Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
50 years ago, the sun’s influence on Earth’s lightning was revealed
The solar wind and sunspots seem to give lightning a boost. But exactly how solar activity stimulates strikes is an enduring mystery.
- Climate
The Arctic is warming rapidly. These clouds may hold clues as to why
Climate simulations can’t fully handle towering Arctic thunderclouds. So scientists have been flying a C-130 into and around the clouds to learn more.
- Earth
Geoscientists found the most dangerous part of a famous West Coast fault
Seismic data reveal that the Cascadia megathrust consists of at least four segments, the most dangerous of which may lurk offshore of Washington.
- Earth
In 2018, Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano erupted like a stomp rocket
The stomp rocket–like mechanism is a newly observed type of eruption.
- Earth
Freshwater first appeared on Earth 4 billion years ago, ancient crystals hint
Oxygen ratios in ancient zircon crystals suggest that the planet’s water cycle got started hundreds of millions of years earlier than thought.
- Climate
Warm water is sneaking underneath the Thwaites Glacier — and rapidly melting it
The salty water, just 3.6 degrees Celsius above the ice’s melting point, is undermining the foundation of the Antarctic glacier.
- Environment
‘The High Seas’ tells of the many ways humans are laying claim to the ocean
The book explains how the race for ocean resources from fish to ores to new medicines — the Blue Acceleration — is playing out.
- Earth
A weaker magnetic field may have paved the way for marine life to go big
Decreased protection from cosmic radiation may have increased oxygen levels in the atmosphere and oceans, allowing animals to grow larger.
- Earth
A hidden danger lurks beneath Yellowstone
A volcanic eruption at Yellowstone is unlikely anytime soon, but evidence is growing that a violent hydrothermal, or steam, explosion is possible.
- Climate
As the Arctic tundra warms, soil microbes likely will ramp up CO2 production
Experiments in mini greenhouses show how the tiny organisms lurking underground in a "sleepy biome" could be a contributor to climate change.
- Environment
A new approach to fighting wildfires combines local knowledge and AI
Land managers in the western United States are using potential operational delineations, or PODS, to prepare for — and take advantage of — wildfires.
- Climate
A ruinous hailstorm in Spain may have been supercharged by warming seas
Giant hail that pummeled northeast Spain in August 2022 could not have formed without climate change, computer simulations suggest.
