Earth News - Environmental Science Articles

The lake sediments provide more information about what the climate in the East Settlement was like.

Drought helped push the Vikings out of Greenland, new study finds

By Owen Jarus published 30 March 22

Drought might have played a major role in the abandonment of the Eastern Settlement of Vikings around 1450, new research finds.

Image of a glacier in Jasper National Park in Canada that has retreated very far.

What is climate change, and how is it affecting Earth?

By Stephanie Pappas published 28 March 22

Climate change is real and humans are causing it.

A panorama from the highest point in the city of Sanya in the Hainan Province, China. Юлия Моисеенко via Getty Images

What countries and cities will disappear due to rising sea levels?

By Joe Phelan published 27 March 22

What cities, states and countries are most at risk from rising sea levels? What can they do to protect themselves?

This Sentinel-1A satellite image shows the C-38 iceberg on March 17, 2022. The iceberg broke off from the Conger Ice Shelf.

Sudden collapse of Antarctic ice shelf could be sign of things to come

By Cameron Duke published 26 March 22

A massive Antarctic ice shelf that covered an area about the size of New York City or Rome just collapsed into the ocean.

Supporters of the Fridays for Future climate action movement march as part of a global climate strike on March 25 in Berlin, Germany. The movement is calling particular attention to the current Russian war in Ukraine, warning that the war is distracting world leaders from achieving climate goals and highlights the need for a faster global reduction in fossil fuel dependence.

In global climate strike, youth demand action worldwide

By Mindy Weisberger published 25 March 22

On March 25, thousands of young people around the world mobilized to demand government action to curb climate change.

Molecular machinery, like this light-harvesting complex from a bacterium, is often strikingly symmetrical.

'Informational simplicity' may explain why nature favors symmetry

By Cameron Duke published 24 March 22

Symmetry is so common in biology because life favors simple structures over complex ones.

A geyser erupts in Yellowstone National Park. It is supplied with water superheated by magma in underground fluid pathways.

Secrets of 'mystery sandwich' beneath Yellowstone revealed in new map

By Harry Baker published 23 March 22

Researchers using a giant electromagnet suspended from a helicopter have created a detailed map of the hydrothermal system underneath Yellowstone National Park for the first time.

An illustration of plastic-eating bacteria

Plastic-eating bacteria: Genetic engineering and environmental impact

By Scott Dutfield published 23 March 22

Reference Plastic-eating bacteria could have a massive impact on our environmental plastic problem.

Reference

The circular structure seen in Google Earth images off the coast of Peru is raising cries of "UFO."

Odd circular shape beneath the ocean in Google Earth images is probably not aliens

By Stephanie Pappas published 23 March 22

A weird circular shape on Google Earth has ocean-floor UFO hunters crying "alien."

Simultaneous heatwaves have hit both polar regions and caused temperatures to rise by at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit in certain areas.

Alarming heat waves hit Arctic and Antarctica at the same time

By Harry Baker published 22 March 22

Simultaneous heat waves have hit the Arctic and Antarctica, raising temperatures by more than 50 degrees in parts of both polar regions.

A Tyrannosaurus rex chick shivers in the cold following the asteroid impact 66 million years ago. The asteroid caused sulfur aerosols to enter the atmosphere, which led to global cooling.

Sulfur from dino-killing asteroid caused way more global cooling than thought

By Laura Geggel published 21 March 22

An analysis of rocks exposed to the dinosaur-killing asteroid event reveals that the impact released more sulfur, which led to more global cooling than previously realized.

Ice wall on the summit of the Kilimanjaro (Southern Icefields, Tanzania.

Massive ice wall may have blocked passage for first Americans

By Charles Q. Choi published 21 March 22

The first people who migrated to the Americas from Asia may have had to take a circuitous coastal route, as direct passage overland may have been blocked by a massive wall of ice.

Equinox: Definition, facts & what happens during one

By Sarah Wild published 19 March 22

REFERENCE Equinoxes occur twice a year when the sun is directly above the equator, and herald the beginning of spring and autumn.

REFERENCE

Sinkholes as big as a skyscraper and as wide as a city street open up in the Arctic seafloor

By Jeanna Bryner published 17 March 22

Giant "sinkholes" — one of which could devour an entire city block holding six-story buildings — are appearing along the Arctic seafloor.

A magnitude-7.3 earthquake just hit Fukushima, with damaged pavement blocks on the ground in front of JR Fukushima Station, shown here on March 17, 2022.

Magnitude-7.3 earthquake strikes Fukushima, tsunami warning issued

By Ben Turner published 16 March 22

A tsunami warning has been issued for Fukushima after a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck the east coast of Japan, according to Japanese government officials.

Antarctic sea ice floats in the water in the Lemaire Channel off of Antarctica.

Antarctic sea ice at record low in February, satellite data reveal

By Patrick Pester published 16 March 22

Antarctic sea-ice extent dropped to a record low in the satellite data in February, but it's likely due to natural variation.

A forest in the Czech Republic, decimated by acid rain from a nearby power plant.

Acid rain: Causes, effects and solutions

By Alina Bradford, Ben Biggs published 16 March 22

reference Acid rain is any form of precipitation that contains acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid. It affects nearly everything: plants, soil, trees, buildings and even statues.

reference

Researchers studying Greenland's Hiawatha crater conducted research at the edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet in 2019.

Massive asteroid hit Greenland when it was a lush rainforest, under-ice crater shows

By Stephanie Pappas published 15 March 22

A huge impact crater beneath the ice in Greenland dates back 58 million years, to when the Arctic was green and populated by hippo-like animals.

San Andreas Fault's creeping section could unleash large earthquakes