Rising annual temperatures and dwindling yearly precipitation across the mid-latitudes of Central Asia have extended its desert climate 60 miles northward since the 1980s, says a recent study.

An extended period of turmoil in the prehistoric Maya city of Mayapan, in the Yucatan region of Mexico, was marked by population declines, political rivalries and civil conflict. Between 1441 and 1461 CE the strife reached an unfortunate crescendo -- the complete institutional collapse and abandonment of the city. This all occurred during a protracted drought.

Scientists investigating the growth of Arctic vegetation have found that seed dispersal and fire will slow its land expansion in the long term, despite more favorable conditions from a warming planet.

Data scientists has published a comprehensive global dataset of the lakes and reservoirs on Earth showing how they have changed over the last 30+ years.

Scientists conducted a study that provides an assessment of the potential effects of climate warming and water management of the West Florida Shelf dynamics during two particular events that affect its hydrology through the lens of a very high-resolution model.

A new study found that Miami's history of environmental injustice was the key to understanding why different groups were often talking at cross-purposes, leading to misunderstandings and disagreements about climate change and what they believe should be done about it.

Although a significant amount of carbon has been caught and stored so far, governments should curb overestimation.

Water resources will fluctuate increasingly and become more difficult to predict in snow-dominated regions across the Northern Hemisphere by later this century, according to a comprehensive new climate change study. Even regions that keep receiving the same amount of precipitation will experience more variable and unpredictable streamflow as snowpack recedes.

Scientists discover off-axis, high-temperature deep-sea hydrothermal vents along a portion of the northern East Pacific Rise that are hotter and cover more area than any other hydrothermal vents studied to date along this section of the mid-ocean ridge. The discovery demonstrates that there are likely more hydrothermal vents in the deep-sea than previously thought, and underscores the need for high-resolution bathymetric mapping to locate them.

A new survey attempts to fill some of the gaps in understanding by synthesizing the perspectives of thousands of biodiversity experts worldwide. The survey received 3,331 responses from scientists studying biodiversity in 187 countries, covering all major groups of species, habitats and ecosystems.