The blue, green, yellow and orange colors show the aerosols associated with the smoke in eastern Russia on April 15, 2015. (NASA) Smoke from wildfires thousands of miles away in Russia reached the U.S. West Coast this past weekend (April 17-19). Strong winds fanned agricultural fires in Siberia on April 12 that eventually got out of control. At least 23 people were killed and more than 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in southern Siberia. (MORE: ) In the first...

Dozens of residents near Duke Energy coal ash dumps have been told not to drink or cook with water from their wells after tests showed contamination with toxic heavy metals. The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources said Tuesday that tests of 87 private wells near eight Duke plants showed results that failed to meet state groundwater standards. A state law passed after last year’s required wells within 1,000 feet of Duke’s 32 coal ash dumps across the...

Scientists using real-time monitors have linked a swarm of small earthquakes west of Fort Worth, Texas, to nearby natural gas wells and wastewater injection. In 84 days from November 2013 to January 2014, the area around Azle, Texas, shook with 27 magnitude 2 or greater earthquakes, while scientists at Southern Methodist University and the U.S. Geological Survey monitored the shaking. It’s an area that had no recorded quakes for 150 years on faults that “have been inactive for hundreds of...

First the ice melted, and then this beautiful sight was revealed. The U.S. Coast Guard took a helicopter over Lake Michigan and caught a glimpse of a few historic shipwrecks through the clear, blue water. The aircrew, stationed in Traverse City, Michigan, was on a routine patrol Friday , all of which were taken above the shoreline near Sleeping Bear Point. (MORE: ) One of the ships pictured above, the James McBride, was stranded in 1857, and another called the...

45 years: Time since the first Earth Day, in 1970. (Alexander Gerst/ESA via Getty Images) It’s been 45 years since the first Earth Day, a moment that’s come to symbolize a movement for bettering the planet. It’s not only about how far we have left to go in terms of helping the Earth, but also how far we’ve come. The latter may actually surprise you. Here a look at some facts amazing facts — by the numbers — about the...

President Obama made an appearance in the Florida Everglades Wednesday to deliver an Earth Day speech aimed at warning the public about climate change and criticizing politicians who the administration says have ignored the issue. The location and date were both intentional; in his speech, Obama emphasized the value of America's many natural treasures and highlighted the damage climate change can cause cherised sites like the Everglades. President Barack Obama walks the Anahinga Trail at Everglades National Park, Fla., Wednesday,...

Environmental activist Christopher Swain did the unthinkable on Earth Day by attempting to swim the Gowanus Canal, one of America's dirtiest waterways, in Brooklyn, New York. Swain attempted the disgusting feat to and bring the heavily polluted waterway to light, CBS New York reported. Before taking the plunge, Swain told local media and bystanders, "I'm a little nervous because it is scary to get in there with all the pathogens, the bacteria, the viruses, the toxic chemicals and heavy metals."...

SMAP radar image from data from March 31 to April 3, 2015. Weaker radar signals (blues) reflect low soil moisture or lack of vegetation, such as in deserts. Strong radar signals (reds) are seen in forests. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/GSFC) Tracking soil moisture is a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it. Soil moisture is a critical indicator of drought. For decades, ground observations have done the heavy lifting but they’re few and far between. That’s why NASA spent $1 billion to launch...

It's everywhere. From the beautiful oceans to stunning mountains, pollution plagues nature and global populations, sometimes providing a rather unpleasant picture of the world. The images above are meant to be disturbing. Over . The World Health Organization said were a result of air pollution alone. (MORE:) Animals face some of the worst hazards, as materials are dumped into their homes. Conserve Energy Future reports that , five times to be exact, than those that dwell on land. Pollution is...

The water level on Nevada's Lake Mead dropped below 1,080 feet for the first time in 78 years on Tuesday. The last time the water level was below 1,080 feet on Lake Mead was in , about the time it was being filled in its first few years of existence. Lake Mead was created by the damming of the Colorado River after the Hoover Dam. , the lake level was at 1,079.9 feet as of Tuesday evening. (MORE:) Southern Nevada,...

On the surface, it looks like something horrific is happening at Antarctica's Blood Falls. Only recently, it's been discovered that there's more happening here than just a chemical reaction that turns salty water into a substance that's the color of blood. Scientists have been studying the complex Blood Falls for years, but a recent study has found more information about the origins of this discoloration. And as the study discovered, there is underneath all that Antarctic ice. Here's how it...

There's a new hazard in the Heartland. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently released a map highlighting the future risk for man-made earthquakes, and an increased chance to see ground shaking. A new preliminary earthquake hazard map shows an uptick in the risk of non-tectonic earthquakes all the way from southern Kansas to north Texas. (USGS) In particular, a new corridor spanning from north Texas to southern Kansas stands out in bright red in the GIF to the left. (MORE:...

Cranking up the planetary heat is going to ratchet down the planet’s biodiversity, and new analysis suggests global warming could directly threaten 1-in-6 species with extinction if polluting practices continue unabated — up from about 3 percent today. Scientists triggered alarm in 2004 when they warned in the journal Nature that climate change could drive 1 million varieties of plants and animals to extinction, but that was a rough estimate. In the decade since, researchers worldwide have been probing the...