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Magazine
In the July 21 SN: Portraits of a galaxy’s ecosystem, sleep and Alzheimer’s, poliovirus vs. glioblastoma, Parker Solar Probe previewed, mind-reading robots, a new ancient gibbon and more.
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Say What?
You’re living in a new geologic age. It’s called the Meghalayan
Meghalayan\mehg-a-LAY-an \ n.07/20/2018 - 07:00 Earth, Climate, AnthropologyThe newly named current geologic age that started 4,200 years ago.
Welcome to the Meghalayan, our geologic here and now. It’s one of three newly designated ages divvying up the Holocene Epoch, a geologic time period kicked off 11,700 years ago by the end of the Ice Age.
First came a warming period, now dubbed the Greenlandian Age. Then, about 8,300...
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News
Shallow reef species may not find refuge in deeper water habitats
07/19/2018 - 15:21 Oceans, Ecosystems, ClimateDeep water reefs are unlikely to be safe harbors for many fish and coral species from shallow reefs threatened by climate change and human activity. Shallow water creatures may have trouble adapting to conditions in the deep, scientists report in the July 20 Science. Plus, deep reefs are facing the same threats that are putting shallower ones at risk.
The study deals a blow to the “deep...
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News
Wildfires are making extreme air pollution even worse in the northwest U.S.
07/16/2018 - 15:19 Pollution, ClimateThe northwestern United States has become an air pollution hot spot — literally.
Air quality in states from Nevada to Montana is worse than it was 30 years ago on the days with the most extreme air pollution. Bigger and more frequent wildfires that spew plumes of fine particulate matter into the sky are largely to blame, researchers report July 16 in Proceedings of the National Academy...
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News in Brief
Bloodflowers’ risk to monarchs could multiply as climate changes
07/10/2018 - 18:58 Climate, Ecology, AnimalsClimate change could make a showy invasive milkweed called a bloodflower even more of a menace for monarch butterflies than it already is.
Monarch caterpillars, which feed on plants in the milkweed family, readily feast on Asclepias curassavica. Gardeners in the southern United States plant it for its showy orange blooms, yet the species “is turning out to be a bit of a nightmare,” says...
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Science Stats
Earth’s rivers cover 44 percent more land than we thought
06/28/2018 - 14:00 Earth, ClimateAll of the world’s rivers and streams together cover more area than the U.S. state of Texas.
A new estimate based on global satellite images shows that these waterways squiggle their way across about 773,000 square kilometers of land — or just over half a percent of Earth’s nonglaciated land surface. That’s roughly 44 percent more than previously estimated, researchers report online June...
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Feature
Why won’t this debate about an ancient cold snap die?
06/26/2018 - 14:00 Climate, Earth, PaleontologyAround 13,000 years ago, Earth was emerging from its last great ice age. The vast frozen sheets that had covered much of North America, Europe and Asia for thousands of years were retreating. Giant mammals — steppe bison, woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats — grazed or hunted across tundra and grasslands. A Paleo-Indian group of hunter-gatherers who eventually gave rise to the Clovis people...
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News
Antarctica has lost about 3 trillion metric tons of ice since 1992
06/13/2018 - 13:23 Climate, Earth, OceansAntarctica is losing ice at an increasingly rapid pace. In just the last five years, the frozen continent has shed ice nearly three times faster on average than it did over the previous 20 years.
An international team of scientists has combined data from two dozen satellite surveys in the most comprehensive assessment of Antarctica’s ice sheet mass yet. The conclusion: The frozen...
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News
Tropical cyclones have slowed over the last 70 years
06/06/2018 - 13:34 Climate, OceansTropical cyclones don’t move as fast as they used to.
The fierce, swirling storms move 10 percent slower, on average, than they did nearly 70 years ago, a new study finds. Such lingering storms can potentially cause more damage by dumping even more rainfall on land beneath them.
Atmospheric scientist James Kossin examined changes in how quickly tropical cyclones, known as...
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News
A big analysis of environmental data strengthens the case for plant-based diets
06/06/2018 - 07:00 Sustainability, Agriculture, ClimateFrom beef to beer, coffee to chocolate, there are environmental costs in what humanity chooses to eat and drink. Now a new study that quantifies the impact on the planet of producing and selling 40 different foods shows how these choices make a difference.
Agricultural data from 38,700 farms plus details of processing and retailing in 119 countries show wide differences in environmental...
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News in Brief
The first Americans could have taken a coastal route into the New World
05/30/2018 - 14:00 Climate, Ecosystems, AnthropologyAncient colonizers of the Americas could have traveled down Alaska’s Pacific coast in canoes or other sea vessels around 17,000 years ago, a new study finds.
At that time, toward the end of the last ice age, glaciers had just receded from a cluster of southern Alaskan islands, say geologist Alia Lesnek of the University at Buffalo in New York and colleagues. Life-supporting habitats...