The Arctic ice cap has melted to a point that exceeds the 2005 level — previously the second lowest on record — and could surpass the record this year, scientists at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center have said. It’s now a “neck-and-neck race between 2007 and this year over the issue of ice loss,” Mark Serreze, a senior climate researcher at NSIDC said, quoted Canwest News Service. Read more…

The Gulf Coast landfall of Hurricane Gustav has highlighted the level of preparedness in New Orleans and the region for a major storm system. A top official in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers answers your questions on the rebuilding and reconstruction of levees in New Orleans. Submit a question now.

Hurricane Gustav lashed the Gulf Coast with wind and rain Monday. Two experts — Michael Greenberger, director of the Center for Health and Homeland Security at the Univ. of Maryland; and Major General Don Riley, deputy commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — discuss the region’s preparedness for the storm, 3 years after Katrina.

The documentary “The Judge and the General” follows the investigation into the brutal murders of thousands of Chileans during the 1970s-80s. You can watch the film online on P.O.V. until September 2nd. The producers also did a Q&A on NewsHour’s Insider Forum.

It’s been 125 years since the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history–the explosion, earthquake and subsequent tsunami caused by Krakatoa, an island in Indonesia. Krakatoa is still a benchmark for extreme seismic activity, as it’s explosion was 13,000 times more powerful than one of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima.