Earth
- Environment
The heat that keeps on giving
Burning fossil fuels generates heat and carbon dioxide. That pulse of heat is quickly exceeded by the warmth that carbon dioxide traps in Earth’s atmosphere.
- Environment
Many of Earth’s groundwater basins are drying out
A majority of Earth’s largest underground reservoirs of water are being depleted. These aquifers lose more water each year than they gain.
- Climate
Pacific hurricanes to strengthen as Earth warms
Global warming is heating up the oceans. That is causing waters to warm. As a result, Pacific storms — called typhoons — will become more destructive.
- Animals
A whale of a journey
The 5,200-kilometer (3,200 mile) journey of Isabela provides a window into the migration patterns of blue whales.
- Environment
Gulf oil spill: Still poisoning dolphins to crickets
Once the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill ended, oil continued to harm animals in the Gulf of Mexico. Five years later, it still may not be over, biologists worry.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Eutrophication
When a body of water is filled with nutrients, algae and plants may take advantage. And their presence isn’t always a good thing.
- Earth
Glaciers on ice — for now
A rise in emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, isn’t just warming Earth. It also could be delaying the onset of the next global cool-down.
- Earth
Too hot? Some peaks offer climate migrants lots of land
As mountain climates warm, species may actually gain ground as they migrate up to cooler sites, a new study finds.
- Planets
Asteroids boiled young Earth’s oceans
At least two asteroids hit Earth 3.3 billion years ago. This superheated the atmosphere, boiled the oceans and shaped how early life evolved.
- Animals
This is no cold fish!
The opah is the fish closest to the whole-body warm-bloodedness typical of mammals and birds. This trait may give the species an edge in the ocean’s cold depths.
- Materials Science
Keeping roofs cooler to cut energy costs
Cool it! A cheap paint-on coating for roofing shingles could help reduce a home’s heating bills and might even trim urban ozone levels, a teen shows.
- Animals
Pesticides offer bees a risky allure
Honeybees and bumblebees sometimes cannot taste or avoid pesticides called neonicotinoids. And that may expose some of these important pollinators to harm.
