Earth

  1. Climate

    These women endured a winter in the high Arctic for citizen science

    Two women have spent the winter on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard to collect data for climate scientists around the world.

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  2. Environment

    Legos may take hundreds of years to break down in the ocean

    Sturdy types of plastic may persist in seawater for much long than scientists previously thought.

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  3. Climate

    How Hurricane Maria’s heavy rains devastated Puerto Rico’s forests

    Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rican forests in some unexpected ways.

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  4. Climate

    Australia’s wildfires have now been linked to climate change

    Australia’s devastating 2019–2020 wildfires were at least 30 percent more likely due to human-caused climate change.

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  5. Climate

    Ordering from a local store can curb online shopping’s CO₂ emissions

    Online shopping isn’t necessarily better for the environment than going to the store in person, a new study finds.

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  6. Climate

    How scientists wrestle with grief over climate change

    With climate change altering our world at an increasing pace, scientists who monitor and study nature are frustrated and grieving.

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  7. Climate

    Economic costs of rising seas will be steeper than we thought, unless we prepare

    A study estimates 4 percent in annual global GDP losses by 2100 due to sea level rise, unless people curb emissions and prepare for flood risks.

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  8. Climate

    Climate change is slowly drying up the Colorado River

    Annual water flow in the Colorado River decreased by over 11 percent due to warming in the 20th century, a new study estimates.

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  9. Climate

    Fossil fuel use may emit 40 percent more methane than we thought

    Ice cores suggest natural seeps release less methane than was estimated, meaning industry produces nearly all of today’s geologic methane emissions.

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  10. Science & Society

    Turning human bodies into compost works, a small trial suggests

    Experiments test the effectiveness and safety of human composting, which may soon be an alternative to burial or cremation in Washington state.

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  11. Environment

    50 years ago, protests and promises launched the Trans-Alaska Pipeline

    50 years ago, the upcoming Trans-Alaska Pipeline prompted an economic boom amid outrage from environmental and Native American groups.

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  12. Oceans

    The Deepwater Horizon oil spill spread much farther than once thought

    Computer simulations reveal the full extent of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

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