New View on Hurricanes Could Yield Better Predictions
May 31, 2007A new hurricane monitoring technique may be better at detecting sudden bursts in a storm's activity, such as the one that surprised Florida residents when Hurricane Charley hit in 2004, say the researchers who developed it. (LiveScience.com)
Nine Atlantic Hurricanes Expected in 2007
May 31, 2007The Colorado State University hurricane research team renewed its forecast for an "above average" 2007 Atlantic storm season and predicted 17 tropical storms, with nine growing to hurricane strength. (Reuters)
Study: Climate Change Models Overstate Droughts
May 31, 2007There will be more flooding and less drought than has been forecast in widely used projections of global warming, according to a new study that used measurements taken by NASA weather satellites. (USA Today)
G8 Greenhouse Emissions on the Rise
May 31, 2007Greenhouse gas emissions by leading industrialized nations have accelerated since 2000 and several countries are performing worse than the United States, UN data shows. (Reuters)
Cyclones Could Save Oceanic Conveyor Belt From Global Warming
May 30, 2007The ferocious winds of tropical cyclones churn up ocean water as they spin over the surface, significantly affecting the transport of heat in the ocean, a new study finds. (LiveScience.com)
Strong Quake in Eastern Indonesia, Cuts Power
May 29, 2007A strong undersea earthquake struck Indonesia's Mollucas islands, blacking out power in the town of Labuha, officials at the country's meteorological agency said. (Reuters)
Damage from Climate Change May Cost Alaska $10 Billion
May 29, 2007Collapsing bridges, bursting sewer pipes and crumbling roads caused by global warming could cost Alaska up to $10 billion over the next few decades, researchers said. (Agence France-Presse)
Storms Wreak Havoc in Europe, Turkey
May 28, 2007Heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at least 23 people in Europe and Turkey, officials said. (Reuters)
Indian Monsoon Arrives on Southwest Coast
May 28, 2007The first rain from India's annual monsoon, which is crucial to its farm-dependent economy, hit the southwest coast, a weather official said. (Agence France-Presse)
Can Science Outwit Storms Like Katrina?
May 28, 2007The Army Corps of Engineers has devised new, flexible computer models to understand what kind of storms a region can expect, how the current protection system might perform against them, and what defenses will be needed in the future. (The New York Times)
Global Warming-Hurricane Link Spurs Controversy
May 27, 2007Climate scientists agree there have been a lot of strong hurricanes lately and that warmer seas have given these storms some extra punch, but they disagree how much global warming is to blame. (Reuters)
Wildfires Ravage Forests in Canada
May 27, 2007Wildfires burning out of control have destroyed vast swaths of forest over recent days in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec, authorities and media said. (Agence France-Presse)
Mudslide, Lightning Strikes Kill 43 in China
May 26, 2007Mudslides and floods caused by torrential rains, and lightning strikes in southwestern China's Sichuan province have killed 43 people and left many homeless over the past week, the Xinhua news agency said. (Reuters)
Texas Storms Leave Five Dead, One Missing
May 26, 2007Forecasters predicted more heavy thunderstorms in the Plains after two days of storms and flooding that left five people dead and one missing in central Texas. (Associated Press)
Warming Threatens Arctic Glaciers
May 26, 2007Warming in Canada's far north is melting glaciers that threaten to split into massive chunks and float away, a Canadian researcher said, after tagging an iceberg as big as Manhattan. (Agence France-Presse)
Arctic, Tropical Islands Team Up for Climate Pact
May 25, 2007Arctic peoples and tropical islanders will try to strengthen an unusual alliance on the front lines of global warming by seeking ways to cope with melting ice and rising seas. (Reuters)
Near-Record Drought: Lake Okeechobee 9 Feet Below Sea Level
May 24, 2007A drought has led to severe water restrictions across Florida, but has also presented an opportunity to clean portions of the highly polluted Lake Okeechobee, as water levels have dropped enough to expose typically submerged shoreline. (Associated Press)
Remote Lab Checks Arctic Pollution
May 24, 2007A lab in the Arctic's Ellesmere Island is providing scientists with vital clues about the role of ultraviolet radiation, tiny pollutants, and ozone in climate change. (BBC)
Study: Killer Hurricanes Thrived in Cooler Seas
May 24, 2007Hurricanes over the past 5,000 years appear to have been controlled more by El Nino and an African monsoon than warm sea surface temperatures, such as those caused by global warming, researchers said. (Reuters)
Quake Rattles Southern California
May 24, 2007A relatively light, 3.8-magnitude earthquake followed by a slightly stronger aftershock rattled part of Southern California, according to a preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey. (Associated Press)
Study: Climate Change Threatens Crops
May 23, 2007Climate change could drive many wild relatives of plants such as the potato and the peanut into extinction, threatening a valuable source of genes necessary to help these food crops fight pests and drought, an international research group reported. (Associated Press)
Study: Worldwide Carbon Dioxide Emissions Soar
May 23, 2007Warnings about global warming may not be dire enough, according to a climate study that describes a runaway-train acceleration of industrial carbon dioxide emissions. (USA Today)
Government Hurricane Forecasters Predict a Rough Season
May 22, 2007The federal government predicted an active hurricane season for 2007 -- with 13 to 17 named storms, of which as many as 10 could become full hurricanes. (Associated Press)
Warming Blamed for Costa Rica Frog Die-Offs
May 22, 2007Global warming is the top suspect for the disappearance of 17 amphibian species from Costa Rican jungles, scientists said, warning monkey and reptile populations were also plummeting. (Reuters)
Mudflow Warning for Volatile Philippines Volcano
May 21, 2007Residents living along river channels emanating from Mount Bulusan were warned they could be hit by deadly mudflows from the restive central Philippines volcano. (Agence France-Presse)
World Carbon Dioxide Output to Increase 59 Percent by 2030: U.S.
May 21, 2007Global emissions of the main gas scientists link to global warming will rise 59 percent from 2004 to 2030, with much of the growth coming from coal burning in developing countries like China, the U.S. government forecast. (Reuters)
Polar Bears at Risk as Warming Thaws Icy Home
May 20, 2007An estimated 20,000-25,000 bears live around the Arctic -- in Canada, Russia, Alaska, Greenland and Norway -- and countries are struggling to work out ways to protect them amid forecasts of an accelerating thaw. (Reuters)
Report: Warming Imperils State Flowers
May 19, 2007Global warming threatens the state flowers and trees in at least 18 states, scientists with the National Wildlife Federation report. (Associated Press)
Corps: Close Channel Blamed for Flooding
May 19, 2007The Army Corps of Engineers said it wants to build a $50 million earthen dam to plug a ship channel blamed for much of the flooding from Hurricane Katrina. (Associated Press)
Residents Flee After Waves Batter Indonesian Coastline
May 18, 2007More than a thousand people have fled inland along Indonesia's coastline after tidal waves destroyed houses and fishing boats this week, officials said. (Agence France-Presse)
Antarctic Lake Cleared for Study
May 18, 2007Scientists from several countries may soon drill through the thick ice and into Antarctica's 100-mile-long Lake Vostok to find out the secrets of what might live there in the most isolated ecosystem on the planet. (Discovery.com)
Small Parks Could Cool Big Cities
May 18, 2007Just 10 percent additional green space could reduce surface temperatures by seven degrees Fahrenheit in many urban areas, according to a team of British scientists. (LiveScience.com)
Volcanic Bulge Could Pinpoint Next Eruption
May 17, 2007The world's largest volcano is bulging and the swelling could help pinpoint where the Hawaiian volcano will erupt next, researchers say. (NewScientist.com)
Small Particles' Big Impact on Climate
May 17, 2007A team of scientists is in the midst of a two-month effort to conduct the most detailed study yet on tiny dust particles and soot that cause air pollution, temper global warming and may affect hurricane formation. (Christian Science Monitor)
Study: Southern Ocean Saturated with Carbon Dioxide
May 17, 2007The Southern Ocean around Antarctica is so loaded with carbon dioxide that it can barely absorb any more, so more of the gas will stay in the atmosphere to warm up the planet, scientists report. (Reuters)
Global Warming Cuts Salmon Habitat
May 17, 2007Global warming is likely to greatly increase spending on fighting wildfires and greatly reduce salmon habitat in the Northwest, two new reports suggest. (Associated Press)
Big Areas of Antarctica Melted in 2005
May 16, 2007Vast areas of snow in Antarctica melted in 2005 when temperatures warmed up for a week in the summer in a process that may accelerate invisible melting deep beneath the surface, NASA said. (Reuters)
Marine Species Suggest Antarctic 'Cradle of Life'
May 16, 2007Carnivorous sponges, 585 new species of crustaceans and hundreds of new worms have been discovered in the dark waters around Antarctica, suggesting these depths may have been the source of much marine life, European researchers report. (Reuters)
Asian Dust Plume May Sway U.S. Climate: Scientists
May 15, 2007Asian desert dust and city pollution is swirling in vast plumes across the Pacific to North America, interacting with storms and possibly spurring climate change, an airborne scientist said. (Reuters)
Ocean Around Japan Warming Up Fast: Report
May 15, 2007The ocean around Japan has warmed up faster than elsewhere in the world over the last hundred years partly because of global warming, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. (Reuters)
Strong Wind to Complicate Wildfire Fight
May 14, 2007Hope in the form of rain turned to fear of stronger wind gusts as firefighters faced another tough day battling a massive wildfire along the Georgia-Florida line started by lightning more than a week ago. (Associated Press)
Forecasters Call for New Hurricane Classification
May 14, 2007Forecasters are calling for a new system to predict a hurricane's damage potential, one that could have saved lives taken by Hurricane Katrina and that would be based on the storm's size and reach, not just its wind speed and push. (LiveScience.com)
Scientists Urge Half of Canada Forest Be Protected
May 14, 2007Canada's vast forests should be protected much more than they are now to preserve wildlife and water and to fight global warming, a group of 1,500 scientists from around the world said. (Reuters)
Panel: Climate Change Will Hurt Africa
May 14, 2007According to a landmark effort to assess the risks of global warming, Africa � by far the lowest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world � is projected to be among the regions hardest hit by environmental change. (Associated Press)
Warming World Threatens Migratory Birds
May 13, 2007Disoriented by erratic weather, birds are changing migration habits and routes to adjust to warmer winters, disappearing feeding grounds and shrinking wetlands, a migration expert says. (Associated Press)
Lab Twisters Could Reveal Tornado Secrets
May 13, 2007Tiny igloos can generate "micro-tornadoes" in the lab, which could allow scientists to better understand the destructive secrets of real-life twisters�and maybe help predict them. (LiveScience.com)
Philippine Volcano Showers 11 Villages
May 12, 2007The unstable Bulusan volcano in the eastern Philippines spewed a column of ash into the air, showering 11 villages with ash, government scientists said. (Agence France-Presse)
Scientists Monitor Undersea Volcano
May 12, 2007Researchers have installed a seismometer atop an active volcano called Kick 'em Jenny under the Caribbean Sea to warn of eruptions or earthquake activity, scientists said. (Associated Press)
Fog, Lower Temperatures Take Bite Out of California Wildfires
May 11, 2007Lower temperatures and fog combined to reduce the virulence of a raging fire that has been blazing in southern California, which is unusually dry for this time of year. (Agence France-Presse)
Mystery Source of Urban Pollution Revealed
May 11, 2007Researchers find the grime that builds up on windows, buildings, roads and other urban surfaces might contribute to the formation of city smog. (LiveScience.com)
Rains Aid Europe's Crop Amid Climate Swings
May 11, 2007Rains are reviving parched European crops and cargo ships are plying the Rhine fully loaded for the first time in a month, but worries remain that global warming is skewing the continent's weather. (Reuters)
NASA Study: Eastern U.S. to Get Hotter
May 10, 2007Future eastern United States summers look much hotter than originally predicted with daily highs about 10 degrees warmer than in recent years by the mid-2080s, a new NASA study says. (Associated Press)
China Warns Over Climate Change
May 10, 2007The Chinese authorities have announced that the country is likely to be hit by more adverse weather this year than at any time in the past decade. (BBC)
Weird Gravity in Canada Blamed on Hefty Glaciers
May 10, 2007A mysterious dip in gravity over Canada has been a weighty topic for some scientists and new satellite data reveal a thick ice sheet that once cloaked the region partially resolves this so-called gravitational anomaly. (LiveScience.com)
Subtropical Storm Forms Off the Southeast Coast
May 9, 2007The first named storm of the year formed off the southeastern U.S. coast, more than three weeks before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, forecasters said. (Associated Press)
2007 Could Be a Busy Hurricane Season
May 9, 2007Two national hurricane experts say they expect an especially active storm season in the Atlantic this year, with one predicting 17 tropical storms and hurricanes. (Associated Press)
Midwest Flooding Could Near 1993 Levels
May 9, 2007Heavy rain from an already deadly storm system sent the Missouri River and other Midwest waterways over their banks, forcing thousands of people to evacuate and bringing warnings that the region could see flooding close to the devastation of 1993. (Associated Press)
Study Ties Coral Disease to Warmer Oceans
May 8, 2007Warmer sea temperatures are linked to the severity of a coral disease, according to a study on Australia's Great Barrier Reef that offers a dire warning about global warming's potential impact on the world's troubled reefs. (Reuters)
Plants Don't Produce Greenhouse Gas, New Study Finds
May 8, 2007Plants are not a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, according to new research that casts doubt on the results of an earlier study. (LiveScience.com)
Famous Caymans Coral Reefs Dying, Scientists Say
May 6, 2007The reef system of the western Caribbean territory has lost 50 percent of its hard corals in the last 10 years and climate change may to be blame, scientists say. (Reuters)
Snowball Fight Erupts Over Frozen Earth Theory
May 6, 2007The theory that the Earth long ago froze completely over is challenged by new data from desert outcroppings in Oman that indicate even as glaciers spread across all the continents 700 million years ago, warm spells with liquid water were still common. (LiveScience.com)
Quake Hits Fiji
May 6, 2007Two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 6.0 struck off the coast of Fiji, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but no tsunami warnings were issued and there were no early reports of damage. (Agence France-Presse)
Thousands Homeless After Flooding in Sri Lankan Capital
May 5, 2007More than 125,000 people have been driven out of their homes and 16 killed following flash floods in the Sri Lankan capital and neighboring areas, officials said. (Agence France-Presse)
Deal Reached on Climate Change Report
May 4, 2007An international team of scientists and delegates approved the world's first roadmap for stemming mounting greenhouse gas emissions, laying out an arsenal of anti-warming measures that must be rushed into place to avert a disastrous spike in global temperatures. (Associated Press)
Tornado Destroys Kansas Town, Kills Nine
May 4, 2007An F5 tornado struck the town of Greensburg, Kansas, killing at least nine and damaging or destroying about 95 percent of the town's structures. (Associated Press)
Wind Farms Urged to Go Easy on Birds and Bats
May 4, 2007Ducks in the Dakotas, tanagers in Texas and grosbeaks along the Gulf of Mexico could all be hit by the rapid growth of wind power unless the renewable electricity farms are carefully sited, experts said. (Reuters)
U.S. Environmental Satellites in Jeopardy, Scientists Say
May 3, 2007Environmental satellites that monitor global warming are in jeopardy because of cost cuts, as military and human spaceflight programs get larger shares of the U.S. budget, a science policy expert said. (Reuters)
Feeling Warmth, Subtropical Plants Move North
May 3, 2007Experts say climate change is nudging large swaths of the country by one or more plant-hardiness zones, meaning longer growing seasons and a more robust plant selection. (The New York Times)
Damage from Hurricanes and Tsunamis Look Strangely Alike
May 3, 2007While Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 were fueled by very different forces, they caused damage to structures in surprisingly similar ways, a new study finds. (LiveScience.com)
Deep Tremors May Help Predict Quakes
May 3, 2007A new report says deep low-frequency tremors that are often silent and long-lasting may promote larger, powerful earthquakes. (Reuters)
Scientists: Prehistoric Volcanoes Heated Earth
May 2, 2007An ancient giant slab of Earth that started its descent under the West Coast 70 million years ago is now causing deep mantle flow beneath the Mississippi Valley, raising the likelihood for devastating Midwest earthquakes for centuries to come. (LiveScience.com)
Bangkok Faces Flooded Future, Expert Says
May 2, 2007Thailand's capital, Bangkok, will be under water in 20 years because of rising seas from global warming and subsidence, says a top Thai climate expert. (Reuters)
Research Needed on Impact of Global Warming on Ecosystems
May 1, 2007A senior scientist with the Bureau of Meteorology says there should be more research on the impact of global warming on Australia's ecosystems. (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
U.S. Air Pollution: Less Smog, But More Soot in East
May 1, 2007The United States is less smoggy than it used to be, but dangerous soot particles are rising in the densely-populated eastern part of the country, a new report shows. (Reuters)