2021 Natural Disasters: A Look Back
In 2021, Hurricane Ida left over 1 million people without power, tornadoes tore across the American Midwest, volcanoes forced people to evacuate their homes, wildfires…
Earth News
Colorado Faces Winter Urban Firestorm – Whipped Up by Hurricane-Force Winds
Hurricane-force winds whipped fires across drought-parched grasslands and into suburban neighborhoods. On December 30, 2021, high winds roared out of the west and down the…
Geomagnetic Storms Can Threaten Life on Earth – Swarm and Cluster Provide New Insights Into Space Weather
The notion of living in a bubble is usually associated with negative connotations, but all life on Earth is dependent on the safe bubble created…
Study Confirms Southern Ocean Is Absorbing Carbon – Important Buffer for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
January 3 – August 15, 2012 The waters circling Antarctica absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release, serving as a strong carbon sink…
Early Disaster Warning: Tsunamis’ Magnetic Fields Are Detectable Before Sea Level Change
Magnetic field information could provide earlier disaster warning to at-risk regions, potentially saving lives. A new study finds the magnetic field generated by a tsunami…
How Long Do Black Carbon Particles Linger in the Atmosphere?
Researchers uncover how black carbon evolves from hydrophobic particles to cloud nucleation sites, eventually removing the heat-absorbing particles from the sky. There’s a stubborn, heat-absorbing…
A Dozen Things That Helped and Hurt Climate Progress in 2021
2021 may turn out to be the most critical year in our efforts to combat climate change. After four years of inaction and backpedaling by…
Earth in 2021: Some Highlights From Another Year on Our Planet [Video]
From extreme weather to volcanic eruptions, these images highlight another year on our planet. Earth in 2021: Some Highlights From Another Year on Our Planet…
Antarctica’s “Doomsday” Glacier: Its Collapse Could Trigger Global Floods and Swallow Islands
The massive Thwaites glacier in West Antarctica contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by 65cm if it were to completely collapse. And, worryingly,…
Iodine in Desert Dust Destroys Ozone – Could Prolong Greenhouse Gas Lifetimes
New CU Boulder study shows iodine from desert dust can decrease ozone air pollution but could prolong greenhouse gas lifetimes. When winds loft fine desert…
Possible Chemical Leftovers From Early Earth Sit Near the Planet’s Core
A simulation of the evolution of the Earth’s interior over time, showing the thermal (bottom), chemical (middle), and thermochemical evolution under the simulated conditions. The…
Melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet Could Cause 5-Meter Rise in Sea Levels by the End of the Millennium
Scientists predict that continued global warming under current trends could lead to an elevation of the sea level by as much as five meters by…
Dead Zone Atlas: MIT Scientists Build 3D Maps of Ocean’s Oxygen-Starved Waters
The 3D maps may help researchers track and predict the ocean’s response to climate change. Life is teeming nearly everywhere in the oceans, except in…
Otherworldly Earth: This NASA Photo Isn’t Really Mars, It’s the Libyan Desert
The Libyan Desert is often cited as a Mars analogue. The vast Libyan Desert stretches toward the Mediterranean Sea, which itself fades into the horizon…
“Doomsday Glacier” Threat: Rapid Retreat of Antarctica’s Riskiest Glacier
Ice sheet’s demise poses the biggest threat for sea-level rise this century. Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier, sometimes referred to as the Doomsday Glacier, is retreating rapidly…
Resolving a Dangerous Conundrum: Earthquake Depth Impacts Potential Tsunami Threat
Earthquakes of similar magnitude can cause tsunamis of greatly varying sizes. This commonly observed, but not well-understood phenomenon has hindered reliable warnings of local tsunamis….
Seeing Suomi: Reindeer, Indigenous People, and Modern Meteorology Converge in a Winter Scene From Scandinavia
It is the land of reindeer husbandry—one of the few places on Earth where deer have been domesticated. It is the home of Europe’s only…
Grazing With Iceland’s Reindeer – Herds of Wild Reindeer Prosper in East Iceland
While efforts to raise domesticated reindeer on the island failed, herds of wild reindeer prosper in East Iceland. While most of the world’s populations of…