Climate
- Climate
How much will Africa capitalize on cheap renewable energy as its power grid grows?
An analysis of the successes and failures of past electrical power projects across Africa suggests the continent isn’t likely to go green before 2030.
- Climate
‘The New Climate War’ exposes tactics of climate change ‘inactivists’
In his new book, climate scientist Michael Mann draws the battle lines for a new phase of the struggle against climate change denialism.
- Climate
2020 and 2016 tie for the hottest years on record
Ocean temperature data as well as temperatures measured over land at weather stations around the globe revealed the extent of the warming.
- Earth
Earth’s oceans are storing record-breaking amounts of heat
2020 was just the latest in a series of record-breaking years for ocean heat.
- Climate
Ocean acidification may make some species glow brighter
Ocean organisms use bioluminescence for hunting, defense and more. A new analysis shows that declines in water pH might change who glows and how much.
- Climate
What the pandemic can teach us about ways to reduce air pollution
Data collected during COVID-19 shutdowns may help tease out the complicated chemistry that brews poor air quality.
- Chemistry
A new iron-based catalyst converts carbon dioxide into jet fuel
Jet fuel made from carbon dioxide could one day reduce pollution from air travel.
- Climate
Wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes broke all kinds of records in 2020
Climate change did not take a break during the pandemic.
- Earth
Towering fire-fueled thunderclouds can spew as many aerosols as volcanic eruptions
A massive plume of smoke lofted into the stratosphere during Australia’s fires may represent a new class of “volcanic-scale” pyrocumulonimbus clouds.
- Earth
In the past 15 years, climate change has transformed the Arctic
Accumulating evidence and new tools have helped scientists better understand how the Arctic is changing, but the pace has been faster than expected.
- Archaeology
Ancient people may have survived desert droughts by melting ice in lava tubes
Bands of charcoal from fires lit long ago, found in an ice core from a New Mexico cave, correspond to five periods of drought over 800 years.
- Microbes
50 years ago, scientists suspected microbes flourished in clouds
In 1970, scientists presented early evidence that microbes in clouds may be alive and kicking.
