• 65.3 million displaced in 2015

    Global forced displacement has escalated sharply in 2015, reaching the highest level ever recorded and representing immense human suffering. By the end of the year, 65.3 million individuals were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict,…

  • Kanlaon erupts sending a plume of steam up to 5.3 km a.s.l., Philippines

    A series of steam and ash eruptions occurred at the active crater of Kanlaon volcano in the central Philippines starting at 01:19 UTC on June 18, 2016. Based on visual observations, the eruption lasted for around 27 minutes. The first event was a steam and ash…

  • Above normal 2016 Southwest Monsoon season expected

    India's Meteorological Department declared the arrival of the of the 2016 Southwest Monsoon over the state of Kerala on June 8, 2016. The agency has announced earlier it is expecting an above normal season, easing fears over farm and economic growth after two…

  • Newly discovered asteroid 2016 HO3 is Earth’s new quasi-satellite

    Pan-STARRS 1 asteroid survey telescope on Haleakala, Hawaii has discovered Earth's new quasi-satellite. Designated as 2016 HO3, this newly discovered near-Earth object has been our planet's constant companion for almost a century. The asteroid is too…

  • Fast-moving wildfire prompts emergency evacuations in New Mexico

    A fast-moving wildfire which started in the Manzano Mountains on June 14, 2016, prompted Susana Martinez, the New Mexico Governor to declare a state of emergency on June 15, as the emergency services were unable to contain the fire. The cause of the fire is still…

  • What experts are saying about asteroid mining

    Look into the heavens at night. You see twinkling stars, maybe the crescent moon. What else is out there that we can’t see with the naked eye? Other planets and moons, comets, meteors, asteroids, miners… wait, what? Ok, there aren’t any miners in…

  • Inside intriguing dust storm over Dori, Burkina Faso

    Serge Bayala of the ACMAD-MESA Climate Services recorded this massive dust storm on May 23, 2016, at the periphery of a migrating low pressure cell arriving at Dori, the capital of Sahel Region, Burkina Faso. The video starts as Bayala and Diasso Ulrich approach the…

  • ELVES captured above a thunderstorm in Colorado, US

    On June 8, 2016, amateur astronomer Thomas Ashcraft captured an enormous ring of light high above a thunderstorm in southeast Colorado. "It only lasted about a millisecond, but it was definitely there. The ring was about 300 km (186 miles) wide," Ashcraft…

  • Prolonged, early season cold spell grips South America

    South American countries of Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, and southern Brazil are experiencing an unusually cold weather for this time of year. Cold blasts, caused by cold winds from the Antarctica (Friagens), are not unusual across South America in the…

  • Research suggests major changes to geology textbooks

    A new research of the Earth’s crust and upper-mantle suggests that ancient geologic events may have left deep ‘scars’ that can come to life to play a role in earthquakes, mountain formation, and other ongoing processes on our planet. This changes…