Carolyn Gramling

Carolyn Gramling

Earth & Climate Writer

Carolyn is the Earth & Climate writer at Science News. Previously she worked at Science magazine for six years, both as a reporter covering paleontology and polar science and as the editor of the news in brief section. Before that she was a reporter and editor at EARTH magazine. She has bachelor’s degrees in Geology and European History and a Ph.D. in marine geochemistry from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She’s also a former Science News intern.

All Stories by Carolyn Gramling

  1. Climate

    Human-driven climate change sent Pacific Northwest temperatures soaring

    As scientists dissect what pushed temperatures up to 5 degrees Celsius above previous records, they may have to revamp how to predict heat waves.

  2. Earth

    A WWII submarine-hunting device helped prove the theory of plate tectonics

    With a boost from World War II, the fluxgate magnetometer became a portable and invaluable tool.

  3. Climate

    3 things to know about the record-smashing heat wave baking the Pacific Northwest

    Road-buckling, cable-melting, life-threatening heat waves in the Pacific Northwest may become more common as global temperatures rise.

  4. Paleontology

    An ancient creature thought to be a teeny dinosaur turns out to be a lizard

    CT scans of hummingbird-sized specimens trapped in amber reveal that the 99-million-year-old fossils have a number of lizardlike features.

  5. Earth

    Scientists have found the origins of a mysterious, deadly flood in India

    A landslide of rock and ice caused the deadly flood that washed out two hydroelectric power plants in an Indian Himalayan state in February.

  6. Paleontology

    Something mysteriously wiped out about 90 percent of sharks 19 million years ago

    Deep sediments beneath the Pacific Ocean revealed a mystery: a massive shark die-off with no obvious cause.

  7. Climate

    The last 30 years were the hottest on record for the United States

    Typical temps across large swaths of the country are now 1 to 2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than their 20th-century averages.

  8. Earth

    2021 will be another busy year for the Atlantic hurricane season

    The average season is busier than it used to be, as NOAA predicts 13 to 20 named Atlantic storms between June 1 and November 30.

  9. Climate

    Climate change disinformation is evolving. So are efforts to fight back

    Researchers discuss effective ways to counter the changing tactics of climate denial.

  10. Climate

    Rivers might not be as resilient to drought as once thought

    Seven years after Australia’s Millennium drought, water flow in many rivers isn’t returning to predrought levels.

  11. Climate

    Mangrove forests on the Yucatan Peninsula store record amounts of carbon

    Dense tangles of roots and natural water-filled sinkholes join forces to stockpile as much as 2,800 metric tons of carbon per hectare in the soil.

  12. Microbes

    These climate-friendly microbes recycle carbon without producing methane

    A newly discovered group of single-celled archaea break down decaying plants without adding the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere.