Climate
- Archaeology
Ancient people may have survived desert droughts by melting ice in lava tubes
Bands of charcoal from fires lit long ago, found in an ice core from a New Mexico cave, correspond to five periods of drought over 800 years.
- Microbes
50 years ago, scientists suspected microbes flourished in clouds
In 1970, scientists presented early evidence that microbes in clouds may be alive and kicking.
- Climate
Once hurricanes make landfall, they’re lingering longer and staying stronger
Warmer ocean waters due to human-caused climate change can help power hurricanes’ fury even after they roar ashore.
- Earth
With Theta, 2020 sets the record for most named Atlantic storms
Climate change is expected to fuel fewer — yet more intense — Atlantic storms. With a whopping 29 storms but few strong ones, 2020 may be an outlier.
- Animals
How frigid lizards falling from trees revealed the reptiles’ growing cold tolerance
Some Florida lizards’ ability to handle temperatures down to 5.5° C may provide clues to how they might deal with the extremes of climate change.
- Oceans
Even the deepest, coldest parts of the ocean are getting warmer
Deep-sea temperatures seem to be rising, but it’s too soon to say whether that’s a result of climate change caused by humans, researchers say.
- Oceans
Large-scale changes in Earth’s climate may originate in the Pacific
A new study suggests that the melting of Alaska’s glaciers into the North Pacific could have far-ranging effects on ocean circulation and the climate.
- Climate
By 2100, Greenland will be losing ice at its fastest rate in 12,000 years
The rate of loss of Greenland’s ice will soar over the next century even with greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
- Climate
Global warming may lead to practically irreversible Antarctic melting
Simulations suggest that even if the Paris climate goals are met, melting Antarctica ice will still cause sea levels to rise by more than 2 meters.
- Environment
What we know and don’t know about wildfire smoke’s health risks
As wildfires become more frequent and severe in California, Oregon and throughout the West Coast, concerns rise about harmful air pollution.
- Climate
New maps show how warm water may reach Thwaites Glacier’s icy underbelly
New seafloor maps around Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica reveal how deep channels could help warm ocean water melt the glacier from below.
- Climate
Bering Sea winter ice shrank to its lowest level in 5,500 years in 2018
Peat cores that record five millennia of climate shifts in the Arctic region suggest recent ice loss is linked to rising carbon dioxide levels.
