Thomas Sumner

All Stories by Thomas Sumner

  1. Earth

    Plate tectonics just a stage in Earth’s life cycle

    Plate tectonics is just a phase in a planet’s lifetime between conditions that are too hot or too cold for the planet-churning mechanism, new simulations suggest.

  2. Environment

    Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused months-long ‘dirty blizzard’

    Pollution from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill accumulated on the seafloor for months after the leak was patched.

  3. Earth

    Pioneering geophysicist’s theory of peak oil still debated

    The life of geophysicist Marion King Hubbert, creator of the “peak oil” prediction, was intertwined with the politics and science of the oil industry.

  4. Climate

    Climate-cooling aerosols can form from tree vapors

    Climate-cooling, cloud-seeding aerosols can form in the atmosphere without the sulfuric acid spewed from fossil fuel burning, new research suggests.

  5. Astronomy

    Young sun’s super solar flares helped set early Earth up for life

    Super solar flares may have provided early Earth with planet-warming and life-building molecules.

  6. Oceans

    Ancient tsunamis reshaped Mars’ landscape

    Ancient tsunamis generated by meteorite impacts may have reshaped ocean coastlines on Mars.

  7. Oceans

    The Arctic Ocean is about to get spicier

    Variations in the saltiness and temperature of seawater of the same density, called spiciness, could increase as the Arctic Ocean warms.

  8. Oceans

    Here’s where 17,000 ocean research buoys ended up

    A combined look at 35 years’ worth of ocean buoy movements reveals the currents that feed into ocean garbage patches.

  9. Environment

    When measuring lead in water, check the temperature

    Lead contamination in drinking water can be much higher during summer than winter, new research suggests.

  10. Environment

    U.S. oil and gas boom behind rising ethane levels

    Oil and gas operations on North Dakota’s Bakken shale are largely to blame for a recent rise in global emissions of the greenhouse gas ethane, researchers conclude.

  11. Earth

    Rainwater can help trigger earthquakes

    Rainwater plays a major role in the triggering of earthquakes along New Zealand’s Alpine Fault.

  12. Climate

    Fizzled 2014 El Niño fired up ongoing monster El Niño

    The ongoing El Niño, one of the strongest on record, got a heat boost from a 2014 event that failed due to unfavorable winds.