Climate

Environment

‘The High Seas’ tells of the many ways humans are laying claim to the ocean

The book explains how the race for ocean resources from fish to ores to new medicines — the Blue Acceleration — is playing out.

Climate

As the Arctic tundra warms, soil microbes likely will ramp up CO₂ production

Experiments in mini greenhouses show how the tiny organisms lurking underground in a "sleepy biome" could be a contributor to climate change.

Environment

A new approach to fighting wildfires combines local knowledge and AI

Land managers in the western United States are using potential operational delineations, or PODS, to prepare for — and take advantage of — wildfires.

Climate

A ruinous hailstorm in Spain may have been supercharged by warming seas

Giant hail that pummeled northeast Spain in August 2022 could not have formed without climate change, computer simulations suggest.

Climate

Three reasons why the ocean’s record-breaking hot streak is devastating

Ocean warming enhances hurricane activity, bleaches coral reefs and melts Antarctic sea ice. That warming has been off the charts for the past year.

Climate

Will stashing more CO₂ in the ocean help slow climate change?

Research is needed on how ocean carbon removal methods — such as iron fertilization and direct capture — could impact the environment.

Climate

A rapid shift in ocean currents could imperil the world’s largest ice shelf

Roughly the size of Spain, the Ross Ice Shelf stabilizes major glaciers along Antarctica’s coast — and is at risk of retreating, a new study finds.

Health & Medicine

A new U.S. tool maps where heat will be dangerous for your health

The daily updated HeatRisk map uses color coding to show where the health threat from heat is highest and offers tips on how to stay safe.

Earth

Polar forests may have just solved a solar storm mystery

Spikes of carbon-14 in tree rings may be linked to solar flares, but evidence of the havoc-wreaking 1859 Carrington event has proven elusive until now.

Environment

Heat waves cause more illness and death in U.S. cities with fewer trees

There are usually fewer trees in neighborhoods with higher populations of people of color. Planting trees could save hundreds of lives every year.

Climate

‘On the Move’ examines how climate change will alter where people live

Journalist Abrahm Lustgarten explores which parts of the United States are most vulnerable to the effects of global warming and how people's lives might change.

Earth

Climate change is changing how we keep time

Polar ice sheets are melting faster, slowing Earth’s spin. That is changing how we synchronize our clocks to tell time.