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Nov 30, 2014

World's Saltiest Body of Water Seen from Space (Photo)

The world's saltiest body of water, hidden away in a dry Antarctic valley, had its portrait taken earlier this year by a NASA satellite. The image of the Don Juan Pond, a very shallow lake located in the lowest part of Antarctica's Upper Wright Valley, that NASA released today (Dec....

Nov 30, 2014

Hottest Year Ever: 5 Places Where 2014 Temps Really Cooked

Though the official numbers aren't in for December, it's likely that 2014 will go down as the planet's hottest year on record, at least since scientists started keeping tabs on global temperature. Data from three major climate-tracking groups agree: The combined land and ocean surface temperatures hit new highs this...

Oct 31, 2014

'Dark Ice' Speeds Up Melting in Greenland (Photos)

Ribbons of dark ice are exposed on the otherwise white, frozen landscape of Greenland every summer, and researchers think these bands could reveal how climate change will affect the huge island. Climate scientists Johnny Ryan, from Aberystwyth University in the United Kingdom, and Jason Box, from the Geological Survey of...

Oct 31, 2014

New Amazon Carbon Maps May Help Limit Deforestation

The vast jungle canopy of the Amazon looks like a solid wall of green from space to the human eye. But satellites and other high tech instruments can provide a much more nuanced view right down to the household level. That might sound like something the CIA would be interested...

Oct 31, 2014

Feel the Heat: Fourth-Warmest October for U.S.

It might be chilly (OK, downright Arctic) in the middle third of the U.S. these days, but if you live there, you can warm yourself with memories of October. According to new data released Thursday, October wasn’t just a little warm, it was the fourth-warmest October for the lower 48...

Oct 31, 2014

Secrets Cracked in Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows

The broad, grassy plain of Yosemite National Park's Tuolumne Meadows is a welcome stop for visitors driving California's steep and winding Highway 120. But the wildflower-studded field is an oddball in Yosemite's iconic landscape of deep valleys and rugged peaks. The flat valley floor is a striking contrast to the...

Oct 31, 2014

Quiet 2014 Atlantic Hurricane Season Comes to a Close

The mellow 2014 Atlantic hurricane season ends Sunday (Nov. 30), marking another year without major hurricanes hitting the Eastern United States. It has been a record-breaking nine years since a Category 3 hurricane (or stronger) made landfall along U.S. coastlines. The last was Hurricane Wilma in 2005 (Sandy was not...

Sep 30, 2014

Why Asia's Glaciers Are Mysteriously Expanding, Not Melting

Updated on Oct. 13 at 11:33 a.m. ET. Glaciers around the world are melting, retreating and even vanishing altogether. But in the mountainous Karakoram region of Asia — home to K2, the second-highest peak on Earth — the glaciers aren't melting. If anything, some are expanding. Now, scientists have found...

Sep 30, 2014

Century-Old Notebook from Legendary Antarctic Expedition Found

Hidden in ice for more than 100 years, the photography notebook of a British explorer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to Antarctica has been found. The book belonged to George Murray Levick, a surgeon, zoologist and photographer on Scott's 1910-1913 voyage. Levick might be best remembered for his...

Sep 30, 2014

A New Way to Form Continents

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. From the 1950s until recently, we thought we had a clear idea of how continents form. Most people will have heard of plate tectonics: moving pieces on the surface...

Aug 31, 2014

Iceland Volcano Sparks New Flooding Threat

Iceland's fiery Holuhraun eruption may soon tunnel under a nearby glacier, triggering an explosive showdown between lava and ice, according to scientists monitoring the volcanic turmoil. To make space for the fresh magma feeding the eruption, rock underneath nearby Dyngjujokull glacier has cracked, forming a long depression called a rift...

Aug 31, 2014

Spectacular Auroras Light Up Alaska Skies (Photos)

The superheated particles launched from the sun after two back-to-black solar flares erupted this week have created dazzling light shows for skywatchers. Filling the skies near Cleary Summit in Fairbanks, Alaska, with their eerie green and purple-pink glow, the northern lights made for quite a sight. And Victor Chinn, a...

Aug 31, 2014

Southwest's Earthquake Spike Linked to Injection Wells

A dramatic increase in earthquakes in a small region of New Mexico and Colorado was triggered by the underground disposal of wastewater, according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). There was a 40-fold increase in earthquakes in the area since 2001, compared to over the last...

Aug 31, 2014

NASA Space Shuttle Data Tapped to Combat Climate Change

The White House is looking to data from NASA's space shuttle program to help in the fight against climate change. At the United Nations Climate Summit in New York this week, U.S. President Barack Obama announced a suite of new initiatives to help people around the world prepare for drought,...

Aug 31, 2014

Lots o' Water! 117 Million Lakes Dot Earth, Most Accurate Survey Finds

Until now, no one knew for sure how many lakes exist on Earth. Blame geography — most of the world's lakes are in places where humans don't live, said David Seekell, an environmental scientist at Umea University in Sweden. This is something one would have assumed had been done long...