Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Environment
River turbulence can push toxic pollutants into the air
Levels of hydrogen sulfide gas soared near a raging section of the Tijuana River in San Diego, exposing residents to potentially harmful air pollution.
- Earth
20 years after Hurricane Katrina, is the U.S. better prepared?
Hurricane forecasts have improved since Katrina, but risks from climate change and budget cuts loom.
- Earth
Useful metals get unearthed in U.S. mines, then they’re tossed
Recovering these metals from mining by-products destined for waste sites could offset the need to import them from elsewhere or open new mines.
- Environment
A glacier burst, flooding Juneau. Again. This one broke records
A warming climate is behind growing floods of glacier meltwater in Alaska’s capital. Scientists say it’s the new normal.
- Animals
Warm autumns could be a driver in monarch butterflies’ decline
In the lab, higher temperatures during fall migration led monarchs to break their reproductive pause, increasing their risk of death.
- Environment
See how aerosols loft through Earth’s sky
Aerosols, small particles in the atmosphere like salt and dust, may offset a third of human-caused climate warming, though their influence is fading.
- Animals
The mystery of melting sea stars may finally be solved
A bacterium called Vibrio pectenicida may be melting sea stars along North America’s Pacific coast.
- Paleontology
A new species of ‘penis worm’ was discovered in the Grand Canyon
A trove of fossils, including a penis worm with a spiked, invertible throat, suggests this spot may have been a cradle of Cambrian evolution.
- Plants
Potatoes have their roots in ancient tomatoes
Knowing potatoes’ origin story could help future-proof the crucial crop against climate threats.
- Climate
A Midwest ‘megaflash’ is the longest lightning on record
A reanalysis of satellite data shows that a 2017 Texas-to-Missouri lightning megaflash stretched 829 kilometers and lasted 7.39 seconds.
- Earth
Why devastating tsunamis didn’t follow the Russia earthquake
Geologists unpack why the magnitude 8.8 temblor — the sixth largest ever recorded — fomented waves that reached Japan and Hawaii but caused little damage.
- Climate
What to know about the extreme U.S. flooding — and ways to stay safe
An oceanographer explains how climate change, warming oceans and a souped-up atmosphere are creating conditions for deadly floods.
