All Stories by Thomas Sumner
- Climate
If you thought 2015 was hot, just wait
The record-setting global temperatures seen in 2015 could be the “new normal” as soon as the 2020s.
- Climate
CO2-loving plants can counter human emissions
Plants temporarily halted the acceleration of rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, new research suggests.
- Climate
Human CO2 emissions put Arctic on track to be ice-free by 2050
Sea ice is shrinking by about three square meters for each metric ton of carbon dioxide emitted, new research suggests.
- Earth
The southern San Andreas has a smaller, neighboring fault to its west
The newly-discovered Salton Trough Fault runs parallel to the southern San Andreas Fault in California, potentially affecting the region’s earthquake risk.
- Climate
Wanted: New ways to chill air conditioners, fridges
A new amendment to the Montreal Protocol will phase out potent greenhouse gases currently used in air conditioners and refrigerators, prompting a hunt for eco-friendly alternatives.
- Chemistry
Water softeners get friendlier to health, environment
New technology softens water without adding sodium, which ends up in drinking water and contaminates the environment.
- Earth
There’s a new way to stop an earthquake: put a volcano in its path
An earthquake rupturing along a fault in Japan was blockaded by the magma chamber below the Mount Aso volcano, researchers propose.
- Climate
Extreme lightning events set records
A lightning flash stretching 321 kilometers across and one that lasted 7.74 seconds have been named the most extreme events on record, thanks to a new rule change.
- Life
Ocean archaea more vulnerable to deep-sea viruses than bacteria
Deep-sea viruses kill archaea disproportionately more often than bacteria, a killing spree with important impacts on the global carbon cycle.
- Oceans
Atlantic monument is home to unique and varied creatures
A region of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod has become the first U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Earth
Seismologists surprised by deep California quakes
Small earthquakes detected along the Newport-Inglewood Fault originate from deeper underground than once thought possible.
- Chemistry
Molecules for making nanomachines snare chemistry Nobel
Nanochemists win Nobel prize for devising molecular machines
