Let’s learn about the science of the Winter Olympics
In just a few days, athletes from around the world will compete in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The Olympic games are a spectacle of speed and grace. Curlers deftly nudge stones into place....
View ArticleLet’s learn about tornadoes
Tornadoes are some of the world’s most fearsome weather events. These violently spinning columns of air can fling aside cars and flatten houses. The biggest ones can carve a path of destruction 1.6...
View ArticleWorld’s oceans have warmed to a ‘point of no return’
What were scorching ocean extremes only recently are now normal, a new study reports. It analyzed ocean surface temperatures for the past 150 years. By 2019, it now reveals, 57 percent of the ocean’s...
View ArticleNuevo informe de la ONU sobre el clima: no hay tiempo que perder
Read an English version of this story.La ciencia es concluyente: los seres humanos estamos modificando drásticamente el clima de la Tierra. Ese es el veredicto de un importante nuevo análisis. Los...
View ArticleEl volcán de Santorini erupciona más cuando baja el nivel del mar
Read this article in English.Cuando baja el nivel del mar, el volcán de Santorini se prepara para rugir. Santorini es una isla volcánica que está en Grecia. Es parte de un grupo de islas que rodean el...
View ArticleSatellites find big climate threats — ultra-emitters of methane
Methane gas is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping sunlight and warming the atmosphere. And large amounts of this methane are leaking into the air all the time. Some of the worst...
View ArticleUN report calls for two-pronged approach to slow climate impacts
As Earth’s climate has been changing, people have been forced to adapt to growing environmental problems. These include increasing rates of drought, flooding, wilder storms and extreme temps. At the...
View ArticleA bold plan to save the planet turns carbon dioxide into stone
The tired, crumbling peaks of the Al Hajar Mountains are slowly decomposing like a slab of rotten meat. Subtle signs of decay are all around. Flammable hydrogen gas sometimes bubbles from groundwater....
View ArticleScientists Say: Atmosphere
Atmosphere (noun, “AT-muss-fear”) An atmosphere is a mix of gases that surrounds a planetary body. Earth’s atmosphere extends from the ground to more than 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles) high. It’s...
View ArticleCoastal cities around the world are sinking, satellite data show
New satellite data reveal an alarming reality for coastal cities around the globe. Many are sinking up to several centimeters (inches) on average per year. Falling land levels is one contributor. But...
View ArticleSome Greenland polar bears are surviving with very little sea ice
Pihoqahiak is an Inuit name for the polar bear. It means “ever-wandering one.” And that name is apt for a creature known to roam vast expanses of sea ice, sometimes plodding thousands of kilometers...
View ArticleStudy finds big drop in animal populations since 1970
Many wildlife populations around the world are falling in size. The speed and scale of these losses have scientists worried. In less than 50 years, vertebrates — animals such as rhinos, frogs and...
View ArticleGreenland’s inland ice is melting far faster than anyone thought
A gargantuan flow of ice is slithering out of Greenland’s remote interior. On its way to the sea, it’s been speeding up, a new study finds. And it’s been shrinking as it melts. These combined trends...
View ArticleExplainer: What is decarbonization?
Spew too much carbon-based gas into the atmosphere and what do you get? Global warming and climate change. The solution being recommended by governments across the globe is to remove that carbon — or...
View ArticleGreen energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, a new study finds
On September 15, there was a giant ka-BOOM! And with that, Portland General Electric dynamited Oregon’s last coal-fired power plant into rubble. The company also opened a new power plant on September...
View ArticleA love of small mammals drives this scientist
Alexis Mychajliw credits her pet rats, hedgehog and dog for some of her best ideas. “They really inspire me,” says Mychajliw. “Just looking at their behaviors and asking questions like, ‘Why do they...
View ArticleNative Amazonians make rich soils — and ancient people may have too
This is another in our new series identifying technologies and actions that can slow climate change, reduce its impacts or help communities cope with a rapidly changing world. CHICAGO — Native people...
View ArticleSummer 2023 is when the ocean first turned ‘hot tub’ hot
A fierce ocean heat wave in late July boosted temperatures in Florida’s coastal waters to never-before-seen highs. One buoy bobbing in shallows off the state’s southern West Coast hit 38.3˚ Celsius...
View ArticleLet’s learn about why summer 2023 was so hot
This summer has smashed heat records worldwide. July was Earth’s hottest month ever recorded, following the hottest June on record. On July 6, the average global temperature reached a new peak at...
View ArticleExplainer: Why are so many hurricanes strengthening really fast?
On the morning of September 5, 2023, a loosely swirling system of thunderstorms formed off the western coast of Africa. One day later, that system had turned into Hurricane Lee. A Category 1 storm, it...
View Article