Earth and Enviornment News: Page 5

Study Finds Warm Ocean Currents Cause Majority of Ice Loss From Antarctica (April 26, 2012): A new study has found that warm ocean currents melting the underside of ice shelves are the dominant cause of recent ice loss from Antarctica.

ISS Astronaut Photograph Captures Wave Clouds Near Pig Island in Southern Indian Ocean (April 25, 2012): The photograph taken by an astronaut about the International Space Station (ISS) shows wave clouds on the downwind side of Ile aux Cochons, an uninhabited island in the southern Indian Ocean.

GeoEye Releases Satellite Image of Ice Fields Near Adelaide Island for Earth Day (April 22, 2012): This satellite image from GeoEye shows beautiful ice fields near Adelaide Island.

Engineers Build 5-Story Building on Seismic Shake Tablet to Test Earthquake Readiness (April 13, 2012): Structural engineers at the University of California, San Diego have built the world's largest outdoor shake table at the Englekirk Structural Engineering Center.

New High-Resolution Global Forest Heights Map Released (April 13, 2012): NASA's Earth Observatory reports that a refined global forest canopy height map has been released.

The Hottest Spot on Earth: The Lut Desert in Iran (April 11, 2012): The satellite image above shows a portion of the Lut Desert in Iran captured in July, 1999.

8.6 Magnitude Earthquake Reported off Indonesia's Northern Aceh Province (April 11, 2012): An earthquake of at least 8.

ISS Photograph Shows Ice Floes Along the Kamchatka Coastline (April 9, 2012): This photograph was taken by an astronaut aboard the the International Space Station (ISS) with a Nikon D2Xs digital camera using a 28 mm lens.

Tour the Amazon With Google Street View (March 31, 2012): Google was invited to the Amazon Basin in August, 2011 to collect ground-level images of the rivers, forest and communities in the Rio Negro Reserve.

NASA's Landsat Satellites Spot Fields of Crops Springing Up in Syrian Desert (March 30, 2012): NASA's Landsat satellites have revealed that Saudi Arabia has tapped hidden reserves of water to grow wheat and other crops in the Syrian Desert.

USGS: Clintonville's Mysterious Booms Caused by 1.5 Magnitude Microquake (March 23, 2012): A tiny, normally unnoticeable earthquake caused the mysterious booms that frightened residents of Clintonville, Wisconsin.

Giant Boulder Crushes Car, Part of Home in Ohio (March 22, 2012): A 7-meter diameter boulder rolled down from a hillside and crushed a car and part of a house in Ohio.

Smithsonian NEMESIS Database Tracks Rock Vomit and Other Marine Invaders (March 13, 2012): The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center has created NEMESIS (National Estuarine and Marine Exotic Species Information System), an online public database to provide information about invasive, non-native marine species throughout the nation.

Moderate Drought Blamed for Collapse of Maya Civilization (February 23, 2012): A new study reports that the demise of the Maya Civilization may have been related to relatively modest reductions in rainfall.

Microbial Oasis Discovered Beneath Dry Atacama Desert (February 16, 2012): Scientists have found microorganisms growing in salt crystals below the surface of the Atacama Desert in South America.

Nearly Continuous Ashfall Damages Forests Near Chile's Puyehue Cordon Caulle Volcanic Complex (February 4, 2012): This photograph from NASA's Earth Observatory shows an ash plume coming from a vent in Chile's Puyehue Cordon Caulle Volcanic Complex (PCCVC).

NASA Releases Stunning High Resolution Blue Marble Image of Earth (January 25, 2012): NASA has shared a stunning new high resolution Blue Marble image of the Earth.

Map Shows Aboveground Woody Biomass in Mainland United States (January 13, 2012): NASA's Earth Observatory shared this image showing the aboveground woody biomass in the mainland United States.

New Island Forms in the Red Sea (December 29, 2011): A new island has formed in the Red Sea.

Fishing Buoys, Creatures and Debris Carried Away By Japan Tsunami toi U.S. West Coast (December 28, 2011): Japan was hit with a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Friday, 11 March 2011 (the 2011 Tohoku earthquake).

Two or Three More Magnitude 9 Earthquakes Possible in Next Six Years Warns NOAA Geophysicist (December 15, 2011): Dr.

New IPCC Report Warns of Extreme Weather to Increase Due to Climate Change (November 19, 2011): A report released by the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says that extreme weather will become more frequent and more severe due to climate change.

Underwater Volcano Erupts Near Canary Islands (November 11, 2011): An underwater volcano has erupted near the Canary Islands, off the coast of Morocco.

NASA Discovers Giant Crack in Antarctic Glacier, New Iceberg Size of New York City Forming (November 5, 2011): While flying over Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier in a DC-8 research plane on October 14, 2011, scientists made a startling discovery.

7 Billionth Babies Celebrated Around the World (October 31, 2011): 7 Billionth babies are being celebrated as the world's population is thought to have reached the 7 billion mark.