Climate

Climate

Arctic sea ice hits record wintertime low

Warm temperatures and heat waves reduced sea ice extent in the Arctic to its smallest maximum extent ever seen.

Climate

Changing climate could worsen foods’ nutrition

Climate change could aggravate hidden hunger by sapping micronutrients from soils and plants, reducing nutrition in wheat, rice and other crops.

Earth

Warming soils may belch much more carbon

New measurements suggest soils below 15 centimeters deep could play a sizable role in boosting carbon emissions as the planet warms.

Ecosystems

Invasive species, climate change threaten Great Lakes

In The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, a journalist chronicles the lakes’ downward spiral and slow revival.

Climate

Antarctic sea ice shrinks to record low

The Antarctic sea ice extent has reached a new low just two years after hitting a record high.

Climate

Desert songbirds increasingly at risk of dehydration

With no efforts to curb climate warming, hot spots in the U.S. Southwest could turn uninhabitable for some songbirds.

Climate

Hot nests, not vanishing males, are bigger sea turtle threat

Climate change overheating sea turtle nestlings may be a greater danger than temperature-induced shifts in their sex ratios.

Oceans

Cone snails wander in circles, lose focus with boosted CO₂

Deadly cone snails wander in circles and become less capable hunters when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide in seawater.

Oceans

Cone snails wander in circles, lose focus with boosted CO₂

Deadly cone snails wander in circles and become less capable hunters when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide in seawater.

Oceans

Climate change may boost toxic mercury levels in sea life

Increased runoff to the ocean due to climate change could raise neurotoxic mercury in coastal sea life by disrupting the base of the food web.

Climate

Earth’s last major warm period was as hot as today

Sea surface temperatures today are comparable to those around 125,000 years ago, a time when sea levels were 6 to 9 meters higher, new research suggests.

Climate

Monsoon deluges turned ancient Sahara green

The ancient Sahara Desert sprouted trees and lakes for thousands of years thanks to intense rainfall.