Earth

  1. Oceans

    Tiny plastic debris is accumulating far beneath the ocean surface

    Floating trash patches scratch only the surface of the ocean microplastic pollution problem.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C could prevent thousands of deaths in the U.S.

    A study projecting heat-related mortality in 15 U.S. cities illustrates urban risk from global warming.

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  3. Earth

    Soil eroded by glaciers may have kick-started plate tectonics

    How plate tectonics got going is a mystery. Now scientists say they’ve found a key part of the story: massive piles of sediment dumped in the ocean.

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  4. Environment

    Chemicals in biodegradable food containers can leach into compost

    PFAS compounds from compostable food containers could end being absorbed by plants and later eaten by people, though the health effects are unclear.

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  5. Science & Society

    The Smithsonian’s ‘Deep Time’ exhibit gives dinosaurs new life

    The Smithsonian’s renovated fossil hall puts ancient dinosaurs and other creatures in context.

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  6. Environment

    How one fern hoards toxic arsenic in its fronds and doesn’t die

    To survive high levels of arsenic, a fern sequesters the heavy metal in its shoots with the help of three proteins.

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  7. Climate

    The Southern Ocean may be less of a carbon sink than we thought

    The Southern Ocean’s ability to suck up much of the carbon that humans pump into the atmosphere is in question.

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  8. Climate

    Thousands of birds perished in the Bering Sea. Arctic warming may be to blame

    A mass die-off of puffins and other seabirds in the Bering Sea is probably linked to climate change, scientists say.

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  9. Climate

    Himalayan glacier melting threatens water security for millions of people

    Asia’s glaciers are melting faster than they are accumulating new stores of snow and ice.

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  10. Earth

    This iconic Humboldt map may need crucial updates

    A seminal, 212-year-old diagram of Andean plants by German explorer Alexander von Humboldt is still groundbreaking — but outdated, researchers say.

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  11. Environment

    Emissions of a banned ozone-destroying chemical have been traced to China

    Since 2013, eastern China has increased its annual emissions of a banned chlorofluorocarbon by about 7,000 metric tons, a study finds.

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  12. Earth

    Only a third of Earth’s longest rivers still run free

    Mapping millions of kilometers of waterways shows that just 37 percent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometers remain unchained by human activities.

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