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. Earth

    Chicxulub collision put Earth’s crust in hot water for over a million years

    An asteroid impact 66 million years ago caused hot fluids to circulate in the crust, creating conditions that may have been ideal for microbial life.

  2. Climate

    ‘Tree Story’ explores what tree rings can tell us about the past

    The book "Tree Story" explains how scientists decipher tree rings to discover clues about past climates and ancient civilizations.

  3. Climate

    How more powerful Pacific cyclones may be fueling global warming

    Increasingly strong storms in the North Pacific may be speeding up the fast-moving Kuroshio Current — which could bring more heat to high latitudes.

  4. Earth

    Up to 220 million people globally may be at risk of arsenic-contaminated water

    A new world map highlights possible hot spots of arsenic contamination in groundwater.

  5. Climate

    Daily global CO2 emissions dropped dramatically as COVID-19 kept people home

    Daily carbon dioxide emissions in early April were 17 percent lower than average daily emissions for 2019, thanks to government policies to restrict the spread of the coronavirus.

  6. Earth

    Long-dormant volcano Mauna Kea has been quietly grumbling for decades

    Small, periodic earthquakes have happened every seven to 12 minutes for decades, but aren’t reason for alarm, a new study finds.

  7. Climate

    What data do cities like Orlando need to prepare for climate migrants?

    As researchers wrestle with how to anticipate future population shifts due to climate change, possible “destination cities,” like Orlando, Fla., prepare for an influx.

  8. Climate

    What Michael Moore’s new film gets wrong about renewable energy

    Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans challenges renewable energy’s ability to fight climate change, but it’s riddled with errors and old information.

  9. Oceans

    Deep-sea mining may damage underwater ecosystems for decades

    Microbe communities in the seabed off Peru still haven’t fully recovered from being disturbed by a deep-sea mining experiment 26 years ago.

  10. Paleontology

    Spinosaurus fossil tail suggests dinosaurs were swimmers after all

    Unique among known dinosaurs, Spinosaurus had a finlike tail, which the predator may have used to propel itself through the water.

  11. Climate

    A U.S. oil-producing region is leaking twice as much methane as once thought

    Satellite measurements identify the Permian Basin, a massive U.S. oil- and gas-producing area, as a large source of leaked methane to the atmosphere.

  12. Earth

    Plate tectonics may have started 400 million years earlier than we thought

    Magnetic minerals in ancient rocks suggest that plate tectonics may have been under way as early as 3.2 billion years ago.