Climate

Earth

2019 was the second-warmest year on record

2019 was the second-warmest year on record, ending a decade that topped 140 years of heat records.

Life

The ‘Blob,’ a massive marine heat wave, led to an unprecedented seabird die-off

Scientists have linked thousands of dead common murres in 2015–2016 to food web changes caused by a long-lasting marine heat wave nicknamed the Blob.

Archaeology

After the Notre Dame fire, scientists get a glimpse of the cathedral’s origins

Researchers will tackle the scientific questions behind rebuilding Notre Dame, and learn more about its history.

Animals

Australian fires have incinerated the habitats of up to 100 threatened species

Hundreds of fires that are blazing across the continent’s southeast have created an unprecedented ecological disaster, scientists say.

Earth

Wildfires could flip parts of the Amazon from a carbon sponge to a source by 2050

Climate change and deforestation could double the area burned by fire in the southern Amazon by 2050, flipping the forest from carbon sponge to source.

Earth

Here’s how climate change may make Australia’s wildfires more common

An El Niño–like ocean-atmosphere weather pattern called the Indian Ocean dipole helped fuel extremely dry conditions in Australia.

Climate

Climate models agree things will get bad. Capturing just how bad is tricky

Climate models are better than ever at simulating complex interactions between ocean, air, ice and land. But scientists still aren’t really sure what the worst-case scenario might be for Earth’s future climate.

Earth

Climate change is bringing earlier springs, which may trigger drier summers

An earlier than normal start to spring foliage is associated with drier soils come summer across much, but not all, of the Northern Hemisphere.

Earth

Climate change may be why birds are migrating earlier across the United States

Birds are migrating earlier in recent decades in the United States, which could disrupt feeding or nesting cycles.

Animals

A year of big numbers startled the world into talking about nature

One million species are at risk. Three billion birds have been lost. Plus surges in Amazon burning.

Climate

Record-breaking heat amplified waves of student climate protests in 2019

While the world experienced record-breaking heat, Greta Thunberg and other activists pushed decision makers to take climate change seriously.

Earth

Flooding Earth’s atmosphere with oxygen may not have needed a triggering event

Building an oxygen-rich world doesn’t require volcanism, supercontinent breakups or the rise of land plants — just nutrient cycling, a study finds.