Researchers' look into "deep time" sheds light on period considered analogous to today's climate. (National Science Foundation press release)

A linear string of mud pots and mud volcanoes suggest surface evidence for a southern extension of the San Andreas Fault that runs through the Salton Sea. (Seismological Society of America press release)

A snapshot of New Zealand's climate 40 million years ago reveals a greenhouse Earth, with warmer seas and little or no ice in Antarctica, according to research. (Cardiff University press release)

For scientists looking at climate change, a large area of uncertainty has to do with the effects of airborne particles – such as carbon-laden soot – but new technology is now helping researchers unveil secrets about the life cycles of atmospheric aerosols. (Boston College press release)

A single typhoon in Taiwan buries as much carbon in the ocean – in the form of sediment – as a combined year's worth of rains in that country, according to an Ohio State University study published in a recent issue of the journal Geology. (Ohio State University press release)

Nutrients washed out of the Amazon River are powering huge amounts of previously unexpected plant life far out to sea, thus trapping atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study. (The Earth Institute at Columbia University press release)

A new fossil discovery – the first of its kind from the whole of the Antarctic continent – provides scientists with new evidence to support the theory that the polar region was once much warmer. (University of Leicester press release)

Geoscientists have come up with a new explanation for the formation of monsoons, proposing an overhaul of a theory about the cause of the seasonal pattern of heavy winds and rainfall that essentially had held firm for more than 300 years. (California Institute of Technology press release)

The May 12 Sichuan earthquake in China was unexpectedly large, but topographic analysis can help evaluate other, similar fault areas for seismic risk, according to geologists. (Pennsylvania State University press release)

Research at the University of Liverpool has found how Saharan dust storms help sustain life over extensive regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. (University of Liverpool press release)

Antarctic worms, sea spiders, urchins and other marine creatures living in near-shore shallow habitats are regularly pounded by icebergs, and new data suggests this environment along the Antarctic Peninsula is going to get hit more frequently. (British Antarctic Survey press release)

Scientists have created an instrument designed to help determine the shapes and sizes of tiny ice crystals typical of those found in high-altitude clouds, down to the micron level, and data produced using this instrument will likely help improve computer models used to predict climate change. (Optical Society of America press release)

The answer to mass extinction of animals and plants 93 million years ago has been found at the bottom of the sea floor where lava fountains erupted, altering the chemistry of the sea and possibly of the atmosphere, new research suggests. (University of Alberta press release)

SnoMotes are the first prototype network of their kind envisioned to rove treacherous areas of the Arctic and Antarctic.

University of Florida and Florida Institute of Technology engineering researchers have narrowed the search for the source of X-rays emitted by lightning, a feat that could one day help predict where lightning will strike. (University of Florida press release)

Global warming could lead to larger changes in snowmelt in the western United States than was previously thought, possibly increasing wildfire risk and creating new water management challenges for agriculture, ecosystems and urban populations. (Purdue University press release)

For the first time, researchers have taken a detailed look at what lies beneath all of Iceland's volcanoes – and have found a world far more complex than they ever imagined. (Ohio State University press release)

If a warmer Wisconsin climate causes some northern tree species to disappear in the future, it's easy to imagine that southern species will just expand their range northward as soon as the conditions suit them. (University of Wisconsin-Madison press release)

A third of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction, according to the first-ever comprehensive global assessment to determine their conservation status. (Conservation International press release)

As the 21st Century progresses, major cities in heavily air-conditioned California can expect more frequent extreme-heat events because of climate change, new research suggests. (DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory press release)

Using remarkably sensitive new instruments, seismologists have detected minute geological changes that preceded small earthquakes along California's famed San Andreas Fault by as much as 10 hours. (Rice University press release)

Tugboats puff out more soot for the amount of fuel used than other commercial vessels, and large cargo ships emit more than twice as much soot as previously estimated, according to the first extensive study of commercial vessel soot emissions. (NOAA press release)

Pronounced warming in the Antarctic, as well as commercial fishing, mining, and oil and gas development at lower latitudes, has led to declines in many species, including the Galápagos, Peruvian, and African species of penguin, according to scientists. (American Institute of Biological Sciences press release)