Planet Earth

Researchers have unearthed tiny fragments of DNA in the Arctic that were left by plants, microbes and animals that lived in a previously unknown ecosystem in Greenland.

Although models accurately predicted the evolution of the Arctic storm, scientists were surprised to see just how much sea ice thickness decreased in the storm's aftermath.

Where does the first sunrise happen every day and which place sees the first sunrise of the New Year?

Pangaea was one of the largest continents in world history, but now it's broken up. So which continent today is the largest, and which is the smallest?

Sea levels are expected to rise around the contiguous U.S. faster than previously thought, a new NASA study finds.

The eruption is so far not threatening downhill communities or affecting flights

Billions of years ago, wind, heat and the rotating Earth formed currents just as they're produced today — but their paths would have been wildly different.

An international group of experts has voted to retire the leap second by 2035.

Flashy new videos of the plant shameplant (Mimosa pudica), which is renowned for its ability to rapidly fold up its leaves, reveal how chemical and electrical signals help to trigger its lightning reflexes.

New fund would aid responses to floods, fires and storms. But a failure to address warming and greenhouse gas emissions undercuts the funding success, critics say.

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A pair of new studies has revealed 'highly unlikely' phytoplankton blooms appearing near the seafloor and under sea ice at both Earth's poles.

A new method of using the machinery of photosynthesis to make methane is 10 times more efficient than previous attempts.

A global drop in oxygen levels about 550 million years ago led to Earth's first known mass extinction, new evidence suggests.

Staving off the worst impacts of climate change means preventing global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. But CO2 emissions are so high that we are slated to cross that line within a decade.

A United Nations report warns of imperiled glaciers at iconic World Heritage sites — but climate action could save most of them.

Fossils called stromatolites from Western Australia were created by microbes 3.48 billion years ago.

Light-up fish and ancient volcanic structures are among the discoveries of a new expedition to map the remote Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

A new satellite image shows that the world's largest iceberg, A-76A, has entered the Drake Passage, a waterway that contains a fast-moving ocean current that will send the mighty berg on a one-way trip to its watery grave.

On Nov. 3, a solar storm caused a temporary crack in Earth's magnetic field. The resulting hole enabled energetic particles to penetrate deep into the planet's atmosphere and set off extremely rare pink auroras.