Scientists have developed a new way to estimate the evaporation of water from large reservoirs that, if adopted, would replace a labor-intensive procedure based on decades-old technology. (p. 78)

Scientists in Southern California believe they've found evidence that finally identifies the source of one of the region's largest quakes, a magnitude 7-plus temblor that struck the area on Dec. 21, 1812. (p. 31)

Experiments that used signals from Global Positioning System satellites to precisely measure altitude above a lake's surface may pave the way for fleets of spaceborne sensors that can quickly and inexpensively monitor local and global changes in sea level. (p. 31)

Current U.S. Air Force operating procedures recommend personnel stop working outdoors when lightning is spotted within 5 nautical miles, but a new analysis suggests that this distance may not be adequate to fully protect aircraft and ground crews. (p. 15)

Scientists using the Global Positioning System to track ground movement along faults in southeastern Alaska have measured something entirely different—the rapid rise of parts of the region due to the recent melting of glaciers. (p. 15)

The increase of carbon dioxide expected in the coming decades may boost cotton yields up to 26 percent, new models predict. (p. 15)

A new study of dust lofted to Antarctica suggests that excess amounts of trace metals coated dust grains long before human industrial activity began loading the atmosphere with pollutants. (p. 15)

A new aerodynamic analysis suggests that chaotic turbulence in a high-altitude cloud of volcanic ash can cause small particles of the ash to clump together and fall to the ground much closer to the volcano than expected. (p. 15)

Sediments drilled from the seafloor off Antarctica suggest that the dissolved iron in surface waters that fuels much of the region's biological productivity comes from upwelling deep water currents, not from dust blowing off the continents. (p. 6)

A huge crack across the floating portion of an Antarctic glacier has cleaved the ice shelf and spawned a new iceberg much more quickly than scientists had expected. (p. 383)

The techniques used in developing nations to transform wood into charcoal are net emitters of greenhouse gases, even though the wood used to produce the fuel removed globe-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it was growing. (p. 383)