Carolyn Gramling

Carolyn Gramling

Earth & Climate Writer

Carolyn is the Earth & Climate writer at Science News. Previously she worked at Science magazine for six years, both as a reporter covering paleontology and polar science and as the editor of the news in brief section. Before that she was a reporter and editor at EARTH magazine. She has bachelor’s degrees in Geology and European History and a Ph.D. in marine geochemistry from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She’s also a former Science News intern.

All Stories by Carolyn Gramling

  1. Climate

    Rivers might not be as resilient to drought as once thought

    Seven years after Australia’s Millennium drought, water flow in many rivers isn’t returning to predrought levels.

  2. Climate

    Mangrove forests on the Yucatan Peninsula store record amounts of carbon

    Dense tangles of roots and natural water-filled sinkholes join forces to stockpile as much as 2,800 metric tons of carbon per hectare in the soil.

  3. Microbes

    These climate-friendly microbes recycle carbon without producing methane

    A newly discovered group of single-celled archaea break down decaying plants without adding the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere.

  4. Climate

    A trek under Thwaites Glacier’s ice shelf reveals specific risks of warm water

    An underwater autonomous craft collected the first data on the chemistry of seawater eroding the icy underbelly of Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier.

  5. Paleontology

    The dinosaur-killing asteroid impact radically altered Earth’s tropical forests

    The asteroid impact fundamentally reset the nature of Earth’s tropical rainforests, decreasing diversity at first and making them permanently darker.

  6. Space

    50 years ago, experiments hinted at the possibility of life on Mars

    In 1971, lab experiments suggested organic molecules could be made on Mars. Fifty years later, robots are searching for such signs of life on the planet itself.

  7. Paleontology

    An ancient shark’s weird fins helped it glide like a manta ray

    Nicknamed eagle shark, the newly discovered ancient creature achieved underwater flight 30 million years before the first rays.

  8. Materials Science

    This soft robot withstands crushing pressures at the ocean’s greatest depths

    An autonomous robot that mimics the adaptations of deep-sea snailfish to extreme conditions was successfully tested at the bottom of the ocean.

  9. Paleontology

    Predatory octopuses were drilling into clamshells at least 75 million years ago

    Holes found in ancient clams reveal that octopuses have been drilling into their prey for at least 25 million years longer than was previously known.

  10. Earth

    A magnetic field reversal 42,000 years ago may have contributed to mass extinctions

    The weakening of Earth's magnetic field beginning around 42,000 years ago correlates with a cascade of environmental crises, scientists say.

  11. Earth

    Fin whale songs can reveal hidden features of the ocean floor

    Fin whale calls can penetrate into Earth’s crust, offering scientists a new way to study the properties of the ocean floor.

  12. Earth

    Three things to know about the disastrous flood in India

    The flood, which killed at least 30 people, may have been caused by a collapsing glacier or a landslide, with climate change possibly playing a role.