It’s official: When the sea ice that blankets the Arctic Ocean on Feb. 25, the maximum area was a record low. Warm temperatures in parts of the polar regions kept sea ice levels depressed, and also contributed to the winter peak occurring much earlier than usual, the announced Thursday. The maximum normally isn’t reached until early March, but was recorded about a week early this year, the NSIDC said. That low occurred on the backdrop of overall dwindling sea ice...

In the midst of a historic drought, California Gov. Jerry Brown laid out a $1 billion relief plan aimed at funding water recycling, desalination and flood prevention. At a press conference Thursday, Brown and other lawmakers behind the initiative warned Californians that when it came to the drought, , the Los Angeles Times reports. "This is a struggle. And it's going to be something we're going to have to live with. For how long we're not sure," Brown said. (MORE:...

Wet wipes are a convenient mainstay in the bathroom, but now they're taking on new life as litter on beaches in the United Kingdom. A new report from the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) notes that with an average of 22 wet wipes per mile of beach. Unlike toilet paper, wet wipes don't break down after being flushed, which is why it's recommended to throw them in the trash rather than the toilet. (MORE: ) "Our sewerage systems weren't built to...

Within 15 years, the world water supply will fall short by at least 40 percent, a United Nations report cautioned Friday. Released on World Water Day, the discusses trends in water use and predicts a dwindling supply in areas like sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. The report says a handful of factors are working in concert to constrict the already-contested water supply in developing countries: unchecked population growth, urbanization and industrialization. (MORE: ) "Unless the balance between demand and finite...

In the summer, lakes in isolated areas of northern Canada are filled mainly with wildlife. However, once winter's frigid temperatures take hold, some of these same lakes turn into superhighways. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has provided a view of these highways from space with a Landsat satellite image taken on Feb. 24, 2015. In the animation below, you can see the southbound and northbound trucking lanes over the lake and an image from the warmer months when the...

Hoping to rid itself of thick smog and air pollution, Paris took a fraction of its drivers off the road Monday. French newspaper Le Monde reports that by banning drivers with even-numbered license plates. Officials say the smog is a yearly occurance and happens at the start of spring because of weather patterns in the area. Air quality observatory Airparif announced that levels of PM10, a pollutant released by cars, in the air had , which triggered authorities to implement...

We're not used to seeing this side of the drought. Rather than a dried-up lake or shrinking reserves, this is a view of towering Half Dome at Yosemite National Park, a giant directly tied to the survival of California's water supply. The snapshots in the GIF above were taken from a in late March, starting in 2011 and ending in 2015. Typically around the start of spring, Yosemite's Half Dome is covered in snow. As the years pass, you can...

Hundreds of landmarks around the world will shut off their lights this Saturday in observance of Earth Hour 2015. Earth Hour is an annual event that promotes conservation and sustainable energy. This year organizers say more than 170 countries will participate. London's Big Ben, New York City's Times Square, Paris' Eiffel Tower, the Acropolis in Athens and even the International Space Station will go dark for a full 60 minutes. (MORE: ) The World Wildlife Fund began Earth Hour in...

are thinning faster than previously thought, so fast that if the current rate continues, several of these massive floating pieces of ice could disappear within a century, according to new research out of at the University of California, San Diego. The scientists analyzed 18 years worth of satellite data — a longer, more continuous amount of time than any previous studies of this region — to get their results. “West Antarctic losses increased by 70 percent in the last decade,...

Cars are buried in deep snow in the south Buffalo area on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014, in Buffalo, N.Y. ((AP Photo/Mike Groll) ) After a brutal winter that left parts of the country , many were looking for a culprit to blame. According to a new study, climate change might be off the table as the reason when it comes to the unusually harsh winters we've seen in recent years. A team of scientists from Swiss university ETH Zurich and...

Remember those annoying little packing peanuts you found strewn about the house after the big move? Well, they're far more powerful than you think. Most aren't earth-friendly, because they're made from materials that are slow to biodegrade. Packing peanuts are often discarded, wasting away in dumps, says Tech Times. A mere 10 percent are recycled per year, a number that isn't good news for the environment. Now, Purdue University researchers think they stumbled on a new, greener life for packing...

Hawaii's majestic coastline has always been molded by the sea, but a new study found a reason to be concerned about our 50th state's pristine beaches. Scientists at the University of Hawaii's School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology recently released a study that found some of the island state's beaches will be reduced due to erosion. Their findings were published this week in the journal Natural Hazards. The scientists came to their conclusions after studying 10 Hawaiian beaches...

The Borneo rainforest taken from the communications tower where researchers collected some of the data showing traces of air pollution from mainland Asia. (Ch'ien C. Lee) Industrial pollution coming from mainland Asia is now showing up in the remote Bornean rainforests, carried there on cold wind outflows, according to new research. Specifically, the researchers discovered traces of C2Cl4 or perchloroethylene, sometimes referred to as perc, a pollutant found in processes associated with commercial dry cleaning, among others. “It’s purely industrially...