Climate

  1. Earth

    A rainforest once grew near the South Pole

    A forest flourished within 1,000 kilometers of the South Pole. That was a while ago, as in millions of years ago.

    By
  2. Physics

    Explainer: Rainbows, fogbows and their eerie cousins

    Light shining through a water droplet can make more than just a rainbow. A range of other colorful arcs also can develop.

    By
  3. Climate

    Climate change drove Australian wildfires to extremes

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

    By
  4. Climate

    How to curb the climate heating by contrails

    Contrails are narrow clouds left behind in the sky by jets. They add to climate change. But a new study suggests a way to curb their contribution.

    By
  5. Earth

    Scientists Say: Meteorology

    This word describes the study of processes in the Earth’s atmosphere, including the weather.

    By
  6. Earth

    Study appears to rule out volcanic burps as causing dino die-offs

    New data on when massive volcanic eruptions happened do not match when the dinosaur mass extinction took place.

    By
  7. Earth

    Scientists Say: Glacier

    Glaciers are massive ‘rivers of ice’ that move slowly over land. But climate change is shrinking them.

    By
  8. Climate

    This scientist wants to motivate you to fight climate change

    Getting lost in science fiction helps Shahzeen Attari reimagine what our future could look like.

    By
  9. Environment

    Australian fires have imperiled up to 100 species

    As massive wildfires consume huge swaths of Australia’s bush, untold species — many of them found nowhere else — are now threatened with extinction.

    By
  10. Climate

    5 things to know about the climate-saving benefits of tree planting

    A recent analysis of the benefits of massive efforts to plant more trees triggered a firestorm of controversy.

    By
  11. Climate

    Hotspots found for lightning’s superbolts

    A nine-year survey reveals where and when the most energetic lightning strikes — and it’s not what scientists expected.

    By
  12. Earth

    Powerful storms may be causing ‘stormquakes’ offshore

    A perfect-storm mixture of hurricane, ocean and seafloor structures can create distinct seismic signals that have now been named ‘stormquakes.’

    By