Climate

Climate

The Great Barrier Reef is experiencing a major coral bleaching event right now

A second coral bleaching event has struck the Great Barrier Reef in 12 months, new observations reveal, raising concerns about the natural wonder’s future.

Earth

Whirlwinds of crystals called gravel devils spotted in Andes Mountains

Large whirlwinds in northern Chile can carry gravel-sized gypsum crystals several kilometers before dumping them in mounds.

Oceans

Thinning ice creates undersea Arctic greenhouses

Arctic sea ice thinned by climate change increasingly produces conditions favorable for phytoplankton blooms in the waters below, new research suggests.

Climate

Arctic sea ice hits record wintertime low

Warm temperatures and heat waves reduced sea ice extent in the Arctic to its smallest maximum extent ever seen.

Climate

Changing climate could worsen foods’ nutrition

Climate change could aggravate hidden hunger by sapping micronutrients from soils and plants, reducing nutrition in wheat, rice and other crops.

Earth

Warming soils may belch much more carbon

New measurements suggest soils below 15 centimeters deep could play a sizable role in boosting carbon emissions as the planet warms.

Ecosystems

Invasive species, climate change threaten Great Lakes

In The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, a journalist chronicles the lakes’ downward spiral and slow revival.

Climate

Antarctic sea ice shrinks to record low

The Antarctic sea ice extent has reached a new low just two years after hitting a record high.

Climate

Desert songbirds increasingly at risk of dehydration

With no efforts to curb climate warming, hot spots in the U.S. Southwest could turn uninhabitable for some songbirds.

Climate

Hot nests, not vanishing males, are bigger sea turtle threat

Climate change overheating sea turtle nestlings may be a greater danger than temperature-induced shifts in their sex ratios.

Oceans

Cone snails wander in circles, lose focus with boosted CO₂

Deadly cone snails wander in circles and become less capable hunters when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide in seawater.

Oceans

Cone snails wander in circles, lose focus with boosted CO₂

Deadly cone snails wander in circles and become less capable hunters when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide in seawater.