North Texas residents took in the devastation on Thursday wreaked by a series of tornadoes that killed six and injured dozens more in what Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds described as a “nightmare” scenario.Seven of 14 people who had previously been unaccounted for had checked in by Thursday morning, Deeds said at a press conference on Thursday. About 100 people were reported injured and as many a...    

North Texas residents began to take in the devastation on Thursday wreaked by a series of tornadoes that killed six and injured dozens more in what Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds described as a “nightmare” scenario.The death toll could grow, with 14 people remaining unaccounted for, Deeds told a news conference in the early morning hours of Thursday. About 100 people were reported injured and as ...    

    

    

A long-term global cooling trend ended in the late 19th century, a reversal in temperature that cannot be explained by natural variability alone, according to a new study.The finding stems from 2,000-year-long continental-scale temperature records inferred from tree rings, ice cores, lake sediments and other so-called proxies from around the world. The records show variations in temperature caused...    

By Denise ChowLiveScienceWater levels in two of the Great Lakes dipped to record lows in January, but while spring conditions are expected to give these freshwater bodies a seasonal boost, scientists say the ability to forecast long-term trends remains difficult due to climate fluctuations."Our uncertainty on future water levels — which is considerable — is a direct reflection of our uncertainty o...    

COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh -- Cyclone Mahasen struck the southern coast of Bangladesh on Thursday, lashing remote fishing villages with heavy rain and fierce winds that flattened mud and straw huts and forced the evacuation of more than 1 million people.The main section of the storm reached land Thursday and immediately began weakening, according to Mohammad Shah Alam, director of the Bangladesh Mete...    

A roller coaster that was plunged into the Atlantic Ocean after Sandy ripped through the Jersey Shore last October was being demolished Tuesday afternoon, shortly after Britain’s Prince Harry toured two New Jersey communities hit hard by the deadly storm.The partially submerged Jet Star coaster was once a popular destination at Casino Pier, an amusement park in Seaside Heights, N.J. But when Sandy...    

    

WASHINGTON - Shrinking budgets mean fewer firefighters will be available this summer even as unusually dry weather has increased the risk of fire in much of the West, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack warned Monday."As a result of sequester and across-the-board cuts we will have about 500 fewer firefighters at the Forest Service than we would otherwise have," said Vilsack.Cuts known as sequest...    

    

Minnesotans saw scenes reminiscent of a Hollywood sci-fi spectacle this weekend when massive waves of ice surged out of the water and crept onto the shore like some fast-moving glacier.Powerful gusts of wind drove giant sheets of ice toward townhouses hugging the southern lip of Lake Mille Lacs at the northwest end of the state.Amateur video footage captured at the scene shows 2-foot blocks of win...    

The winter wheat crop is expected to be far smaller this season compared to last, particularly for hard red varieties used in bread, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Friday. In the first government projection on the harvest's anticipated size, the National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated winter wheat production will be down 10 percent to 1.49 billion bushels, due to fewer acre...    

    

By Megan GannonLiveScience In stark contrast to last year, when the continental United States experienced the warmest March in more than a century, March 2013 was nearly a full degree Fahrenheit cooler than the 20th-century average, U.S. weather officials said.Not so for the rest of the planet: Last monthtied with March 2006 as the globe's 10th warmest March since record-keeping began in 1880.The ...    

By Becky OskinLiveScienceHurricane Sandy's fateful left turn toward the mid-Atlantic Coast in October last year lit up earthquake monitors all the way to Seattle, according to results presented at the Seismological Society of America's annual meeting Thursday.When Hurricane Sandy veered on Oct. 29, the sudden increase in crashing ocean waves sent rumbles through the Earth detectable on seismometer...    

    

    

Major stretches of river have already gone dry, farmers are leaving their land fallow, and cities are clamping down on water use, but things in New Mexico just went from bad to worse Thursday.The latest map from federal forecasters shows exceptional drought has spread from a quarter of New Mexico to nearly 40 percent in just one week. At this time last year, less than one-tenth of the state was af...    

Almost a third of America's honeybee colonies bit the dust last winter, according to a bellwether survey of bee health. But the deaths didn't fit the typical pattern for colony collapse disorder, the mysterious malady that wipes out bunches of bees all at once. Instead, researchers suggest that last summer's drought and other common-sense factors were to blame.The annual survey of beekeepers, cond...