Earth

Ecosystems

Will Australia’s forests bounce back after devastating fires?

Intense bushfires that have blazed down Australia’s eastern coast could have long-lasting effects on the continent’s unique plants and animals.

Oceans

Noise pollution from ships may scare Arctic cod from feeding grounds

Melting Arctic sea ice is opening up northern waters to increased shipping, and the vessel noise is taking a toll on Arctic cod.

Earth

Here are 5 of the weirdest auroras, including the newly spotted ‘dunes’

A newfound type of aurora dubbed the “dunes” joins the ranks of black auroras, STEVE and other obscure auroral phenomena.

Climate

Climate change may be speeding up ocean circulation

Circulation in the top 2,000 meters of the world’s oceans has increased as a result of faster winds around the globe, a study suggests.

Climate

A new roadmap shows how the U.S. could be carbon-neutral by 2050

A new report charts a roadmap for the U.S. to have zero carbon footprint by 2050, but only with heavy and immediate investment in carbon removal technologies.

Ecosystems

Fewer worms live in mud littered with lots of microplastics

The environmental effects of microplastic pollution are still hazy, but new long-term, outdoor experiments could help clear matters up.

Life

Engineered honeybee gut bacteria trick attackers into self-destructing

Tailored microbes defend bees with a gene-silencing process called RNA interference that takes on viruses or mites.

Earth

Tiny meteorites suggest ancient Earth had a carbon dioxide–rich atmosphere

Simulations of reactions between 2.7-billion-year-old micrometeorites and atmospheric gases hint Archean Earth’s atmosphere had high levels of CO2.

Archaeology

Mount Vesuvius may have suffocated, not vaporized, some victims

A new study suggests people living near Pompeii who hid in stone boathouses died a slower death when the volcano erupted in A.D. 79.

Earth

Fed by human-caused erosion, many river deltas are growing

Deforestation and river damming are changing the shape of river deltas around the globe.

Earth

A 2.2-billion-year-old crater is Earth’s oldest recorded meteorite impact

The newly dated Yarrabubba crater in Western Australia extends Earth’s impact record by more than 200 million years.

Earth

Volcanic gas bursts probably didn’t kill off the dinosaurs

A new timeline for massive bursts of volcanic gases suggests the Deccan Traps eruptions weren’t the real dinosaur killer 66 million years ago.