All Stories by Thomas Sumner
- Climate
Organic molecules help fatten cloud-making water droplets
Cloud-forming water droplets can grow larger thanks to organic molecules on the exterior of the drop, new research suggests.
- Agriculture
Wine quality subject to climate change
Wine quality could suffer as climate change desynchronizes warm temperatures and droughts, preventing grape growers from harvesting at the optimum time.
- Agriculture
Climate change threatens quality of French, Swiss wines
Wine quality could suffer as climate change desynchronizes warm temperatures and droughts, preventing grape growers from harvesting at the optimum time.
- Earth
CO2 shakes up theory of how geysers spout
Carbon dioxide helps fuel eruptions of Spouter Geyser, and perhaps other features, in Yellowstone National Park, new research suggests.
- Climate
Antarctic history suggests ice sheet ‘danger’ threshold
Carbon dioxide levels during the Antarctic ice sheet’s formation 34 million years ago suggest that Earth could soon enter “danger zone” for ice sheet’s demise.
- Climate
Earlier blooming intensifies spring heat waves in Europe
The early arrival of spring plants due to climate change amplifies springtime heat waves in Europe, new climate simulations suggest.
- Climate
Hurricane frequency dropped during 17th century ‘Little Ice Age’
Atlantic hurricane activity fell around 75 percent when the sun dimmed from 1645 to 1715, a new analysis of shipwrecks and tree rings suggests.
- Oceans
Magnetism from underwater power cables doesn’t deter sea life
High-voltage power cables that ferry electricity across the seafloor do not negatively impact local fish and crabs, new studies show.
- Oceans
Corals need to take their vitamin C
Newly settled corals use vitamin C to help build their stony skeletons, researchers propose.
- Oceans
Gulf oil spill could hasten corrosion of shipwrecks
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster could hasten the corrosion of historical shipwrecks in the Gulf of Mexico, new studies of marine microbes suggest.
- Climate
20th century sea level rose at fastest rate since founding of Rome
Sea levels rose more rapidly in the 1900s than during any other century in at least 2,800 years, with global warming causing at least half that rise.
- Earth
New app puts an earthquake detector in your pocket
Smartphone app MyShake uses motion-sensing accelerometers to detect nearby quakes. The app could provide early warnings of incoming tremors, its creators say.
