Climate change is causing wind patterns to change over the Pacific Ocean, leading to longer commercial airline flight times and causing airplanes to burn more fuel and emit more greenhouse gases. Those are the conclusions of a Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution published Monday in the journal Nature Climate Change, showing that the shifting jet stream over the Pacific Ocean is increasing flight times between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland, leading to more of the pollution that fuels climate change. Previous...

A man rests along the the Coney Island boardwalk on one of the hottest weeks in recent New York City history in July 2013. A new study says hotter-than-average summers, especially those with big temperature swings, are linked with higher death rates. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Hotter-than-average summers, especially those with wide temperature swings, will lead to more deaths among older Americans, according to a newly published report. The , released Monday in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, examined the...

The planet experienced its , according to a new report released Thursday, which confirms that land temperatures, sea surface temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations all reached historic levels last year. The , published July 16 in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, represents the work of more than 400 scientists from 58 countries around the world. "The variety of indicators shows us how our climate is changing, not just in temperature but from the depths of the oceans to...

It's difficult to imagine living in your home or working in a building without one in summer -- especially if you live in a warm climate -- but could your air conditioner be making you sick? It's a question that seems to get asked every year, especially during summer and winter, when people use their air conditioning and heating systems the most. And the has raged since air conditioning first became widespread in the years after World War II, Slate.com...

Nearly one-fifth of the raw groundwater used for public drinking water systems in California contains excessive levels of potentially toxic contaminants, according to a decade-long U.S. Geological Survey study that provides one of the first comprehensive looks at the health of California's public water supply and groundwater. One of the surprises in the study of 11,000 public supply wells statewide is the extent to which high levels of arsenic, uranium and other naturally occurring but worrisome trace elements is present,...

Wildfires today threaten more of the world's forested areas, and for a longer period of time each year, than they have in more than three decades, according to a new study that blames climate-driven changes like rising global temperatures and worsening droughts. Released July 14 in the scientific journal Nature Communications, the found that wildfire seasons worldwide are nearly 20 percent longer today than they were 35 years ago, having lengthened across more than 25 percent of the Earth's forested...

As our planet becomes increasingly more unpredictable, the world's big cities will need a plan to become more resilient to a slew of threats. That's why the Rockefeller Foundation for the expected and unexpected challenges of the 21st century. Through the 100 Resilient Cities organization, the foundation is working with the cities chosen to develop plans for weather disasters, like drought, tropical storms and extreme heat, as well as other challenges created by extreme weather, like floods, fires and food...

NASA’s former climate chief has issued a stark new study that finds that the world’s current climate goal could be inadequate and may not prevent catastrophic losses from rising seas, ocean temperatures and changes in global weather. But the extreme nature of his projections has some scientists questioning the methods he used and the results he reached. Global leaders and scientists have agreed that keeping global warming toof pre-industrial temperatures represents a safe level of climate change. The new findings,...

Like a scene straight out of a horror film, a Turkish lake known for its salinity turned a deep shade of red recently. The country's Tuz Gola– nicknamed "Salt Lake" by the locals– turned red because of , ABC News reported. The lake, which is Turkey's second largest, spans more than 600 square miles and , according to the United Nations. In the slideshow at the top of this page, you can see an image of what the red algae...

Like crisp romaine lettuce in your Caesar salad? The time to enjoy it is now, with farming booming in the California region where it's grown, as the state's historic drought could spell drastically reduced production and much higher prices for the lettuce in the not-too-distant future. That's the conclusion several observers have come to about California's Salinas Valley, often called the "salad bowl of the world" for the amount of lettuce it grows; the state is reponsible for more than...

Those long, hot, sultry days of summer, the ones where the air seems so still it wouldn’t disturb a leaf, are also days where air quality can take a nosedive. With winds barely above a whisper and atmosphere-scouring rains nowhere in sight, pollutants can build up in the air we breathe, with potentially serious health consequences. Since climate change is expected to usher in more oppressive heat waves, the number of days with stagnant air will likely go up, which...

This small lake, which overlooks a permafrost thaw slump near Fort McPherson in Canada's Northwest Territories, is poised to fall over the cliff below when the thawing permafrost holding it up finally collapses. (Scott Zolkos, University of Alberta/Northwest Territories Geological Survey) Deep in the forests within Canada's Northwest Territories, there's a small lake perched on a cliff that's about to collapse. The earth that's holding it up will soon give way, scientists say, because it's made up mostly of permafrost...

A new report from Thailand's government says that Bangkok, its capital city and home to some 14 million people, could be underwater in the next 15 years thanks to a combination of sinking land and rising global sea levels. The conclusion comes from Thailand's National Reform Council, which issued a report last week that warned "immediate and costly solutions are needed to avert a catastrophe," caused by "excessive pumping from the [underground] aquifer, the weight of mushrooming development and rising...