Earth
- Earth
Scientists are racing to save the Last Ice Area, an Arctic Noah’s Ark
The Last Ice Area may be the final refuge for summer sea ice and the creatures that depend on it. Saving it is an ambitious goal with many hurdles.
- Animals
Climate change may be shrinking tropical birds
Scientists had previously found that migratory birds are getting smaller as temperatures rise. Dozens of tropical, nonmigratory species are too.
- Earth
A mineral found in a diamond’s flaws contains the source of some of Earth’s heat
A mineral theorized to exist in the mantle was found hiding in a diamond. Dubbed davemaoite, it could explain where some of Earth’s heat comes from.
- Earth
Earth’s lower atmosphere is rising due to climate change
In the Northern Hemisphere, the upper boundary of the troposphere, the slice of sky closest to the ground, rose 50 to 60 meters a decade from 1980 to 2020.
- Climate
Earth will warm 2.7 degrees Celsius based on current pledges to cut emissions
The world still lags on its commitments to lower greenhouse gas emissions and forestall the worst effects of global warming, a new U.N. report shows.
- Earth
Here’s how ice needles sculpt patterns into cold, rocky landscapes
Striking stone patterns decorate remote, frigid landscapes. The recipe for these naturally forming stripes and swirls: Freeze, thaw, repeat.
- Life
How these sea-loving mangroves ended up far from the coast
On the Yucatán Peninsula, mangroves trapped nearly 200 kilometers from the ocean are part of a “relict ecosystem” that’s more than 100,000 years old.
- Earth
Earth is reflecting less light. It’s not clear if that’s a trend
A decrease in Earth’s reflectance shows our planet is absorbing more solar radiation, but it’s not clear if the trend will last.
- Science & Society
How our SN 10 scientists have responded to tumultuous times
COVID-19, social justice movements and the realities of climate change have given our Scientists to Watch new perspective.
- Physics
Work on complex systems, including Earth’s climate, wins the physics Nobel Prize
Syukuro Manabe and Klaus Hasselmann pioneered work on computer simulations of Earth’s climate. Giorgio Parisi found hidden patterns in disordered complex materials.
- Climate
2020 babies may suffer up to seven times as many extreme heat waves as 1960s kids
Children born in 2020 will bear a much heavier burden from climate change during their lifetimes than those born in 1960, a new analysis finds.
- Earth
A volcano-induced rainy period made Earth’s climate dinosaur-friendly
New physical evidence links eruptions 234 million to 232 million years ago to climate changes that let dinosaurs start their climb to dominance.
