Latest science news in Earth & Climate
Abrupt climate shifts may move faster than thought
The United States could suffer the effects of abrupt climate changes within decades - sooner than some previously thought - says a new government report. It contends that seas could...
Corals, turfgrass and sediments offer stories of climate past and future
Science News reports from San Francisco at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union
Magma provides glimpse of past
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Geologists say an undisturbed chamber of molten rock in Hawaii is offering new insight into the way continental rock is formed.
Olympic Pollution Controls In Beijing China Had Big Impact On Air Pollution Levels
NASA researchers have since analyzed data from NASA's Aura and Terra satellites that show how key pollutants responded to the Olympic restrictions in China.
Too Hot To Trot, But Not For Long
Clear skies, crystalline blue waters, and…scalding hot sand? The latter is not part of a beach day in paradise, and paradise is exactly what management at Dubai's Palazzo Versace hotel...
A Map of Death
Geographers from the University of South Carolina have created a map of the United States depicting a county-level representation of natural-hazard-related deaths -- the first systematic attempt to look at...
2008 among Earth's warmest since 1850
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- This year is stacking up to be Earth's 10th warmest in 158 years of record keeping, U.N. officials said Wednesday in New...
Study links ecosystem changes in temperate lakes to climate warming
Unparalleled warming over the last few decades has triggered widespread ecosystem changes in many temperate North American and Western European lakes, say researchers at Queen's University and the Ontario Ministry...
THE ROUNDUP: Science and Nature News Around the Web
Romantic comedies "spoil your love life"; is the Exxon Valdez spill site finally clean?; and more.
Ancient Magma 'Superpiles' May Have Shaped The Continents
Two giant plumes of hot rock deep within the earth are linked to the plate motions that shape the continents, researchers have found. The two superplumes, one beneath Hawaii and...
Ancestral History Explains Roots Of Income Inequality
Two economists have created a new data set that enables them to explain differences in countries' incomes based on their people's ancestral histories. They find that where the ancestors of...
"Death map" shows heat a big hazard to Americans
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Heat is more likely to kill an American than an earthquake, and thunderstorms kill more than hurricanes do, according to a "death map" published on Tuesday.
Saturn Moon Has Lake Effect Clouds
"Titan is like Buffalo, [New York], without the Bills," quipped one scientist, who observed clouds near the moon's lakes that resemble weather in North America's Great Lakes.
New York City Beaver Returns
The first beaver to be seen in New York City in 200 years has returned to the site where it was first spotted in 2007 -- on the lower Bronx...
How healthy are America's coasts?
The overall condition of the nation's coastal waters has improved slightly, based on a recently released environmental assessment. The National Coastal Condition Report III (NCCRIII) is the third in a...
Study suggests warmer temperatures could lead to a boom in corn pests
Climate change could provide the warmer weather pests prefer, leading to an increase in populations that feed on corn and other crops, according to a new study.
Climate talks defer major challenges
Minor progress in Poland on adaptation and deforestation sets the stage for Copenhagen in 2009.
First fuel-handling facility in the Galapagos earns environmental certification
The first fuel-handling facility in the Galápagos Islands—a region of great biodiversity and evolutionary importance—was given official environmental certification today, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced. The facility underwent extreme...
Bernard Madoff Redefines the Ponzi Scheme
Finance guru Bernard Madoff has allegedly admitted to the largest investment fraud in history. Charles Ponzi would be proud.
Since 2003, More Than 2 Trillion Tons of Arctic Ice Melted
More than 2 trillion tons of land ice in Greenland, Antarctica and Alaska have melted since 2003.
New maps a boon for Queensland mineral explorers
CSIRO's Minerals Down Under Flagship is working with the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) to provide Queensland's mineral explorers with the benefits of exciting new advances in hyperspectral mineral mapping...
Solving a 300 year old geology problem using kitchen materials
(PhysOrg.com) -- Physicists at the University of Toronto have cracked the mystery behind the strange and uncannily well-ordered hexagonal columns found at such popular tourist sites as Northern Ireland's Giant's...
Ocean acidification from CO2 emissions will cause physiological impairment to jumbo squid
The elevated carbon dioxide levels expected to be found in the world's oceans by 2100 will likely lead to physiological impairments of jumbo (or Humboldt) squid, according to research by...
Australians condemn climate plan
Activists stage protests in several Australian cities, calling Prime Minister Rudd's climate change plan a "joke".
Oregon's Rogue River Basin to face climate-change hurdles
Three major global climate-change projections scaled down to Oregon's Rogue River Basin point to hotter, drier summers with increasing wildfire risk, reduced snowpack and rainier, stormy winters, according to a...
Another big quake off Sumatra likely in next few decades
Researchers expect the destruction to be on the scale of 2004's tsunami across the Indian Ocean. ...
Likely EPA Pick Hit for Jersey Record
Lisa Jackson, who President-elect Barack Obama is expected to name Monday evening to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, is already being hailed as a historic choice. The former head of...
Kashi-brand energy shake mix is recalled
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the recall of Kashi-brand "Golean Powder Chocolate Energy Shake Mix" due to a labeling error.