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Brief storm shows potential for mud flows from huge Southern California wildfire burn area

Mud slide scare hits LA suburb near burn area

Dutch town opposes carbon storage project; technology could help reduce greenhouse gases

Carbon storage? Not under my house!

BARENDRECHT, Netherlands — The people of this small Dutch town are not against pumping tons of carbon dioxide into the ground to fight global warming.

Latvian experts say large crater was hoax, created by people, not meteorite

Latvian experts say meteorite crater was hoax

Object resembling meteorite falls in Latvia, leaving large crater; no radiation

Meteorite-like object falls in Latvia

RIGA, Latvia — A meteorite-like object crashed into a meadow in northern Latvia, creating a crater 27 feet (9 meters) wide and 9 feet (3 meters) deep, a geologist who visited the site said Monday.

Rising seas put millions of people, trillions of dollars of assets, at risk in coastal cities

SHANGHAI — This city of 20 million rose from the sea and grew into a modern showcase, with skyscrapers piercing the clouds, atop tidal flats fed by the mighty Yangtze River.

Storm hits California; residents warned of possible debris flow near wildfire-ravaged areas

LOS ANGELES — Homeowners filled sandbags and crews erected concrete barriers to guard southern California property against possible landslides Tuesday as a major Pacific storm threatened to inundate foothills recently denuded by wildfire.

Experts warn glaciers in Indian Kashmir melting at alarming rate due to climate change

SRINAGAR, India — Indian Kashmir’s glaciers are melting fast because of rising temperatures, threatening the water supply of millions of people in the Himalayan region, a new study by Indian scientists says.

NASA lunar mission combines romance of moon with lust for cosmic violence

WASHINGTON — For as long as man has looked up, the moon has inspired romance, poetry and songs. Man also likes blowing things up. Now we get to do both — in the name of science.

Federal study says winter rains bring high risk of huge debris flows in Calif. wildfire area

PASADENA, Calif. — Rainstorms could send huge flows of water laden with mud, rocks and other debris toward cities below steep slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains stripped bare by a wildfire near Los Angeles this summer, federal scientists said Tuesday.

Study says China earthquake a once in 4,000 years event that ruptured multiple faults

BEIJING — China’s devastating earthquake last year that left some 90,000 people dead or missing was caused by a geological event that occurs about once every 4,000 years, a study led by Chinese researchers said Sunday.

Study: Last major quake along Utah’s Wasatch Front was more recent than previously thought

SALT LAKE CITY — Geologists say a major quake could strike at any time in Utah, with new research showing the last large temblor along the Wasatch Front was more recent than previously thought.

Killer whales, robins, rising seas: Climate is changing and tiny ‘Tuk’ mans the front line

TUKTOYAKTUK, Northwest Territories — Caught between rising seas and land melting beneath their mukluk-shod feet, the villagers of Tuktoyaktuk are doing what anyone would do on this windy Arctic coastline. They’re building windmills.

Landmark Yosemite lodge shut as geologists assess risk of more rockfalls

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — Scientists worked Thursday to determine if a boulder avalanche that forced the closure of a landmark Yosemite lodge was a one-time event or a precursor of more rockslides to come.

Kenyan police arrest suspected mastermind in respected Scottish geologist’s death

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan police have arrested the suspected mastermind in the killing of a Scottish-born geologist, who was attacked last week by men armed with arrows, spears and machetes, in an apparent dispute over mining rights.

Kenyan police arrest suspect in Scottish geologist’s death

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan police say they have arrested a suspect in the death of a Scottish-born geologist.

Kenyan police: Armed mob ambushes, kills noted Scottish geologist in mining dispute

NAIROBI, Kenya — Assailants armed with arrows, spears and machetes killed a Scottish-born geologist in an apparent dispute over mining rights in southeast Kenya, police said Thursday.

Police: Heavily armed mob kills noted geologist in southeastern Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — Assailants armed with arrows, spears and machetes killed a Scottish-born geologist in an apparent dispute over mining rights in southeastern Kenya, police said Thursday.

Police: Heavily armed mob kills world famous geologist in southeastern Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya — Assailants armed with arrows, spears and machetes killed a Scottish-born geologist in an apparent dispute over mining rights in southeastern Kenya, police said Thursday.

Pakistan arrests pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad who brokered Swat peace deal that fell apart

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani police on Sunday arrested pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad, who brokered a peace deal between the government and militants in the Swat Valley that has since faltered.

Pakistani police detain 2, including former lawmaker, in beheading of Polish geologist

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani police have detained a former lawmaker and a suspected Taliban militant in connection with the beheading of a Polish geologist kidnapped near the Afghan border last year, a police official said Sunday.

NZ prime minister to visit city closest to 7.8-magnitude earthquake; tsunami warnings canceled

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Water pipes were broken and fallen power lines lay on the ground Thursday in Invercargill, the southern New Zealand city closest to an earthquake that struck off the coast the night before.

Indonesian scientists reconstructing rare, giant elephant skeleton

BANDUNG, Indonesia — Indonesian scientists are reconstructing the largest, most complete skeleton of a prehistoric giant elephant ever found in the tropics, a finding that may offer new clues into the largely mysterious origins of its modern Asian cousin.

Town welcomes PCB-tainted Hudson River sludge to Texas disposal site; critics fret about water

LUBBOCK, Texas — Later this month, the first trainloads of PCB-tainted sludge dredged from the Hudson River will arrive and, in the eyes of critics, will turn a stretch of West Texas into New York’s “pay toilet.”

Air France crash leaves trail of broken hearts across 32 countries

DUBLIN — Three young Irish doctors — one a Riverdance performer — returning from a vacation to Brazil. An American geologist and his wife headed to Europe for work and some R&R. An 11-year-old boy traveling alone on his way back to an English boarding school.

Company names American geologist and wife who were on missing Air France flight

NEW ORLEANS — The two Americans on board an Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean were a geologist and his wife headed to Europe for work and vacation, a spokesman for his employer said Tuesday.

The remains of a Polish geologist beheaded by militants in Pakistan are returned home

WARSAW, Poland — The remains of a Polish geologist beheaded by Islamic militants in Pakistan were returned Wednesday to Poland in a casket draped in the two countries’ flags and covered in flowers.