News in Brief Earth

Beware of rockfalls in warm weather

Cliff cracks grow as temperatures rise

Rockfall in Yosemite

ROLLING STONES  A crack in a Yosemite National Park cliff grows and shrinks as temperatures rise and fall, new research shows. Cracked cliffs can cause colossal rockfalls in the park, such as this one from October 2010.

Tom Evans

By Thomas Sumner

- More than 2 years ago

As the weather warms, watch for falling rocks. While monitoring a cracked cliff in Yosemite National Park, researchers watched the fissure widen as temperatures rose.