Latest science news in Earth & Climate
June was the fourth consecutive month that was warmest on record
June was the fourth consecutive month that was the warmest on record for the combined global land and surface temperatures (March, April, and May were also the warmest). This was...
Downsizing the Gulf of Mexico's Dead Zone
Water Pollution: New model suggests larger cuts in nitrogen pollution needed to shrink the Gulf's dead zone.
Prozac Pollution Making Shrimp Reckless
Shrimp in Prozac-laced coastal waters swim into bright areas, making them more visible to predators, a new study says. ...
Photos Reveal Receding Himalaya Glaciers
David Breashears's comparative photographs create a stark picture of climate change in the Himalayas, Kerri MacDonald reports.
Looking Back at the Dawn of the Atomic Age
On July 16, 1945, Los Alamos Scientists Changed History with the successful Detonation of an Atomic Weapon
Small fish exploits forbidding environment
Jellyfish moved into the oceans off the coast of southwest Africa when the sardine population crashed. Now another small fish is living in the oxygen-depleted zone part-time and turning the...
Hot town, summer in the city
Heat waves may cause increased mortality but, until now, there has been no single scientific definition for the occasional bursts of hot weather that can strike during the summer months....
New revelations about Mercury's volcanism, magnetic substorms and exosphere from MESSENGER
Analysis of data from MESSENGER's third and final flyby of Mercury in September 2009 has revealed evidence of younger volcanism on the innermost planet than previously recognised, new information about...
Zoo-reared piping plovers hit the beach
Parks Canada released four piping plover chicks reared at Moncton's Magnetic Hill Zoo on a beach in P.E.I. National Park Thursday.
Global warming slows coral growth in Red Sea
In a pioneering use of computed tomography (CT) scans, scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have discovered that carbon dioxide (CO2)-induced global warming is in the process of killing...
IPCC warns its scientists to avoid the media
Letter of caution provokes mixed reaction among IPCC working-group scientists
A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere
NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed...
Calibrating Catastrophes: Where Does The BP Spill Rank?
"From Disaster to Catastrophe -- What's Obama's Endgame In the Gulf?" Fox News headline, July 15. The headline suggests that there is a difference between a disaster and a catastrophe, and...
Firm Seeks 'Blue Gold' in Alaska
Freshwater supplies are strained in countries all over the world. But in a few places, like Alaska, Greenland and Canada, there's more than enough to go around. So why not...
Whales must cope with more ocean noise
LOS ANGELES, July 15 (UPI) -- Whales react to a noisy environment in the same way humans do -- by raising their voices to be heard, U.S. researchers say. ...
Illegal logging in decline
Preventing illicit cutting is a cheap way to reduce carbon emissions.
One Man's Giant Pacific Garbage Patch Is Another's Beautiful Island Nation
Aerial Rendering of Recylced Island Recycled Island Project It's an ambitious recycling project to be sure, but Dutch visionaries want to turn the Pacific Garbage Patch into a self-sufficient, green island paradise that...
Zero-valent iron decontaminates soil
Zero-valent iron microparticles that include an organic component efficiently destroys carbon tetrachloride in soil, say US scientists
Video: Guardian 'climategate' debate
George Monbiot chairs the Guardian 'climategate' debate with Professors Trevor Davies and Bob Watson, and environmental journalists Fred Pearce, Steve McIntyre and Doug KeenanGeorge MonbiotCameron RobertsonLaurence Topham
Scientists assess impact of Icelandic volcanic ash on ocean biology
An international team of oceanographers investigating the role of iron on ocean productivity in the northerly latitudes of the Atlantic Ocean will assess the impact of ash from the recent...
A Grilling on Oil Dispersants
The heavy use of dispersants to treat the gulf oil spill is unprecedented and troublesome, two top Obama administration officials told a Senate subcommittee on Thursday, but their use has...
Dueling Spill Commissions?
The House Natural Resources Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to form a new panel to investigate the BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, following similar action by the Senate...
Exxon researching algae for biofuels
LA JOLLA, Calif., July 15 (UPI) -- Exxon Mobil said it teamed with partners at Synthetic Genomics to open a greenhouse in California to support research in their algae...
U.N. calls for holistic climate effort
MEXICO CITY, July 15 (UPI) -- A strong partnership between the public and private sector is needed to address the challenges presented by climate change, officials said in Mexico. ...
Astrobiology Field Reports: Are Canadian Lake Structures Biological or Chemical?
Scientists practicing astrobiology search methods are studying whether odd formations in a Canadian lake are the result of biological organisms or chemical processes.
BP works on valve leak before choking oil flow
BP engineers working to choke the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico are trying to fix a leak on a line attached to the side of the new...
Prince Charles attacks climate change sceptics
Prince of Wales accuses those who question whether human activity is causing global warming of 'peddling pseudo science' and blocking actionThe Prince of Wales last night launched an attack on climate sceptics, deriding...
Woolly mammoth hunters helped change climate
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Ancient hunters who stalked the world's last woolly mammoths likely helped warm the Earth's far northern latitudes thousands of years before humans began burning fossil fuels,...