakening, climate scientists report. (Associated Press)
South America 'Hazard Map' to Chart Disaster Risk
March 2, 2005South American geologists are drawing up a regional "hazard map" pinpointing areas prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcano eruptions as world governments work to improve early warning mechanisms in the wake of the Asian tsunami. (Reuters)
Satellite Sees Ocean Plants Increase, Coasts Greening
March 2, 2005NASA researchers used satellite data from 1998 to 2003 to show that phytoplankton amounts have increased globally by more than 4 percent. (SpaceRef.com)
Researcher Downplays Ozone Hole Risk
March 2, 2005The reported risk of a hole in the ozone layer appearing over the Arctic this winter has been overstated, a Swedish researcher says. (Associated Press)
Climate 'Threatens' Arctic Lakes
March 1, 2005Communities of creatures living in Arctic lakes are undergoing dramatic changes in response to climate warming, according to Canadian experts. (BBC)
100 World Cities in Britain's Climate Rescue Drive
March 1, 2005Britain launches a campaign to tackle the global climate change crisis through the sharing of information between 100 cities in 60 countries from Argentina to Vietnam. (Reuters)
Arctic Researchers Trace Warming Trend to 1850s
March 1, 2005A circumpolar investigation led by Canadian scientists has discovered clear signs of climate change in scores of Arctic lakes dating back to the mid-19th century, when the Industrial Revolution kicked off widespread burning of fossil fuels. (Toronto Star)
Scientists Advance in Detection and Attribution Of Climate Change
March 1, 2005Access to the next generation of climate change experiments has helped scientists obtain more comprehensive estimates of the expected "signal" of human influences on climate. (Science Daily)
NASA Research Aids UNESCO Global Conservation Efforts
March 1, 2005NASA will now work with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to foster improved global conservation through increased use of NASA Earth science research and remote sensing data. (SpaceRef.com)
Natural Disasters on Coasts Concern NOAA
March 1, 2005More than half of all Americans now live on or near a coast, a major evacuation worry in case of hurricanes, tsunamis or other natural disasters. (Associated Press)
Arctic Ozone Loss Concerns Researchers
March 1, 2005Ozone levels over the Earth's far north dipped sharply early last year when polar winds trapped nitrogen pollutants, researchers say. (Associated Press)