Breaking news in recent years has been swamped with stories of extreme weather -- flash floods in East Asia, prolonged drought in Africa, destructive hurricanes like Hurricane Katrina, heavy monsoon rainfall in South Asia, and an historic heat wave in Europe. The effects of these weather crises have been devastating, and their frequency seemingly on the rise.

For the first time, scientists have used a spaceborne instrument to track the origin and movements of water vapor throughout Earth's atmosphere, providing a new perspective on the dominant role Earth's water cycle plays in weather and climate.

Residents in the western U.S. state of Colorado are struggling to cope with their third huge snowstorm in as many weeks.

Heavy fog is causing more flight cancellations at Britain's Heathrow Airport, forcing thousands of travelers to remain stranded for another day.

Research by the California Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, and Indonesian scientists indicates that within the next few decades another big tsunami could flood densely populated sections of western coastal Sumatra, south of those that suffered from the tsunami of December 2004.