Carolyn Gramling

Carolyn Gramling

Earth & Climate Writer

Carolyn Gramling 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. Earth

    More details about the Myanmar earthquake are emerging

    A phenomenon called liquefaction, which causes the ground to slump like quicksand, led to significant damage after the Myanmar earthquake. The risk of aftershock remains high.

  2. Climate

    Splitting seawater offers a path to sustainable cement production

    Cement manufacture is a huge carbon emitter. A by-product of splitting seawater might make the process more environmentally friendly.

  3. Earth

    3 things to know about the deadly Myanmar earthquake

    The magnitude 7.7 earthquake was powerful, shallow and in a heavily populated region with vulnerable buildings.

  4. Climate

    Even desert cities could pull drinking water from the air 

    Water harvesting from foggy air provided up to 5 liters of water a day in a yearlong Chilean desert experiment.

  5. Paleontology

    Earth’s first waterfowl may have lived in Antarctica 69 million years ago

    A few fossilized body parts hinted at an enigmatic bird's close ties to waterfowl like ducks and geese. A newfound skull may bolster that idea.

  6. Megadroughts are on the rise worldwide

    One of the most extreme megadroughts has helped fuel wildfires in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in California.

  7. Climate

    2024 was Earth’s hottest year on record, passing a dangerous warming threshold

    Global temperatures were the hottest on record in 2024; it was the first year where the average temperature topped 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times.

  8. Paleontology

    Humans, not climate change, may have wiped out Australia’s giant kangaroos

    About 40,000 years ago, giant kangaroos vanished Down Under. Dental analyses suggest a varied diet, meaning climate change was not the main cause.

  9. Artificial Intelligence

    AI sniffs out whiskey flavor notes as well as the pros

    A machine learning algorithm identified the top five flavor notes in 16 types of whiskey. Each matched the aggregate of what a panel of human pros said.

  10. Space

    The 2024 eclipse gave a rare view of the sun. Here’s a peek at early data

    Teams are starting to analyze data from the total solar eclipse to learn more about the sun’s corona, gravity waves and changes in Earth’s ionosphere.

  11. Earth

    The 2004 tsunami killed hundreds of thousands. Are we better prepared now?

    Twenty years after the deadliest wave in recorded history, most oceans have warning systems and communities have learned how best to escape the danger.

  12. Climate

    Climate change made 2024 the hottest year on record. The heat was deadly

    Heat waves fueled by climate change killed scores of people and upended daily life. Here are some of those stories.