5 Last-Ditch Plans to Save Earth

Antarctica jet filling in for dying satellite

(NEWSER) - NASA has begun a mission much closer to home than usual. The agency is flying a DC-8 over Antarctica to track melting glaciers and any subsequent rise in sea levels. Operation Ice Bridge is designed to buttress the work of a fading satellite, ICESat, which is just about spent after 7 years of service. Its replacement won't be in orbit until 2015 at the earliest, reports NPR . More»

Initial swelling causes 'river tsunami'; global warming blamed

(NEWSER) - Melting ice in a remote Chilean lake caused it to swell and suddenly empty, creating a “river tsunami,” the AP reports. Water from a melting glacier filled the lake and tunneled through the ice, emptying into a nearby river. More»

(NEWSER) - Hundreds of naked people bared all on a Swiss glacier to protest global warming yesterday. The arresting demonstration was photographed by New York artist Spencer Tunick, known for his photos of nude gatherings, as temperatures hovered around 50 degrees. More»

Get your evil on with these surefire ways to obliterate the planet

(NEWSER) - Destroying life on earth is one thing; obliterating the planet entirely is quite another. Bring out your inner supervillain with any of these 10 strategies.

1. Hurl the earth into the sun.
2. Release a Von Neumann machine beneath the earth's crust.
3. Smash something large (such as Mars) into the earth.
4. Eject large chunks of earth into space until the whole thing's gone.
5. Maneuver the earth into a giant black hole, a la The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Water is in decline 20 to 30 years earlier than expected

(NEWSER) - Peru’s arid Rio Santa watershed could find itself facing a serious water shortage, as rapidly melting glaciers are causing a decrease in supply 20 to 30 years earlier than anticipated. The glaciers in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range, which covered some 530 square miles in the 1930s, now cover less than 375, a new study finds. The glaciers are too small to maintain past water flow levels, meaning they will likely be 30% lower than historic levels during coming dry seasons. More»