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Dec 31, 2005

Baffled Scientists Say Less Sunlight Reaching Earth

After dropping for about 15 years, the amount of sunlight Earth reflects back into space, called albedo, has increased since 2000, a new study concludes. That means less energy is reaching the surface. Yet global temperatures have not cooled during the period. Increasing cloud cover seems to be the reason,...

Dec 31, 2005

Two Large Lakes Discovered Under Antarctic Ice

Antarctica has at least 145 small lakes buried under its ice and one large one called Lake Vostok. Now scientists have found the second and third largest known bodies of subsurface liquid water there. Exotic ecosystems frozen in time may thrive in the lakes, untouched for 35 million years, scientists...

Dec 31, 2005

Ethanol Fuel More Advantageous Than Thought

Producing a gallon of ethanol gas from corn requires 95 percent less petroleum than producing a gallon from fossil fuels, a new study finds. This method might also slightly reduce the production of greenhouse gases that speed up global warming, but the results on that point are not certain. It...

Dec 31, 2005

Snowfall Scale to Rank Storms' Impact

Soon, when a snowstorm proves crippling, the government will call it exactly that. Sometimes, anyway. And in some places. The Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale, or NESIS, will be used to evaluate the impact of a powerful snowstorm soon after it strikes, and give it a rank in a fashion similar...

Nov 30, 2007

In Photos: Monster Waves

Dropping In (Image credit: Getty Images / Staff)Oahu knows how to make waves. Here, surfer Noah Johnson drops into a 30-foot-high (9 meters) behemoth on the Outer Reefs on Nov. 15, 2000. Johnson was striving for the $60,000 prize in the Swell.com/Surfline Big-Wave Awards. Between Nov. 15, 2000 and March...

Nov 30, 2007

Divorce Squanders Earth's Resources

Divorce leaves more than a trail of legal documents, stinging egos and uprooted kids. The split-ups wreak havoc on the environment. A global trend of soaring divorce rates has led to a surge in the number of households with fewer people. The result: We collectively devour more space and gobble...

Nov 30, 2007

Mountains of Evidence Suggest Human Evolution Had Rocky Start

Geology may be a long-overlooked, major factor that created conditions favoring the evolution of modern humans. That's the conclusion of geologists at the University of Utah, who detail their findings in next month's issue of the journal Geotimes. It's fairly well-established that changing climate, and thus vegetation, in East Africa...

Oct 31, 2007

Life at Sea: An Oceanographer's Adventure

This Behind the Scenes article was provided to LiveScience in partnership with the National Science Foundation. Life at sea is very different from life on land . . . Or is it? It may be hard to imagine spending weeks at a time at sea, but for many in our...

Oct 31, 2007

Plant Extinctions Reduce Ecosystem Productivity

As plant species go extinct, natural habitats will have less greenery overall, a new study suggests, which could allow more heat-trapping carbon-dioxide to remain in the atmosphere. The study, detailed in the Nov. 5 online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, summarized the results of...

Oct 31, 2007

Yellowstone Volcano Rises at Unprecedented Rate

Yellowstone’s ancient volcanic floor has been rising since mid-2004 because a blob of molten rock the size of Los Angeles infiltrated the system 6 miles beneath the surface, scientists say, but there is no risk of an eruption. Yellowstone National Park is the site of North America's largest volcanic field,...

Oct 31, 2007

10 Ways to Green Your Spending

Fair is Fair Photo (Image credit: www.transfairusa.org)As our parents were only too eager to point out, life isn't fair. Buying fair-trade-certified products, however, helps ensure that impoverished third-world producers pocket their rightful share of the profits, not watch their hard-earned funds get whittled away by predatory middlemen. Coffee and tea...

Oct 31, 2007

320 Million Trees Lost to Katrina, Fuels Global Warming

Major hurricanes may not only be fueled by global warming, they may also contribute to it, according to a new study that puts the Hurricane Katrina death toll for trees at 320 million. Recent research suggests that in our warming world, devastating hurricanes, like Katrina, may become more common. The...

Oct 31, 2007

Qatar Leads New Research into Cleaner Jet Fuel

Four Qatar-based organizations are partnering with Airbus, Rolls-Royce and Shell International Petroleum to research the potential benefits of using synthetic, cleaner jet fuel in commercial aircraft engines. At this week's Dubai Airshow, Qatar Airways, Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Fuel Company and the Qatar Science and Technology Park signed an agreement with...

Oct 31, 2007

Technology Won't Stop Global Warming, Economists Say

Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States may grow faster in the next 50 years than they have in the past 50, and higher energy prices will curb the problem better than technology, two economists say. Despite many technological advances in the past half-century, the rates of growth of energy...

Oct 31, 2007

Christmas Trees to Bear 'Green' Tags

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)—Picking a Christmas tree is typically a matter of taste. Is the shape right? Is it too tall? Too short? Now a handful of growers in the top Christmas tree producing state of Oregon want people to consider another factor—how green'' a tree is. They've created a system...