Last year brought one of the harshest winters in recent memory across much of the eastern and central U.S., and this year winter seems to be getting off to an unusally potent – and early – start. So is this the start of a trend, and should we should expect weather like this every year? Don't count on it, according to a number of climate scientists who've been researching the prevalence of weather extremes in recent years. In fact, over...

An ultra-high-resolution NASA computer model has given scientists an incredible new look at how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere travels around the globe. Watch, as plumes of carbon dioxide in the simulation swirl and shift as winds disperse the greenhouse gas away from its sources. The simulation also illustrates differences in carbon dioxide levels in the northern and southern hemispheres and distinct swings in global carbon dioxide concentrations as the growth cycle of plants and trees changes with the seasons....

San Miguel de Tucumán, Argentina Courtesy NASA Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. NASA's Earth Observatory just released an awe-inspiring photo (in the slideshow above) that shows just why so many Floridians are at risk to tropical cyclones and global sea level rise. The photo, taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2014, shows Florida's peninsula illuminated at night. As NASA notes, the brightest areas in the photo indicate the most populous areas in the state....

Extreme weather because of global warning could become the new climate normal, increasing the risk of world instability, the World Bank warns in a new report released Sunday. Turn Down the Heat: Confronting the New Climate Normal analyzes the impact of warming of 2 to 4 degrees Celsius (3.6 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels on crops and coastlines.“Today’s report confirms what scientists have been saying – past emissions have set an unavoidable course to warming over the next...

For the last few years scientist have looked on, puzzled, as the extent of Antarctic sea ice expanded to record highs, antithetical to climate models and other scientific projections. And now, after unleashing a robotic submarine (known as the AUV) underneath six small sections of Antarctic sea ice, an international team of scientists has found that, not only is the extent of Antarctic sea ice expanding, but that ice is also much thicker than expected, too. The scientists found that...

You might not think twice before you choose "plastic" in line at the grocery store, but that will change quickly for residents of countries in the European Union. A new "historic" deal passed by the European Union (EU) calls for all of its member states to ban, or implement measures to reduce the consumption of, plastic bags,enough to cut plastic bag usage by 80 percent in a decade, Reuters reports. The entire deal was made in an attempt to lessen...

It's a scene that wildlife researchers on Cape Cod say happens every year: several dozen Kemp's ridley sea turtles come ashore on Cape Cod after getting lost trying to swim around the bay. This year, however, the number of stranded turtles has swelled to a few hundred, prompting some to see it as a sign of renewed health for the population of Kemp's ridley turtles worldwide, which National Geographic notes numbers only about 1,000. What's happened in Cape Cod this...

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) Clues to the United States’ energy future are everywhere, if you know where to look. By 2050, the technology will likely be available to provide 80 percent of the country’s electricity from wind, solar and other renewable sources. But even if the nation doesn’t adapt to that degree, it is clear that the way Americans get their electricity and how it’s generated will be vastly different than today, toppling the current model of power flowing in one...

Thanksgiving is so close, you can almost smell the turkey roasting in the oven, even if you're trapped in an airport waiting to get to the snow-clogged East Coast. Over Thanksgiving alone, some 46 million Americans will be taking trips of 50 miles or longer to visit friends and family, according to AAA. A whopping 89.1 percent of them will be driving, with another 7.7 percent taking to the air. The rest will travel largely by bus or train (if...

In some Canadian lakes, the water has been turning into a creepy jelly-like consistency, baffling swimmers and locals alike. The find prompted researchers at Cambridge University to investigate the cause, and in a recently released study, scientists concluded the nasty occurrence is our fault. Specifically, it's acid rain that's choking off calciumand causing some organisms to struggle to survive,the report said. Among those plankton is Daphnia, which relies on high levels of calcium in the water to thrive, Phys.org reported....

Members of the international confederation Oxfam hold a banner with a message for representatives meeting at the climate talks that begin Dec. 1, 2014 in Lima. Energized by new targets set by China and the United States, talks resume with unusual optimism despite evidence that human-generated climate change is already happening and getting worse. (AP/Rodrigo Abd) In Lima, Peru, representatives from 195 countries have gathered for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which starts today and runs for two weeks....

Leaders from countries across the globe are meeting in Lima, Peru,for the U.N. Climate Talks with the hope that they can agree on a draft to an international climate agreement that would reverse the course of anthropogenic climate change. With 2014 on course to become the warmest year on record and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently announcing that, due to carbon emissions, humans were on pace for a"dangerous" rise in global temperatures, scientists say a landmark international...

More than 80 percent of Americans now believe that climate change is occurring, according to a new survey conducted by global reinsurance giant Munich Re America. Out of the 1,000-plus Americans asked whether or not they "believe that climate change is occurring" 83 percent of the respondents said yes, 15 percent said no and 2 percent had no response. The question didn't address the cause of climate change, and instead focused on whether or not respondents believed in climate change...