Earth's Protective Shield is Stealing Our Air
May 30, 2009The 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...
Flooding Reshapes Waterfalls in Grand Canyon
May 30, 2009An 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...
Australia's Lower Murray Acid 'Worst in World'
May 29, 2009Authorities 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...
Ground Truths: Predicting the 'Big One'
May 29, 2009Some 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...
Greenland Ice Melt May Threaten Northeast
May 29, 2009The Greenland Ice Sheet is melting -- and that could spell trouble for the northeast coast of the United States and eastern Canada. (Discovery News) more...
Red Glow Sheds Light on Ocean Health
May 29, 2009The 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...
A Supervolcano's Fallout: Mass Extinction
May 28, 2009Carbon 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...
Caribbean Quakes & Complications
May 28, 2009A 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...
Sponge-Like Peat Bogs Could Offset Sea Level Rise
May 28, 2009Like 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...
Dormant Sun Spills Secrets in Its Sleep
May 27, 2009With 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...
MIT Model Predicts Accelerating Warming Trends
May 25, 2009If 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...
Yosemite's Giant Trees Disappear
May 22, 2009The 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...
Corals Upgrade Algae to Beat the Heat
May 22, 2009In 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...
New Worries on Arctic Permafrost Thaw
May 22, 2009A 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...
Early Earth Cool Enough for Life
May 21, 2009Life 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...
Global Warming Now Audible
May 21, 2009According 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...
Hurricane Forecast Predicts Slightly Milder Season
May 21, 2009Forecasters 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...
Magma Pulses May Reveal Earth's 'Heartbeat'
May 20, 2009Evidence 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...
Google Eyes World's Oceans
May 19, 2009Many 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...
Tree Leaves Monitor Pollution Levels
May 19, 2009Urban 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...
As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It's Land That's Rising
May 18, 2009Relieved 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...
Researchers Find Bacteria in Clouds
May 18, 2009Ice 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...
How Sand Dunes Grow Huge
May 17, 2009No 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...
Invest in Islands to Save Most Species
May 16, 2009It 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...
Land Clearances Turned up the heat on Australian Climate
May 16, 2009Thanks to deforestation by European settlers, Australia's droughts are more extreme than they would be otherwise, models suggest . (New Scientist) more...
'Super-Terminal' Raindrops Break Speed Limit
May 15, 2009Many 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...
Ice Sheet Melt Threat Reassessed
May 14, 2009The 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...
Global Warming and Tropical Cyclones: a Vicious Cycle?
May 14, 2009A 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...
What's the Evidence for Climate Change, Anyway?
May 14, 2009The 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...
Key Coral Reefs 'Could Disappear'
May 13, 2009The 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...
Volcanic Shutdown May Have Led to 'Snowball Earth'
May 9, 2009Early in our planet's history, volcanoes stopped spewing out lava for around 250 million years, leaving Earth in almost perpetual winter. (New Scientist) more...
Scientists Expecting Massive Iceberg from Glacier Crack
May 8, 2009A 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...
Warning: Sunspot Cycle Beginning to Rise
May 8, 2009It'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...
Shrinking Glaciers Redraw Europe's Borders
May 8, 2009Global 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...
Watch: Buried Time Bomb and Burning Ice
May 8, 2009Vast natural stores of carbon dioxide and methane start to thaw out. (ABC News) more...
Monster Wave Gives Up its Secrets
May 7, 2009A 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...
Painting the Picture of Air Quality with Satellite Data
May 7, 2009To 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...
Robot Sub Aims for Deepest Ocean
May 6, 2009A 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...
Origin of Giant Bloom Discovered
May 6, 2009Scientists have discovered the source of the gigantic green tide of algae that almost derailed sailing regatta during the Beijing Olympics. (BBC News) more...
Disease Strikes Great Barrier Reef
May 6, 2009An 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...
Volcanic Fish Out of Water
May 6, 2009Of 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...
Climate Change May Not Spur Wildfires
May 6, 2009Although 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...
Some Himalayan Glaciers Growing
May 5, 2009Throughout 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...
Oldest Surface on Earth Discovered
May 5, 2009A 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...
Poison Bacteria Set up Worst Extinction
May 4, 2009In 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...
Sun Oddly Quiet – Hints at Next "Little Ice Age"?
May 4, 2009A 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...
Ancient Tsunami Hit New York
May 3, 2009A 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...
Glaciers Show North-South Climate Divide
May 1, 2009Southern hemisphere glaciers evolve quite differently than those in the north, according to a new study. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) more...