News
Hurricanes fight climate change
9+ hour, 10+ min ago (737+ words) Hurricanes flatten coastlines and tear at offshore platforms, and researchers understand those surface impacts well. The deep ocean tells a quieter story. Far below the waves, a rare storm can reach down and rework the seafloor. Scientists have almost never…...
Small temperature changes are throwing vital microalgae off balance
11+ hour, 55+ min ago (619+ words) Beneath the surface of every pond, lake, and patch of damp soil, an invisible workforce is quietly at work. Microalgae pull carbon dioxide out of the air while forming the base of aquatic food chains around the world. New research…...
Pacific icebergs can weaken one of Earth's most important ocean currents
13+ hour, 13+ min ago (776+ words) Most people would never think to connect to Atlantic currents to icebergs melting and breaking apart in a corner of the Pacific. But those icebergs may actually be capable of weakening one of the planet’s most important ocean systems. New…...
Earth's mass extinctions may have continued long after volcanoes stopped erupting
1+ day, 9+ hour ago (1002+ words) For more than a century, scientists have blamed Earth’s greatest mass extinctions on colossal volcanic eruptions that flooded the planet with lava and gas. A new study suggests that explanation is incomplete. Researchers found that magma quietly baking sulfur- and…...
Why Europe's trees are dying after seemingly perfect springs
1+ day, 8+ hour ago (868+ words) Across Europe, trees have been dying earlier than they should for roughly two decades now. The usual suspects – drought, storms, or bark beetles – don’t fully explain why. New research reveals a stranger culprit hiding in the mix: unusually warm or…...
Climate change could nearly double water bills in some cities
1+ day, 9+ hour ago (804+ words) Turn on a faucet in most American homes and clean water shows up without a second thought. The real cost of that convenience has been creeping upward for years now. Over the past two decades, water rates across the United…...
Rising water bills could become a hidden cost of climate change
2+ day, 5+ hour ago (977+ words) Climate change could drive up household water bills across drought-prone cities by the middle of this century, according to a new study. In one California city, researchers found the increase alone could push another seven to 16 percent of households beyond…...
Ocean warming has shrunk marine animals for 450 million years
2+ day, 5+ hour ago (947+ words) Marine animals shrink far more sharply during the planet’s hottest climate crises than during disasters of any other kind, according to a new study. The pattern extends back nearly half a billion years. The researchers found that warming events left…...
Why some sea creatures survived Earth's greatest mass extinction
2+ day, 7+ hour ago (951+ words) About 252 million years ago, something close to apocalyptic swept through the oceans. New research finally cracks open why some sea creatures survived that catastrophe while others simply blinked out of existence. The answer comes down to something surprisingly basic: how…...
Earth's ancient climate was cooler than we thought - and that's bad news
2+ day, 13+ hour ago (782+ words) Earth’s climate has natural brakes built into it. They’ve been working overtime for hundreds of millions of years, keeping the planet’s temperature from swinging as wildly as scientists once believed. New research suggests those ancient hot periods were significantly cooler…...