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

    Smoke from Australia’s intense fires in 2019 and 2020 damaged the ozone layer

    Massive fires like those that raged in Australia in 2019–2020 can eat away at Earth’s protective ozone layer, researchers find.

  2. Oceans

    Even the sea has light pollution. These new maps show its extent

    Coastal cities and offshore development create enough light to potentially alter behavior of tiny organisms dozens of meters below the surface.

  3. Earth

    The mysterious Hiawatha crater in Greenland is 58 million years old

    An impact crater spotted in 2015 in Greenland is far too old to be connected to the Younger Dryas cold snap from 13,000 years ago, a study suggests.

  4. Paleontology

    Fossils show a crocodile ancestor dined on a young dinosaur

    The 100-million-year-old fossil of a crocodile ancestor contains the first indisputable evidence that dinosaurs were on the menu.

  5. Oceans

    Sunlight helps clean up oil spills in the ocean more than previously thought

    Solar radiation dissolved as much as 17 percent of the surface oil slick spilled after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, a new study suggests.

  6. Paleontology

    Fossils reveal that pterosaurs puked pellets

    Fish scale–filled pellets found by two pterosaurs are the first fossil evidence the flying reptiles regurgitated undigestible food, like some modern birds.

  7. Climate

    Satellites have located the world’s methane ‘ultra-emitters’

    Plugging leaks from methane ultra-emitters would make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions — and be cost-effective for those countries, scientists say.

  8. Oceans

    The past’s extreme ocean heat waves are now the new normal

    Marine heat waves that were rare more than a century ago now routinely occur in more than half of global ocean, suggesting we’ve hit a “point of no return.”

  9. Planetary Science

    Machine learning points to prime places in Antarctica to find meteorites

    Using data on how ice moves across Antarctica, researchers identified more than 600 spots where space rocks may gather on the southern continent.

  10. Earth

    What the Tonga volcano’s past tells us about what to expect next

    The January 15 eruption of a Tongan volcano triggered atmospheric shock waves and a rare volcanic tsunami; its history suggests it may not be done.

  11. Climate

    Intense drought or flash floods can shock the global economy

    Rainfall extremes have powerful impacts on the global economy, affecting the manufacturing and services sectors more than agriculture.

  12. Climate

    Climate change communication should focus less on specific numbers

    Even if nations don’t meet goals to curb global climate change, any progress is better than none.