More than foot of rain floods Texas

MARBLE FALLS, Texas - Lashing storms dumped up to 18 inches of rain on parts of central Texas, flooding several towns and stranding dozens of people on rooftops, cars and in trees Wednesday.

Rising Seas to Destroy U.S. Beaches

You may have to kiss that summer trip to the beach goodbye later this century, thanks to rising sea levels and more intense tropical storms, scientists predict.

Plan to Dump Iron in Ocean Criticized

A controversial plan to dump iron dust into the open ocean near the Galapagos Islands to induce the growth of phytoplankton met with opposition from an environmental group today

Floods, heatwaves send signal about global warming's impact: UN

GENEVA (AFP) - Recent floods in Asia and Britain, and heatwaves in southern Europe, show the world must be better prepared to cope with the impact of climate change, the United Nation's top disaster prevention official said Wednesday.

Cold snap disrupts flights in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - South Africa's main international airport faced major disruption on Wednesday after a deadly cold snap which saw the heaviest snowfalls in Johannesburg for more than two decades.

Farmers buckle under as drought ravages Lesotho

MAFETENG, Lesotho (AFP) - For Lesotho farmer Setsabo Mothibeli it has been too long since the rain came, as he stands desolately among dried maize stalks in the barren field he should have been harvesting.

Swiss climate warms twice as fast as northern hemisphere: study

GENEVA (AFP) - Switzerland's climate has since the 1970s warmed twice as fast as the average for the northern hemisphere, a Swiss public research institute said Tuesday.

Pakistan cyclone leaves 21 dead, 250,000 homeless

GWADAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani rescuers struggled to reach 250,000 people left homeless, and in some cases clinging to rooftops and trees, by a cyclone that lashed the coast and killed 21 people.

Firefighters battling elements in California wildfire

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Firefighters tackling a massive blaze in northern California were bracing for a backlash from the weather on Wednesday, with forecasted gusty winds threatening to spread the inferno.

Scorching heat, floods wreak havoc across Europe

ATHENS (AFP) - Dozens of people across southern Europe have perished in a blistering heatwave while storms whipped the north of the continent and floods claimed four lives in Britain, officials said Wednesday.

Dust in West speeding up snow melting

In 2006, eight dust storms from northern Arizona and New Mexico covered Colorado's San Juan Mountains with layers of orange and red grit, according to the study. Typically, there are fewer than four such dust storms in a year.

NYC power outage snarls traffic, trains

NEW YORK - A brief power outage darkened a large swath of Manhattan and the Bronx on Wednesday, knocking out traffic lights, cutting subway service and forcing the evacuation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on one of the hottest days of the year.

Water Restrictions Mandatory for Birmingham, Surrounding Areas

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC-TV MyFoxAL.com) -- Water customers in Birmingham and surrounding cities must reduce outdoor water use or face possible surcharges or fines.

Namibia: Drought threatens lives, livestock

(SomaliNet) Some farmers in Namibia’s Kunene region have been forced by worsening drought to drive out thousands of their cattle to other regions in search of grazing.

Drought in New Zealand

More than 550 farmers have attended a series of four meetings arranged by Meat & Wool New Zealand amid the region's worst drought in 125 years.

Roy Fraser, who was part of an expert panel offering the farmers advice, says it is positive so many of them are seeking information. However, he says it is also an indication of the level of stress in rural communities.

Fourth of July fireworks could be canceled due to drought

Parched conditions in Georgia could mean no fireworks displays on Independence Day.

Some cities are considering canceling major fireworks shows if the extreme drought conditions in the state don't improve. Ware County is under a two-month fireworks ban, which covered Memorial Day and will also include the Fourth of July.

Drought: a new norm across the nation?

Drought, a fixture in much of the West for nearly a decade, now covers more than one-third of the continental United States.

And it's spreading.

As summer starts, half the nation is either abnormally dry or in outright drought from prolonged lack of rain that could lead to water shortages, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly index of conditions.

Scientist shows off Lake O's artifacts

Boyer made his plea after a county archaeologist showed off a few artifacts collected in the shallows of the lake. Near-record-low water levels exposed some previously uncovered artifacts that date back 2,000 years.

County Archaeologist Christian Davenport is mapping the location of the relics, an area that covers roughly 80 square miles and includes about 20 individual archaeological sites. The lake is about 235 square miles, Davenport said.

Drowned town rises from drought-ravaged lake

Drowned 50 years ago for progress and the promise of near limitless water, the town of Old Adaminaby has re-emerged from its sunken grave as drought ravages one of Australia's biggest lakes.

The country's battle with climate change and the worst drought in 100 years is stark at Old Adaminaby, where looters pick through the relics of a bygone farming town.

Lake Okeechobee's cleanup crew isn't messing around

LAKE OKEECHOBEE — As record low water levels lay bare the shallow bottoms of Lake Okeechobee's outer shores, South Florida Water Management District crews are waging a race against time to remove 100,000 truckloads of noxious muck from the lake bed.

Greenland Continues to Slip-Slide Away

The icy mega-island of Greenland is slipping away faster than before, as it experienced more days of melting snow in 2006 than it does on average, new satellite observations show.

Satellite sensors taking daily observations of the ice since 1988 revealed that Greenland’s melting days have progressively increased and melting has increasingly take place at higher altitudes.

Study: Hundreds of Bird Species Endangered by 2050

At least 400 species of birds could become endangered within the next 50 years as a result of global warming and changes in land use, a new study finds.

Adoption Group Says Cats Invading Shelters Due to Global Warming

The cause of this feline flood is an extended cat breeding season thanks to the world’s warming temperatures, according to the group, which is one of the country’s oldest and largest animal welfare organizations

Arctic way of life threatened by global warming

TROMSOE, Norway (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of indigenous people living in the Arctic region may have to abandon their traditional way of life if global warming is not halted, indigenous community leaders warned this week.

Death toll from Oman cyclone hits 49

MUSCAT (AFP) - Cyclone Gonu, which tore through Oman this week before veering towards
Iran, killed at least 49 people and left another 27 missing in the Gulf sultanate, police said on Friday.

Ship aground as wild weather lashes Australia

SYDNEY (AFP) - Wild weather brought chaos to Australia's east coast Friday, driving a huge freighter aground in tumultuous seas, sweeping cars into flooded rivers, disrupting flights and cutting power lines.

Hong Kong winters may vanish in 50 years: weather expert

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's winters could vanish within 50 years, with the number of cold days declining virtually to zero due to global warming and urbanization, the head of the city's weather observatory warned on Friday.

Group: Climate change imperils monuments

NEW YORK - Rising seas, spreading deserts, intensifying weather and other harbingers of climate change are threatening cultural landmarks from Canada to Antarctica, the World Monuments Fund said Wednesday.

Govt. ponders cuts in satellite monitors

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is considering less expensive options to putting up six new weather satellites equipped to monitor global warming, the White House's science adviser said Thursday.

Caribbean's reef-building coral at risk

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Six species of reef-building coral could vanish from the Caribbean due to rising temperatures and toxic runoff from islands' development, according to a study released Thursday.