msnbc.com: Environment

April was 5th warmest month globally on record

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:03:34 GMT

Meteorologists say unseasonable weather pushed last month to the fifth warmest April on record worldwide.

Google-backed wind power line clears hurdle

Mon, 14 May 2012 18:43:51 GMT

(Reuters) - A planned $5 billion transmission line to send power from wind farms off the East Coast cleared a hurdle, allowing the Google Inc-backed project to move to the next step in the approval process, officials said.

Plan to cut tube wear falls short at Cal nuke site

Mon, 14 May 2012 13:02:11 GMT

A $670 million overhaul at Edison International's San Onofre nuclear plant in California was expressly intended to avoid the types of ailments that have sidelined its twin reactors.

Insecticide resistance threatens malaria fight

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:09:22 GMT

LONDON (Reuters) - Malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa and India are becoming resistant to insecticides, putting millions of lives at greater risk and threatening eradication efforts, health experts said on Tuesday.

Rising seas not only issue facing island nation

Tue, 15 May 2012 17:11:30 GMT

The island nation of Kiribati is one of the countries most threatened by rising sea levels. However, many of the floods it has seen may be due to a mix of natural variability and human activities, complicating the picture of how rising sea levels are endangering Kiribati and other island nations.

Report: Amid problems, US fish stocks rebound

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:24:23 GMT

A record number of fish populations have been rebuilt in U.S waters, even as problems continue to threaten the future of the high-profile New England fishing industry, according to a federal report released Monday.

Most mammals won't flee climate change fast enough

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:34:34 GMT

As the climate changes over the next century, the ranges of nearly 90 percent of mammal species will shrink — in many cases because animals won't be able to get to areas where the climate is going to become suitable for them, says new research.

Mexican wind energy boom plays out on gusty shores

Mon, 14 May 2012 21:43:29 GMT

On an arid plain where sudden gusts of wind can rip roofs off buildings and knock over tractor trailers, Mexico is building a new engine for its energy future.

Navy raises sonar impact on dolphins, whales dramatically

Fri, 11 May 2012 21:55:58 GMT

New Navy estimates showing many more dolphins, whales and other marine mammals could be hurt by sonar off Hawaii and Southern California caused alarm among environmentalists on Friday.

Gas drillers wrangle over NY limitations, bans

Sat, 12 May 2012 18:32:30 GMT

With all the restrictions in proposed state regulations and local bans, gas companies say about half of their lease holdings in the lucrative Marcellus Shale region in New York state will be off-limits or inaccessible to drilling if the state gives the green light to developers this year.

'Tripawed' the three-pawed grizzly returns to Denali

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:36:21 GMT

A three-pawed grizzly bear affectionately known as "Tripawed" is back in public view at Alaska's Denali National Park, after it was first spotted last year with a bloody stump where its right front foot had been.

Corporate giants caught in middle of climate clash

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:43:42 GMT

Some corporate giants are caught in the middle of a battle between a think tank skeptical of manmade global warming and an environmental group that it is trying to undermine its financial health.

Pros and cons in the bee debate

Fri, 11 May 2012 02:43:48 GMT

Is a widely used pesticide to blame for making bees disappear? Three videos from NBC's "Nightly News" take a look at both sides of the neonicotinoid debate.

Water safe in town made famous by fracking-EPA

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:42:35 GMT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said drinking water is safe to consume in a small Pennsylvania town that has attracted national attention after residents complained about hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas.

Eastern rattlesnake slithers closer to U.S. endangered list

Fri, 11 May 2012 19:16:26 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The eastern diamondback rattlesnake, North America's largest venomous snake, may need its own antidote.

88,000-mile voyage? Plastic card found after 33 years

Fri, 11 May 2012 07:51:00 GMT

A plastic card dropped into the ocean 33 years ago has been found on the coast of Alaska, after a potential 88,000-mile journey.

Vast Antarctic ice sheet 'in play' with global warming

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:56:40 GMT

Scientists have long focused on Antarctica’s smaller ice sheet as being vulnerable to warming, but two new studies say part of the continent's much larger ice sheet is also at risk -- and that ice now held back on land there could add to sea level rise by 2100.