Scientists say massive iceberg has broken off in Antarctica

One of the biggest icebergs ever recorded, a trillion-ton behemoth more than seven times the size of New York City, has broken off of Antarctica, triggering disagreement among scientists over whether global warming is to blame.

The event, captured by satellite, happened sometime in the past few days when the giant chunk snapped off an ice shelf.

The cave squeaker returns: Rare frog seen after decades

The cave squeaker is back.

Researchers in Zimbabwe say they have found a rare frog that hasn't been seen in decades.

The Artholeptis troglodytes, also known as the "cave squeaker" because of its preferred habitat, was discovered in 1962 but there were no reported sightings of the elusive amphibian after that. An international "red list" of threatened species tagged them as critically endangered and possibly extinct.

Insurer: 2015 saw lowest natural disaster losses in 6 years

Last year saw the lowest financial costs from natural disasters worldwide since 2009 as the El Nino weather phenomenon reduced hurricane activity in the North Atlantic, a leading insurer said Monday.

The year's most devastating disaster was the earthquake in Nepal in April, but only a fraction of the resulting losses was insured.

Energy-rich Russia pays little attention to climate change

When forest fires roared through Siberia this summer, so vast that the smoke blocked vast Lake Baikal from satellite view, Russian officials blamed the blazes on arsonists and disorganized fire crews. Environmentalists say there was another culprit: global warming.

As temperatures rise worldwide, areas such as Siberia are suffering increasingly long dry spells. Russia's national weather agency says the country is the fastest-warming part of the world.

Study: Air pollution kills 3.3 million worldwide, may double

Air pollution is killing 3.3 million people a year worldwide, according to a new study that includes this surprise: Farming plays a large role in smog and soot deaths in industrial nations.

Scientists in Germany, Cyprus, Saudi Arabia and Harvard University calculated the most detailed estimates yet of the toll of air pollution, looking at what caused it. The study also projects that if trends don't change, the yearly death total will double to about 6.6 million a year by 2050.