Panel: Warming Will End Some Species
March 31, 2007From the micro to the macro, from plankton in the oceans to polar bears in the far north and seals in the far south, global warming has begun changing life on Earth, international scientists will say in a UN report. (Associated Press)
Ecuador's Reventador Volcano Spews Ash
March 30, 2007A volcano in Ecuador's Andes erupted, shooting a plume of ash nearly two miles into the sky but causing no injuries or damage, authorities said. (Associated Press)
Storm System Spawns Twisters, Floods
March 30, 2007Another wave of storms swept through Texas and Oklahoma, spawning at least three tornadoes in central Texas, dumping rain into swollen creeks and rivers and forcing evacuations. (Associated Press)
Europe Faces Global Warming Double Whammy
March 30, 2007Global warming will hit Europe hard but unevenly this century, causing drought, reduced harvests and deadly heat waves in the south but inflicting more floods and severe winter storms farther north, UN experts say. (Agence France-Presse)
Disruptive La Nina Weather Phenomenon Looming: WMO
March 30, 2007The World Meteorological Organization said that a disruptive La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific basin was looming this year but might not take shape for another two to three months. (Agence France-Presse)
Earthquakes Help Take Deep Earth's Temperature
March 29, 2007New high-resolution seismic images have produced the best estimate to date of the temperature of Earth's extremely deep interior, researchers report. (National Geographic Online)
Scientists: Antarctic Ice Sheet Thinning
March 28, 2007A Texas-sized piece of the Antarctic ice sheet is thinning, possibly due to global warming, and could cause the world's oceans to rise significantly, polar ice experts said. (Reuters)
Rising Sea Levels Threaten Cities
March 28, 2007More than two-thirds of the world's large cities are in areas vulnerable to global warming and rising sea levels, and millions of people are at risk of being swamped by flooding and intense storms, according to a new study. (Associated Press)
Sun Burp Blasted Ozone Layer in 1859
March 27, 2007A titanic burp of protons from the sun in 1859 appears to have temporarily weakened Earth's ozone layer, say scientists studying ice cores from Greenland. (Discovery.com)
Greenland's Mysterious Winds Tied to Global Climate
March 26, 2007After flying head-on into hurricane-force winds that whipped around the southern tip of Greenland, a group of scientists has a better idea of just how these winds relate to broader weather patterns, ocean circulation and climate. (LiveScience.com)
Warming May Create New Climates in Places
March 26, 2007Some climates may disappear from Earth entirely, not just from their current locations, while new climates could develop if the planet continues to warm, a study says. (Associated Press)
Geologists: St. Helens an 'Open System'
March 26, 2007Mount St. Helens may be following the example of Kilauea in Hawaii with magma being replaced from a reservoir beneath the volcano as fast as it emerges as lava at the surface, scientists say. (Associated Press)
Major Japan Quake Kills One, Injures 170
March 25, 2007A powerful 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck central Japan, killing at least one person and injuring 170 others as it toppled buildings, triggered landslides and generated a small tsunami. (Associated Press)
Japan's Quake Early Warning System Passes First Real Test
March 25, 2007Japan's earthquake early-warning system swung into action for the first time as a huge tremor struck, allowing authorities to issue a tsunami alert about one minute later. (Agence France-Presse)
Millions Face Drought in Southwest China
March 24, 2007More than 5.5 million people are short of drinking water because of an acute drought in southwestern China, state media reports. (BBC)
Rumbling Indonesian Volcano Forces Evacuation
March 23, 2007Indonesia's rumbling Mount Batutara volcano triggered the evacuation of about 15,000 people, an official said. (Agence France-Presse)
Juneau Sweats Over Avalanche Risk
March 23, 2007Scientists say Juneau, Alaska, has the highest risk of an avalanche disaster of any city in America, and officials this year have funded an urban avalanche forecasting office � the only one in North America. (Associated Press)
Europe-Wide Weather Alarm System Launched
March 23, 2007With climate change set to bring ever more frequent storms, floods and natural disasters, 21 European countries have created a unified weather alert system, its creators said. (Reuters)
Plan For 'Big One' in Quake-Prone Areas: U.S. Geophysicist
March 23, 2007The world's most high-risk earthquake zones should be considered lethal, and policy makers need warning systems in place in case of a disaster like the 2004 Asian tsunami, a top geophysicist says. (Agence France-Presse)
Study: Plate Tectonics Well Under Way 3.8 Billion Years Ago
March 23, 2007Scientists have identified an expanse of rock in Greenland as a remnant of Earth's crust dating back 3.8 billion years, a finding that shows the dynamic geological process called plate tectonics was occurring early in our planet's history. (Reuters)
Amazon 'Faces More Deadly Droughts'
March 23, 2007Scientists using a climate change model predict that under current levels of greenhouse gas emissions the chances of a severe drought in the Amazon basin will rise from 5 percent now (one every 20 years) to 90 percent by 2100. (BBC)
Antarctic Melting May Be Speeding Up
March 23, 2007Rising sea levels and melting polar ice-sheets are at upper limits of projections, leaving some human population centers already unable to cope, top world scientists say as they analyze latest satellite data. (Reuters)
Southern Ocean Current Faces Slowdown Threat
March 22, 2007The impact of global warming on the vast Southern Ocean around Antarctica is starting to pose a threat to ocean currents that distribute heat around the world, Australian scientists say. (Reuters)
Storm-Force Winds Exert Less Pull on Ocean Than Expected
March 22, 2007A snapshot of ocean conditions taken during Hurricane Ivan in 2004 has yielded new clues about the dynamics of storm surges that could help meteorologists make more accurate predictions, a new study finds. (Agence France-Presse)
New Carbon Dioxide Tracking Developed
March 21, 2007Researchers say they have developed a new system to track carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that is capable of determining where and when this major greenhouse gas increases or decreases. (Associated Press)
Super-Hurricane Threat Extremely Low
March 21, 2007The chances of any one place on the U.S. Gulf Coast being hit by a powerful storm are slim, a new study of past hurricane activity finds. (LiveScience.com)
Meteorologists Say Humans Cause Climate Change
March 21, 2007At a meeting of the World Meteorological Organization, a United Nations agency, some of the world's leading meteorologists said they had no doubt that humans were responsible for global warming. (Reuters)
Rain Forest Mechanism Helps Plants Survive
March 19, 2007Amazon rain forests appear to have evolved an intricate system of nourishing themselves during dry months that may actually trigger the onset of the wet season. (The Boston Globe)
Solar Pulses Suggest Heavy Australia Rain: Scientist
March 19, 2007Links between the sun's magnetic pulse and Earth's climatic systems point to heavy rainfall later this year and in 2008, which could break Australia's worst drought in 100 years, new scientific research says. (Reuters)
Global Warming Actions Could Curb Nightmare Impacts
March 19, 2007Cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases can mute the worst impacts of global warming, such as water shortages for billions of people or extinction of almost half of Amazonian tree species, a draft UN report shows. (Reuters)
Indonesia Ups Alert Level on Sumatra Volcano
March 19, 2007Indonesia has raised the alert level for Mount Talang on Sumatra following increased smoke and tremors, a vulcanologist said. (Agence France-Presse)
Solar Activity 'Won't Break Drought'
March 19, 2007A theory that Australia can expect drought-breaking rains within the year, thanks to increasing solar activity, has been dismissed. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Global Deforestation Rate Slows
March 19, 2007An area of forest twice the size of Paris disappears every day, although the rate of global deforestation has started to slow, according to a new UN report. (Reuters)
Mud, Rocks Rush from New Zealand Volcano
March 18, 2007A mix of mud, acidic water and rocks tore down the slope of a volcano in New Zealand, triggering an early warning alarm. (Associated Press)
Cyclone Kills Two, Displaces Thousands
March 17, 2007Two people were killed and thousands left homeless when a ruinous cyclone smashed the northern coast of Madagascar, authorities said. (Associated Press)
Ski Industry Goes Green to Fight Warming
March 17, 2007The ski industry is going green to help offset the pollution that feeds global warming � a phenomenon that challenges the resorts' very existence with the threat of later snowfalls and earlier snow melts. (Associated Press)
Caution Urged on Climate 'Risks'
March 17, 2007Two leading UK climate researchers say some of their peers are "overplaying" the global warming message and risk confusing the public about the threat. (BBC)
Web Site to Pool European Weather Data
March 17, 2007With climate change making conditions more unpredictable, national weather services from across the European Union have joined forces to create a new web site providing up-to-the-minute information on "extreme weather" across the continent. (Associated Press)
Hurricane Chief Warns of Old Satellite Data
March 16, 2007Certain hurricane forecasts could become less accurate if the aging QuikScat weather satellite were to fail, the nation's new top hurricane forecaster said. (Associated Press)
Warming Temperatures Damage Cereal Crops
March 16, 2007Warming temperatures over the past quarter century have cut production of cereal crops worldwide by millions of tons and caused annual losses of roughly $5 billion, according to a new study. (Associated Press)
Winter Warmest on Record Worldwide
March 15, 2007This winter was the warmest on record worldwide, the government said in the latest worrisome report focusing on changing climate. (Associated Press)
Antarctic Glaciers Sloughing of Ice Has Scientists at a Loss
March 15, 2007Some of the largest glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are moving in unusual ways and are losing increased amounts of ice to the sea, but the exact causes remain somewhat unknown, researchers said. (The Washington Post)
Cool Robot, New Icebreaker to Gather Polar Data
March 15, 2007The new Cool Robot will make observations like the properties of snow as indicators of climate change that are sometimes risky and expensive for humans to do in polar regions. (Reuters)
Flood Concerns Pepper Spring Forecast
March 15, 2007The government's spring weather outlook raises concerns for flooding in the Midwest and continued drought in the Southwest. (Associated Press)
Activity Discovered at Yellowstone Super Volcano
March 15, 2007One of the largest super volcanoes in the world lies beneath Yellowstone National Park and scientists say activity there is increasing. (LiveScience.com)
Giant Cold Water Eddy Off Sydney Lowers Sea Level
March 14, 2007Australian oceanographers have discovered a giant cold water eddy off Sydney which has lowered sea levels almost one meter and impacted a major ocean current. (Reuters)
Slow Slippage Could Predict Huge Earthquakes
March 14, 2007Tiny tremors that are imperceptible at the Earth�s surface and could foreshadow destructive mega earthquakes are generated by the slow slipping of tectonic plates deep inside of certain types of faults, a new study finds. (LiveScience.com)
Scientist Says Sea Level Rise Could Accelerate
March 13, 2007Data from satellites is showing that sea level rises and polar ice-melting might be worse than earlier thought, a NASA oceanographer said. (Reuters)
Giant Australian Salt Lake Springs to Life
March 12, 2007Floodwaters flowed into the world's largest ephemeral lake in outback Australia, triggering a once-in-a-decade explosion of bird and fish life in place of arid salt flats. (Reuters)
Old Earthquake Faults Are Worn Like Brake Pads
March 12, 2007Earthquake faults are worn smooth over time by friction, like the brake pads of an old car, according to a new study. (LiveScience.com)
China's Yellow River Running Low
March 11, 2007Unseasonably warm weather in northern China has led to parts of the Yellow River, the nation's second-longest waterway, drying up, state press reported. (Agence France-Presse)
Rains Helping Cool Barrier Reef
March 11, 2007Recent torrential rain and monsoons in northern Queensland have provided some rare relief for the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. (BBC)
Report Outlines Global Warming Effects
March 10, 2007The harmful effects of global warming on daily life are already showing up, and within a couple of decades hundreds of millions of people won't have enough water, top scientists will say next month at a meeting in Belgium. (Associated Press)
Geologists to Map the World
March 9, 2007Rock scientists from across the world will start next week to put together the first geological map of the earth in a bid to better understand the planet. (Reuters)
Protecting Ozone Layer Also Slowed Global Warming
March 9, 2007Global warming would be substantially worse right now if not for an international agreement in the 1980s that banned the use of ozone-destroying chemicals, a new study finds. (LiveScience.com)
Surprising New Arctic Inhabitants: Trees
March 9, 2007Rising temperatures fueled by global warming are causing forests of spruce trees to invade Arctic tundra faster than scientists originally thought, evicting and endangering the species that dwell there and only there, a new study concludes. (LiveScience.com)
Climate Change Brews Ocean Trouble
March 8, 2007Scientists tie global warming to increased upwelling of deep ocean water, which can create crippling aquatic dead zones. (Christian Science Monitor)
La Nina May Form in Pacific by May, as El Nino Disappears
March 8, 2007The La Nina weather anomaly may form in the equatorial Pacific in the next two to three months, possibly increasing the risks for more hurricanes later this year in the Atlantic. (Reuters)
Australia's West Braces for Tropical Storm
March 8, 2007Communities on Australia's northwest coast prepared for a severe tropical cyclone expected to hit the region, with mines and oil production shut down and emergency services placed on alert. (Reuters)
Air Pollution Cuts Rainfall Over Mountains
March 7, 2007Air pollution from vehicles, industry and the burning of plant material can choke off the formation of precipitation in some semi-arid mountainous areas, threatening critical water sources, a new study finds. (LiveScience.com)
Deadly Quake Rumbles Western Indonesia
March 6, 2007A powerful earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of western Indonesia, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds, authorities said, predicting that the toll would rise. (Associated Press)
Missing: A Huge Chunk of the Earth's Crust
March 5, 2007A team of British scientists has set sail on a voyage to examine why a huge chunk of the earth's crust is missing, deep under the Atlantic Ocean -- a phenomenon that challenges conventional ideas about how the earth works. (Reuters)
South Korea's Warmest Winter in a Century
March 5, 2007South Korea had the warmest winter in more than a century due to global warming and the El Nino weather system, officials said. (Agence France-Presse)
Ants Adapt Quickly to Warming
March 5, 2007Ants may be able to adapt quickly to a rapidly warming planet, say biologists who have compared leaf cutter ants in the hot center of S�o Paolo to those in nearby cooler rural areas of Brazil. (Discovery.com)
Asian Soot May Strengthen Storms Reaching U.S.
March 5, 2007Pollution from Asia is helping generate stronger storms over the North Pacific that ultimately travel into the U.S., new research shows. (Associated Press)
Swiss Resorts Tackle Snow Decline
March 5, 2007Some of Switzerland's most famous ski resorts have compiled a report on how to cope with climate change; snow in the Alpine region has been scarce this winter - one of the warmest since records began. (BBC)
Warm Winters Upset Rhythms of Maple Sugar
March 4, 2007Warmer-than-usual winters are stoking fears for the survival of New England's maple forests. (The New York Times)
Tibetans Carry On as Glaciers Fall Victim to Global Warming
March 4, 2007Although the melting of Tibet's massive glaciers threatens to have dire global repercussions, climate change remains a vague concept for the people of this Himalayan region. (Agence France-Presse)
40 Killed, Dozens Missing in Indonesian Landslides
March 3, 2007At least 40 people have been killed in landslides triggered by heavy rains on the eastern Indonesian island of Flores, and dozens more are still missing, officials said. (Agence France-Presse)
India's 'Wet Desert' Hit by Global Climate Change
March 2, 2007Rainfall in the unique "wet desert" of India's northeast has become unpredictable and the dry season longer in a disturbing sign of major changes in global weather patterns, scientists say. (Agence France-Presse)
At Least 14 Killed in Tornadoes
March 1, 2007Tornadoes ripped across southern and mid-western states, killing at least 14 people including eight in the southern Alabama town of Enterprise, emergency management officials said. (Reuters)
Scientists Watch Polar Areas for Changes
March 1, 2007Scientists formally kicked off the International Polar Year, the biggest such project in 50 years, to monitor the health of the polar regions using icebreakers, satellites and submarines. (Associated Press)
Eyewalls May Predict Hurricane Changes
March 1, 2007New research suggests watching for changes in the inner eyewall of a hurricane may help forecasters overcome one of their most perplexing challenges: predicting sudden strengthening or weakening. (Associated Press)
Warming Could Slow Ocean Currents
March 1, 2007A new study of 17 different climate models concludes that the thermohaline circulation, which drives the Gulf Stream and helps warm Europe, won't stop dead and abruptly change regional climates -- at least not anytime this century. (Discovery.com)
Longest Underground River Found
March 1, 2007Cave divers in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula have discovered what may be the world's longest underground river, connecting two cave systems with a waterway at least 95 miles long. (Reuters)