Earth

Paleontology

New evidence weakens case against climate in woolly mammoths’ death

Hunters responsible for woolly mammoths’ extinction, suggests a chemical analysis of juveniles’ tusks.

Climate

High-flying birds recruited for meteorology

Monitoring the midflight movements of high-flying birds can provide valuable meteorological data, new research shows.

Environment

Air pollutants enter body through skin

Although scientists have largely viewed skin as an unimportant portal to blood for toxic air pollutants, new human data show that skin can surpass lungs as a route of entry.

Earth

Surface spills near fracking sites implicated in water contamination

Chemical spills from fracking operations are the likely source of chemicals found in drinking water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Oceans

Oxygen in Black Sea has declined by more than a third since 1955

The Black Sea’s oxygen-rich surface layer shrank by more than a third from 1955 through 2013, compressing marine habitats and bringing toxic hydrogen sulfide closer to the surface.

Animals

Jumping conchs triumph at overheated athletics

“Simple” circulatory system outdoes fancier ones in delivering oxygen for jumping conchs in simulated climate change conditions.

Oceans

Widespread coral bleaching threatens world’s reefs

The world’s corals are experiencing their third major bleaching event in 17 years.

Animals

What happens to animals in a hurricane?

Hurricanes can be devastating to animals on land and in the sea, but they can also provide opportunities.

Earth

Giant asteroid may have triggered deadly volcano eruptions

Increased volcanic eruptions coincided much more closely with an asteroid impact and the extinction of the dinosaurs than previously believed, a new study suggests.

Animals

Some seabirds will be hit hard by sea level rise

Seabird species that nest on low-lying islands in stormy winter months could see huge losses as sea levels rise, a new study finds.

Animals

Life in the polar ocean is surprisingly active in the dark winter

The Arctic polar winter may leave marine ecosystems dark for weeks on end, but life doesn’t shut down, a new study finds.

Animals

Alpine bee tongues shorten as climate warms

Pollinators’ match with certain alpine flowers erodes as climate change pushes fast evolution.