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

    Climate change made a southwestern U.S. drought one of the worst in 1,200 years

    Tree ring records show that the 2000–2018 drought in southwestern North America is among the most severe to strike the region in over a millennium.

  2. Earth

    Forecasters predict a very active 2020 Atlantic hurricane season

    Warmer ocean temperatures could fuel a very active Atlantic hurricane season, with one forecast predicting 18 named storms, including nine hurricanes.

  3. Climate

    The largest Arctic ozone hole ever measured is hovering over the North Pole

    A strong polar vortex in early 2020 led to what may be a record-breaking hole in the ozone layer over the Arctic.

  4. Earth

    Roughly 90 million years ago, a rainforest grew near the South Pole

    A forest flourished within 1,000 kilometers of the South Pole, probably because of high atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and an ice-free Antarctica.

  5. Paleontology

    Fossils of a new dromaeosaur date to the end of the Age of Dinosaurs

    Fossils from a new dromaeosaur recovered from New Mexico suggest these fierce predators were diversifying up to the end of the Age of Dinosaurs.

  6. Paleontology

    ‘Wonderchicken’ is the earliest known modern bird at nearly 67 million years old

    A new fossil find, dubbed the Wonderchicken, is a common ancestor of modern ducks and chickens.

  7. Paleontology

    This ancient dinosaur was no bigger than a hummingbird

    The skull of one of these Mesozoic Era birds — the tiniest yet known — was discovered encased in a chunk of amber originally found in Myanmar.

  8. Climate

    Australia’s wildfires have now been linked to climate change

    Australia’s devastating 2019–2020 wildfires were at least 30 percent more likely due to human-caused climate change.

  9. Climate

    Fossil fuel use may emit 40 percent more methane than we thought

    Ice cores suggest natural seeps release less methane than was estimated, meaning industry produces nearly all of today’s geologic methane emissions.

  10. Climate

    Climate change may be speeding up ocean circulation

    Circulation in the top 2,000 meters of the world’s oceans has increased as a result of faster winds around the globe, a study suggests.

  11. Climate

    A new roadmap shows how the U.S. could be carbon-neutral by 2050

    A new report charts a roadmap for the U.S. to have zero carbon footprint by 2050, but only with heavy and immediate investment in carbon removal technologies.

  12. Earth

    Tiny meteorites suggest ancient Earth had a carbon dioxide–rich atmosphere

    Simulations of reactions between 2.7-billion-year-old micrometeorites and atmospheric gases hint Archean Earth’s atmosphere had high levels of CO2.