Earth

  1. Ecosystems

    A Caribbean island gets everyone involved in protecting beloved species

    Scientists on Saba are introducing island residents to conservation of Caribbean orchids, red-billed tropicbirds and urchins.

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  2. Environment

    Mangrove forests expand and contract with a lunar cycle

    The carbon-sequestering trees grow in a roughly 18-year cycle according to tides influenced by the moon’s orbit, a study in Australia finds.

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  3. Earth

    Here’s how olivine may trigger deep earthquakes

    Olivine’s transformation into another mineral can destabilize rocks and set off quakes more than 300 kilometers down, experiments suggest.

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  4. Climate

    How Kenyans help themselves and the planet by saving mangrove trees

    Communities in Kenya took action to restore their coastal mangrove forests, reaping economic and environmental benefits. Others are following suit.

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  5. Planetary Science

    Passing through the Milky Way’s arms may have helped form Earth’s solid ground

    Barrages of comets stirred up by the early solar system’s journey around the center of the galaxy could explain the timing of ancient rock formation.

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  6. Climate

    How to make recyclable plastics out of CO2 to slow climate change

    Companies are turning atmospheric CO2 from smokestacks and landfills into plastics to shrink their carbon footprint.

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  7. Climate

    A carbon footprint life cycle assessment can cut down on greenwashing

    As companies try to reduce their carbon footprint, many are doing life cycle assessments to quantify the full carbon cost of their products.

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  8. Climate

    A coral pollution study unexpectedly helped explain Hurricane Maria’s fury

    Tracking coral reef pollution in Puerto Rico, conservation researchers discovered by chance how the coastal ocean fueled Hurricane Maria.

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  9. Earth

    In 2021, a deadly volcano erupted with no warning. Here’s why

    Before the Nyiragongo eruption, underground magma was already close to the surface and so didn’t trigger instruments that look for lava movement.

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  10. Earth

    The Tonga eruption may have spawned a tsunami as tall as the Statue of Liberty

    A massive undersea volcanic eruption in the South Pacific in January created a tsunami that was initially 90 meters tall, computer simulations suggest.

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  11. Science & Society

    A new seasoning smells like meat thanks to sugar — and mealworms

    A spoonful of sugars could help cooked mealworms go down more easily, a potential boon for the planet.

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  12. Earth

    Not one, but two asteroids might have slain the dinosaurs

    A craterlike structure found off West Africa’s coast might have been formed by an asteroid impact around the same time the dinosaurs went extinct.

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