Most Recommended Science News

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Radioactive dust unexpectedly blew out of a pipe being cut by workers during weekend maintenance at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and officials on Monday were trying to determine exactly how and why it happened.

WASHINGTON - Since the 1997 international accord to fight global warming, climate change has worsened and accelerated — beyond some of the grimmest of warnings made back then.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal officials are investigating a radiation leak at Three Mile Island, scene of the worst U.S. nuclear power accident, but said on Sunday there was no threat to public health or safety.

Protecting Jungles: One Way to Combat Global Warming

WASHINGTON - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday that Indian and U.S. officials will sign a memorandum intended to improve cooperation on energy security, clean energy and climate change.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States will announce a target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions before the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, removing a major obstacle to a deal, a senior official said Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday appealed for wide-ranging cooperation with the United States on areas such as climate change and defense as he started a high-profile state visit.

MAUNA LOA OBSERVATORY, Hawaii - The readings at this 2-mile-high station show an upward curve as the world counts down to climate talks: Global warming gases have built up to record levels in the atmosphere, from emissions that match scientists' worst-case scenarios.

GENEVA (AFP) - Flooding in the world's major port cities caused by melting icecaps could cause up to 28 trillion dollars (18 trillion euros) in damage in 2050, environmental group WWF said in a report Monday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A pair of astronauts zipped through the third and final spacewalk of their mission Monday, helping to install a 1,200-pound oxygen tank at the International Space Station and accomplishing everything else on their list.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US authorities expanded a probe Monday into health impacts of drywall imported from China, saying an initial study found a "strong association" with indoor pollution in homes using the product.

PARIS (AFP) - Tackling climate change should also include providing low-carbon energy to the poor, UN agencies said Monday, pointing out that almost one third of the world?s population remains in the dark at night.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The UN's top climate negotiator voiced optimism Monday that a deal can be salvaged next month at world talks on global warming, but said US President Barack Obama must offer a target and financing.

"Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth's Climate" (National Geographic, 295 pages, $28), by Stephen H. Schneider: Stephen H. Schneider, winner of one of those $500,000 genius grants, has written a witty, informative and impassioned account of perils he sees in global warming and what to do about them.

BRASILIA, Brazil - British pop star Sting says Brazil's government should listen to the voices of local indigenous groups before building a massive hydroelectric dam in the Amazon rain forest.

NATRONA, Pa. - The federal government and the Allegheny County Health Department have sued Allegheny Ludlum Corp. and a contractor for alleged air pollution violations at a slag dump near Pittsburgh.

GENEVA (AFP) - Greenhouse gas emissions have kept increasing, reaching a record level since the pre-industrial era, the UN climate agency warned Monday, just weeks before a crucial climate change summit.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will propose an emissions reduction target at U.N. climate change talks in Copenhagen in December with an eye toward winning support from U.S. lawmakers who must agree to put it into law.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Thousands of animal species thrive in the ocean depths beyond the reach of sunlight, between 200 to 5,000 meters below the surface, an international team of scientists has reported after nearly 10 years of research.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Astronauts from the US space shuttle Atlantis began the third and final spacewalk of their mission aimed at building the International Space Station, NASA reported on Monday.

TULSA, Okla. - One of the most closely watched environmental cases in years has turned into legal purgatory as the trial of Oklahoma's lawsuit against the Arkansas poultry industry is marred by delays and squabbling attorneys.

BOULDER, Colo. – Call it Operation: Plymouth Rock. A plan to send a crew of astronauts to an asteroid is gaining momentum, both within NASA and industry circles.

NEW ORLEANS - The creatures living in the depths of the ocean are as weird and outlandish as the creations in a Dr. Seuss book: tentacled transparent sea cucumbers, primitive "dumbos" that flap ear-like fins, and tubeworms that feed on oil deposits.

DALI, China (AFP) - In the mountains above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -- a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy.

PARIS (AFP) - The East Antarctic icesheet, once seen as largely unaffected by global warming, has lost billions of tonnes of ice since 2006 and could boost sea levels in the future, according to a new study.

LONDON - A leading climate change scientist whose private e-mails are included in thousands of documents that were stolen by hackers and posted online said Sunday the leaks may have been aimed at undermining next month's global climate summit in Denmark.

WASHINGTON - The United States, under pressure from other nations as one of the world's largest greenhouse-gas polluters, will present a target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions at next month's climate conference in Copenhagen, Obama administration officials said Monday.

The deep sea is teeming with thousands of species that have never known sunlight, explorers now say.

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned fellow world leaders on Sunday that they "cannot afford to fail" to strike a substantial deal on climate change in Copenhagen next month.

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Sixty-five world leaders have confirmed they will attend next month's U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen which Danish officials hope will bring strong political commitment for a new treaty to combat global warming.