After an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, on March 11, 2011, an unknown quantity of radioactive material was released into the surrounding air and sea.

March is normally the snowiest month of the year across parts of the central Rockies, but March 2012 left much of Colorado snowless and nervous.

Burning fossil fuels has led to a warmer, moister atmosphere and a shifting background for extreme weather and climate events, according to a study that analyzes noteworthy weather events from the last two years.

The last 10 days have brought what may be the gentlest round of extreme weather ever to grace the United States. Beneath the pleasant veneer lies one of the most bizarre weather episodes in recent U.S. history.

Why would a cooling of the Pacific Ocean help stoke tornadoes in the United States? Researchers are beginning to dig deeper into the connections between severe U.S. thunderstorms and the sea.