Earth

  1. Climate

    Earth keeps breaking global heat records

    How hot could it get? In the first edition of Science News’ Extreme Climate Update, we look at how high temperatures could soar.

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  2. Oceans

    In a seafloor surprise, metal-rich chunks may generate deep-sea oxygen

    Instead of sinking from the surface, some deep-sea oxygen may be created by battery-like nodules that split water into hydrogen and oxygen.

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  3. Climate

    Twisters asks if you can 'tame' a tornado. We have the answer

    Science News talked to a meteorologist and Twisters’ tornado consultant to separate fact from fiction in Hollywood’s latest extreme weather thriller.

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  4. Oceans

    Can bioluminescent ‘milky seas’ be predicted?

    For the first time, a scientist has used ocean and atmospheric data to find a milky sea, a huge expanse of luminous water, in past satellite images.

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  5. Oceans

    This AI can predict ship-sinking ‘freak’ waves minutes in advance

    The model, which was trained on data from ocean buoys to identify potential rogue waves, could help save lives.

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  6. Climate

    Plants might not hold on to carbon as long as we thought

    Radiocarbon from bomb tests reveals that plants store more carbon than previously estimated in leaves and stems, which are vulnerable to degradation.

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  7. Environment

    Landfills belch toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into the air

    An analysis of samples from three Florida landfills shows that landfill gas can carry more PFAS than the liquid that leaches from the waste.

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  8. Environment

    The world has water problems. This book has solutions

    The Last Drop tackles global water problems and explores how humans can better manage the precious resource.

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  9. Environment

    Federally unprotected streams contribute most of the water to U.S. rivers

    A 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ephemeral streams aren’t protected by the Clean Water Act could have sizable ripple effects, a study suggests.

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  10. Climate

    Why this year’s climate conditions helped Hurricane Beryl smash records

    Scientists predicted an active hurricane season, but a July Category 5 storm is still stunning.

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  11. Climate

    How powdered rock could help slow climate change

    A method called enhanced rock weathering shows promise at capturing carbon dioxide from the air. But verifying the carbon removal is a challenge.

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  12. Agriculture

    50 years ago, scientists ID’d a threat to California wine country

    Fifty years after scientists identified the cause of Pierce's disease, which damages vineyards, there still isn't a cure.

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