Earth
Explainer: How volcanoes erupt
Magma can sit underground for tens, hundreds or even thousands of years before an influx of new magma or gush of gas triggers a volcano to erupt.
Earth
More Stories in Earth
- Climate
An ancient log shows how burying wood can fight climate change
A blanket of clay soil helped the wood hold onto the carbon it had absorbed — for thousands of years.
- Earth
Thunderstorms churn up a ‘boiling pot’ of high-energy gamma rays
A thunderstorm seen in gamma ray vision plays out as a complex, frenzied lightshow above the clouds.
- Earth
Analyze This: Why do atmospheric ‘ghosts’ glow green after red sprites?
Green ghosts — blurs of light that sometimes follow lightning — get their color from oxygen and metals in space dust.
- Oceans
Underwater mountains in the Pacific Ocean may be home to 20 new species
A recent expedition to undersea mountain ranges off the coast of Chile revealed a new seamount and a rich world of deep-sea biodiversity.
- Environment
Scientists want to create a sort of Noah’s Ark on the moon
Climate change is threatening Earth’s biodiversity banks. A lunar “ark” would safeguard seeds and cells against changes happening on Earth.
- Earth
Surprise! The jet stream can trigger cloud formation
Most cloud-seeding particles may come from a newly discovered mechanism — stratospheric intrusion.
- Earth
Meet the sneaky and surprisingly dangerous squall-line tornado
These destructive, radar-dodging twisters often form at night. Emerging data from the U.S. Southeast might soon make forecasting the tornadoes possible.
- Animals
This biologist tracks seadragons, with help from the public
Nerida Wilson uses artificial intelligence to identify seadragons in photos taken by citizen scientists.
- Climate
Let’s learn about how much climate change is to blame for extreme weather
Scientists can find out whether a natural disaster was more frequent or severe due to human-caused climate change. Here’s how.
