All Stories by Alexandra Witze
- Climate
How one device could help transform our power grid
As coal-fired power plants are retired, grid-forming inverters may be key to a future that relies on solar and wind power.
- Climate
It’s possible to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Here’s how
Cutting carbon dioxide emissions to curb climate change and reach net zero is possible but not easy.
- Space
How Mars rovers have evolved in 25 years of exploring the Red Planet
Over 25 years, remotely controlled rovers have uncovered Mars’ watery history and continue to search for evidence that life once existed there.
- Climate
A global warming pause that didn’t happen hampered climate science
Trying to explain why global warming appeared to slow down in the early 2000s distracted scientists and shook their confidence.
- Climate
Wally Broecker divined how the climate could suddenly shift
Wally Broecker’s insight into the shutdown of the great ocean conveyor belt spurred the study of abrupt climate change.
- Climate
How did we get here? The roots and impacts of the climate crisis
Over the last century and a half, scientists have built a strong case for the roots and impacts of human-caused climate change.
- Science & Society
How to detect, resist and counter the flood of fake news
Misinformation about health is drowning out the facts and putting us at risk. Researchers are learning why bad information spreads and how to protect yourself.
- Earth
Improved three-week weather forecasts could save lives from disaster
Meteorologists are pushing to make forecasts good enough to fill the gap between short-term and seasonal.
- Climate
The Southern Ocean may be less of a carbon sink than we thought
The Southern Ocean’s ability to suck up much of the carbon that humans pump into the atmosphere is in question.
- Ecosystems
How mammoths competed with other animals and lost
Mammoths, mastodons and other ancient elephants were wiped out at the end of the last ice age by climate change and spear-wielding humans.
- Life
More than 2 billion people lack safe drinking water. That number will only grow.
By 2050, half the world’s population may no longer have safe water to drink or grow food. What then?
- Earth
Here’s a look at the world’s deadliest volcanoes — and the ways they kill
Scientists gathered data on nearly 280,000 global volcano deaths from 1500 to 2017 and sorted fatalities by cause of death, such as lava flows or gas.
