Environment

Physics

Here’s how we might generate electricity from rain

Water drops produce electricity when dripped through a small tube. That power might be harnessed as renewable energy in rainy places.

Oceans

How will the LA fires affect the ocean? These researchers are racing to find out

Scientists aboard a research vessel near Los Angeles collected ash, air and water samples as fire blazed on the hills before them in January.

Climate

Hidden Antarctic lakes could supercharge sea level rise

An overlooked Antarctic water system could raise sea levels by more than 2 meters by 2300, computer simulations show.

Environment

Fires in the Amazon forest may melt sea ice in Antarctica

Satellite data reveal a link between the amount of black carbon in the atmosphere and rates of Antarctic sea ice loss in recent years.

Climate

A lush, green Arabian Desert may have once linked Africa and Asia

Mineral formations in caves reveal recurring periods of humidity in the Arabian Desert over the last 8 million years.

Earth

The ozone layer shields life on Earth. We’ll soon lose a key way to monitor its health

Imminent loss of NASA's Aura and Canada's SCISAT will severely diminish scientists’ ability to monitor ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere.

Earth

Wildfires and farm fertilizer use are fueling ozone pollution

Fires and agricultural soils can rival cars and factories in emitting chemicals that lead to ozone, making it hard to meet air quality standards.

Climate

Some trees are coping with extreme heat surprisingly well

Rising temperatures could reduce trees' ability to photosynthesize. Scientists are trying to figure out just how close we are to that point.

Animals

How a puffin patrol in Iceland is saving the iconic seabirds

Light pollution disorients young puffins. The Puffling Patrol helps them find their way to the sea.

Climate

Yes, you can blame climate change for the LA wildfires

Weather data show how humankind’s burning of fossil fuels made the hot, dry, windy weather more likely, setting the stage for the Los Angeles wildfires.

Earth

Another danger looms after the LA fires: Devastating debris flows

As wildfires burn the landscape, they prime slopes for debris flows: powerful torrents of rock, mud and water that sweep downhill with deadly momentum.

Climate

Unearthed ice may be the Arctic’s oldest buried glacier remnant

Thanks to climate change, thawing permafrost in the Canadian Arctic has revealed the buried remnant of a glacier that’s 770,000 years old.