Our Daily Planet: Tropical Storm Forecast and BP Oil

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe.

Tropical Storm Outlook: Early forecasts for the 2011 topical storm season suggest that it could be a busy one. [Related: Curtain Closes on One of the Busiest Hurricane Seasons .]

Ugly Animals Need Love Too: Are zoos biased toward helping endangered species that are easy on the eyes? [Related: 'Match.com' for Penguins' Breeds Success .]

Weekend Storm: A clipper is passing through the Great Lakes, heading East and bringing cold temperatures and snow for the weekend. The weather is not any better in Europe. Paris was blanketed by snow yesterday, forcing the Charles de Gaulle-Roissy airport and the Eiffel tower to close.

Antarctic Cruise: Tourism at the ends of the Earth is not for the faint of heart. A cruise ship near Antarctica lost power and was battered by waves on Tuesday (Dec. 7). The ship has now regained power and is back on course, heading home to Argentina.

Billion-dollar Jungle Deal: Indonesia is set to begin a two-year moratorium on new clearing in its virgin forests, and is expected to roll out more plans to save its dwindling jungles at the U.N. climate conference taking place now in Cancun, Mexico.

Oil Settling: Oil from the massive BP oil spill is, in fact, settling at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, according to new evidence from academic and government scientists.

Tuna Champs: Eight Pacific island nations are working together to preserve the world's last large stocks of tuna. The world's big fishing nations are expected to push back at a major fishing meeting this week in Hawaii.

Big Appetite: How to feed a 180-ton whale? Well, find out.

Yesterday's Our Daily Planet: Cold Weather and Birds of America

Reach OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Brett Israel at bisrael@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @btisrael.