EarthScape

President Barack Obama will visit the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday as his administration aims to deflect criticism that it could have responded more quickly to a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens to become an economic and ecological catastrophe. The incident could ultimately rival the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in…

The U.S. government pressured energy giant BP to avert an environmental disaster as a huge, unchecked oil spill reached coastal Louisiana, imperiling fish and shrimp breeding grounds and vulnerable wetlands teeming with wildlife. With oil gushing unchecked from a ruptured deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, President Barack Obama’s administration piled pressure…

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making it easier to find chemical information online. EPA is releasing a database, called ToxRefDB, which allows scientists and the interested public to search and download thousands of toxicity testing results on hundreds of chemicals. ToxRefDB captures 30 years and $2 billion of federal required testing results. In…

More than a week after an explosion destroyed an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of gallons of oil continue to flow into the Gulf. The blast killed eleven workers, and created one of the largest oil spills in U.S. waters. As investigators search for the cause of the explosion, crews work around…

A new, warmer Arctic cannot continue to operate under rules that assume it is ice-covered and essentially closed to fishing, resource exploration and development and shipping, WWF said as it launched a group of reports on protecting a newly accessible, highly vulnerable environment with profound significance for global climate, the global economy and global security.…

A massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico neared wildlife refuges and seafood grounds along the Louisiana coast on Friday, as efforts redoubled to avert what could become one of the worst U.S. ecological disasters. President Barack Obama pledged on Thursday to “use every single available resource” to contain the oil slick and the…

Scientists using a NASA funded telescope have detected water ice and carbon based organic compounds on the surface of an asteroid. The cold facts of the discovery of the frosty mixture on one of the asteroid belt’s larger occupants, suggests that some asteroids, along with their celestial brethren, comets, were the water carriers for a…

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been spreading steadily and at a much greater rate than earlier determined. Like the Exxon-Valdez spill in Alaska, it is devastating to the affected marine ecosystems and has the potential to get much worse. For clean ocean and anti-drilling advocates, it represents the worst-case scenario they have been…

The Home Depot® Foundation has just announced the release of its 2009 annual report. Demonstrating its commitment to building sustainable homes and communities and preserving resources, the Foundation has issued its report in an online version only, saving 200 trees, 44,640 gallons of water, 100 million BTUs of energy, 9,760 pounds of solid waste and…

Friday, April 30th is for the frogs: educational programs, conservation walks with experts, frog leaping races, and the world’s first protest to save frogs are all planned for the world’s 2nd Annual Save the Frogs Day. Organized by the non-profit SAVE THE FROGS!, events are so far planned in 15 countries on every continent besides…