All Stories by Thomas Sumner
- Planetary Science
How alien can a planet be and still support life?
Geoscientists imagine the unearthly mechanisms that could keep alien planets habitable.
- Climate
Wildfire shifts could dump more ice-melting soot in Arctic
Wildfires will emit more soot into the air in many regions by the end of the century, new simulations show.
- Environment
EPA boosts estimate of U.S. methane emissions
A new report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revises the agency’s methane emission estimates upward by 3.4 million metric tons.
- Environment
EPA underestimates methane emissions
Methane estimates by the Environmental Protection Agency fail to capture the full scope of U.S. emissions of the greenhouse gas, studies show.
- Earth
Most diamonds share a common origin story
Most diamonds form from fluids deep inside Earth’s interior that contain carbonate compounds, new research suggests.
- Climate
Changing climate: 10 years after ‘An Inconvenient Truth’
In the 10 years since "An Inconvenient Truth," climate researchers have made progress in predicting how rising temperatures will affect sea level, weather patterns and polar ice.
- Climate
Sea levels could rise twice as fast as previously predicted
Sea level rise from Antarctica’s melting ice could accelerate faster and sooner than previously thought.
- Environment
Dome effect leaves Chinese megacities under thick haze
Airborne black carbon lowers an atmospheric boundary, trapping pollution around major cities and worsening air quality, researchers propose.
- Earth
One of Earth’s missing minerals found locked inside meteorite
Scientists have discovered the last undiscovered dense mineral of the pyroxene group in a meteorite.
- Earth
Quake risk in parts of central U.S. as high as in fault-filled California
A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey shows an increased earthquake hazard from human activities such as the disposal of fracking wastewater.
- Climate
Maximum size for Arctic sea ice hits a new low
Warm temperatures helped drop the Arctic sea ice maximum to the smallest size on record.
- Earth
Beware of rockfalls in warm weather
Cracks in cliff faces grow and shrink as temperatures warm and cool, new research shows.
