Latest science news in Earth & Climate
BP cap collects oil as undersea plumes mapped
A containment cap is collecting about one-third of the oil gushing daily from BP's damaged deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard says.
Agatha drenches Guatemala and El Salvador, remnants now in Caribbean
Tropical Storm Agatha was the first tropical storm of the Eastern Pacific hurricane season, and took an inland route, drenching El Salvador and Guatemala this past weekend...
BP spill closes more fishing areas
NEW ORLEANS, June 2 (UPI) -- Slightly more than 31 percent of the U.S. federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico are closed to fishing because of the offshore...
Video: Still No Way to Stop Leak
British Petroleum officials still continue to search for methods of containing the disastrous spill. As Don Teague reports, it will take months, potentially years, to fully remove all of...
2 Volcanoes Erupt in Central, South America
TV Reporter Killed by Shower of Burning Rocks in Guatemala; Hundreds Evacuate as Ecuadoran Mountain Erupts
Video: City Trashes Recycling Program
Every summer, Ocean City, Md., brings a huge increase in trash and a huge problem. As Whit Johnson reports, this popular beach community is trashing its recycling program.
Spawning habitat of bluefin tuna in Gulf of Mexico: Critical area intersects Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Electronic tagging and fisheries catch data have revealed pronounced differences in preferred habitat of Atlantic bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna in the Gulf of Mexico, despite their close ancestry, according...
Reforestation may lower the climate change mitigation potential of forests
Scientists in the U.S. and China have found that reforestation and afforestation -- the creation of new forests -- may lower the potential of forests for climate change lessening.
Sand berms to be built to hold off oil from Louisiana coast
US officials were poised Saturday to begin building massive sand barriers in the Mississippi Delta in a last-ditch bid to keep oil from BP's gushing Deepwater Horizon well from reaching...
Coastal birds carry toxic ocean metals inland
Biologists has found that potent metals like mercury and lead, ingested by Arctic seabirds feeding in the ocean, end up in the sediment of polar ponds.
Gloom grows as BP's 'top kill' effort fails
'This scares everybody — the fact that we cannot make this well stop flowing,' an official says. Some hope lies with a new maneuver to cap the leak. ...
Thousands in Phoenix protest Arizona's immigration law
The demonstration, one of the largest since SB 1070 was signed into law in April, draws a diverse crowd. Backers of the law are to hold their own rally at a suburban...
Bob Abbey Named as Drilling Agency’s Interim Director
Bob Abbey, director of the Bureau of Land Management, will take over the Minerals Management Service, which oversees offshore drilling.
Techy tennis rackets
Tungsten. Basalt. Giant holes. "Smart" materials that morph from hard to soft. Tennis rackets, like everything in life, seem to get stranger and techier by the minute — but do...
'Space laser tech needed' on ash
Europe requires space-borne laser instruments that can provide information on volcanic ash clouds, a conference hears.
U.S. report faults drone crew, command posts in Afghan civilian deaths
The investigation into the February deaths of 23 Afghans prompts Gen. McChrystal to punish six U.S. officers. ...
Gulf oil spill is 'public health risk'
• Pollution could do lasting damage to locals' health• BP's 'top kill' attempt to stop flow enters third dayProlonged exposure to crude oil and chemical dispersants is a public health danger, environmental scientists...
Desperately Denying Arctic Warming
Desperately Denying Arctic Warming This is the age of rapid public access to satellite images. If you want to know what is happening to the Arctic ice you can see for...
San Andreas-like fault found in eastern U.S.
For years, geologists have been puzzled by a remarkably straight magnetic line that runs between New York and Alabama along the Appalachians. A recent aerial magnetic survey suggests that it's...
L.A. Opera's 'Ring' cycle may be in the red
Officials project a shortfall due to lagging ticket sales. ...
Put more nitrogen into milk, not manure
The more efficient dairy farmers are in managing nitrogen, the more milk their cows will produce and the less nitrogen will be wasted in manure and urine, according a study...
Expert Available to Discuss Pacaya Volcano Eruption in Guatamala
Rudiger Escobar Wolf, a former employee of the Guatemalan volcanic disaster agency, is conducting research on volcanoes in the region.
Alberta grizzly protection lacking: report
The Alberta government is failing to protect the province's declining grizzly bear population, says a new report.
EU backpedals on greater CO2 cuts
BRUSSELS, May 28 (UPI) -- The European Commission has backtracked on a plan to unilaterally boost the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions reduction target.
Does a Country's Dirt Determine Its Destiny?
Quality of soil and climate predicts a region's prosperity, according to a provocative new model
Indonesia mud volcano still spewing sludge four years later
Four years after it erupted from the well of a gas company linked to one of Indonesia's richest men, the mud volcano known as "Lusi" is still spewing its toxic...
University of Virginia Fights the State on Scientist Subpoena
The University of Virginia (UVA) decided yesterday to fight Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's...
UK Royal Society revives confusion as US concludes climate change certainty
Just as leading US experts give their clearest warning about emissions, 43 UK scientists prompt Royal Society to rethink• Government's chief scientific adviser hits out at climate scepticsTwo weeks ago, the United States...