Climate
Take it from the Olympics, slushy winter sports may be the new normal
Ice arenas and artificial snow now dominate the winter Olympics. Athletes there — and everywhere — may need to adjust how they train and perform.
Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Earth
- Climate
Halting irreversible changes to Antarctica depends on choices made today
Antarctic Peninsula projections show accelerating ice loss, warming oceans and global sea level impacts tied to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Climate
Snowball Earth might have had a dynamic climate and open seas
Sediments from Scotland hint that ocean-atmosphere interactions continued more than 600 million years ago despite widespread ice.
- Oceans
Evolution didn’t wait long after the dinosaurs died
New plankton arrived just a few millennia — maybe even decades — after the Chicxulub asteroid, forcing a rethink of evolution's catastrophe response speed.
- Earth
Earth’s core may hide dozens of oceans of hydrogen
Hydrogen reserves in Earth’s core large enough to supply at least nine oceans may influence processes on the surface today.
- Animals
Some dung beetles dig deep to keep their eggs cool
A temperate tunneling species of dung beetle seems capable of adapting to climate change, but their tropical cousins may be less resilient.
- Climate
Polar bears in the Barents Sea are staying fat despite rapid sea ice loss
Polar bears can struggle to adapt to climate change. Bears on Svalbard may be surviving on land prey and seals — but scientists warn it may not last.
- Earth
A long-lost tectonic fragment may be shaking Northern California
Seismic tremors reveal a shallow fragment of an ancient tectonic plate beneath Northern California, helping explain damaging earthquakes near the surface.
- Climate
Earth’s last 3 years were its hottest on record
An analysis of global climate data shows sustained warming even as El Niño faded.
- Climate
Hidden tree bark microbes munch on important climate gases
Trees are known for absorbing CO2. But microbes in their bark also absorb other climate-active gases, methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide.
