Photosynthesis Began a Billion Years Earlier Than Originally Believed
Ancient microbes may have been producing oxygen through photosynthesis a billion years earlier than we thought, which means oxygen was available for living organisms very…
Earth News
Thawing of the Far Northern Permafrost Has Scientists Worried
Permafrost in the coldest northern Arctic — formerly thought to be at least temporarily shielded from global warming by its extreme environment — will thaw…
Thawing Permafrost is Changing Arctic and Subarctic Lakes and Ponds
As ice the melts, the organic carbon found in permafrost is being released once again after ages of confinement in the soil. It is making…
Geologists Reveal How Magma from Earth’s Mantle Provide Natural Treasures
South Africa’s history and economy has been built on its rich natural treasures of a number of precious metals, stones and minerals. The country’s mineral…
Lab Experiments Provide New Details Into How Magma Feeds Volcanic Eruptions
A novel research study by scientists at the University of Liverpool has provided new insights into how molten rock (magma) moves through the Earth’s crust…
New NASA Study Brings Antarctic Ice Loss Into Sharper Focus
A NASA study based on an innovative technique for crunching torrents of satellite data provides the clearest picture yet of changes in Antarctic ice flow…
New Discovery Changes Perceptions of the Evolution of Earth’s Biosphere
For the first four billion years of Earth’s history, our planet’s continents would have been devoid of all life except microbes. All of this changed…
Image of an Icy Heart for Valentine’s Day
The year 2017 was a record-breaking one for Operation IceBridge, NASA’s aerial survey of the state of polar ice. For the first time in the…
25 Years of Satellite Data Confirms That Sea Levels Are Rising
Twenty-five years of satellite data prove climate models are correct in predicting that sea levels will rise at an increasing rate. In a study published…
Geophysicists Reveal Megathrust Fault Off Costa Rica
Geophysicists have obtained detailed three-dimensional images of a dangerous megathrust fault west of Costa Rica where two plates of the Earth’s crust collide. The images…
Yale Study Shows Geoengineering the Climate Could Have Dangerous Consequences
One of the scientific tools being considered to reduce the impacts of climate change is solar geoengineering, or the injection of aerosols into the atmosphere…
What Really Controls the Pace of Spring Snowmelt
A new study has found that dust, not spring warmth, controls the pace of spring snowmelt that feeds the headwaters of the Colorado River. Contrary…
Tidal Cycles Could Provide Advanced Warning of Volcanic Eruptions
Just before a surprise eruption of New Zealand’s Ruapehu volcano in 2007, seismic tremor near its crater became tightly correlated with twice-monthly changes in the…
Eocene Fossil Data Suggest Future Polar Warming Could Be Greater Than Expected
A new international analysis of marine fossils shows that warming of the polar oceans during the Eocene, a greenhouse period that provides a glimpse of…
NASA and NOAA Show Long-Term Global Warming Trend Continues
A new analysis by NASA shows that Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2017 ranked as the second warmest since 1880. Continuing the planet’s long-term warming…
Machine Learning Helps Predict the Geothermal Heat Flux in Greenland
A paper appearing in Geophysical Research Letters uses machine learning to craft an improved model for understanding geothermal heat flux — heat emanating from the…
Climate Models Underestimate the Cooling Effect That Clouds Have
Princeton University researchers have found that the climate models scientists use to project future conditions on our planet underestimate the cooling effect that clouds have…
Scientists Document a Surprising Trend in a Study on Extinctions
Sixty-five million years ago, clouds of ash choked the skies over Earth. Dinosaurs, along with about half of all the species on Earth, staggered and…