Aug 30 Watch 6:32 Did climate change make recent extreme storms worse? By PBS News Hour Nature is taking a devastating toll in both the U.S. mainland and in countries like India, Bangladesh and Nepal, where monsoon rains are causing floods and hundreds of casualties. Directly attributing these individual weather events to global warming is a… Continue watching
Aug 30 Huge new study casts doubt on conventional wisdom about fat and carbs By Patrick Skerrett, STAT New results from a huge international study help continue to reshape fat's image while at the same time casting doubt on the wisdom of eating lots of carbs. Continue reading
Aug 29 Hurricane Harvey damages petrochemical refineries, releasing thousands of pounds of airborne pollutants By Nsikan Akpan ExxonMobil disclosed Tuesday that two refineries accidentally released 12,000 pounds of hazardous vapors after being damaged by Hurricane Harvey. But the disclosures represent just four of more than a dozen reports filed with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality since… Continue reading
Aug 29 This New York river dumps millions of fabric microfibers into the ocean daily By Teresa Carey The Hudson River dumps 300 million microfibers into the Atlantic Ocean each day, according to a new study. Invisible to the naked eye, these fibers can cause health problems for animals and humans. Continue reading
Aug 28 Why Hurricane Harvey became so extreme By Mark Fischetti, Scientific American A meteorologist explains the science behind why Hurricane Harvey produced so much rain, got stuck over Texas and reversed direction. Continue reading
Aug 27 Daddy longlegs risk life, and especially limb, to survive By Elliott Kennerson, KQED Science Not pulling your leg here: When attacked, daddy longlegs deliberately release their limbs to escape. Continue reading
Aug 25 Scientists found 91 volcanoes under Antarctica. Here’s what they might do By Synclaire Cruel The volcanoes are located in the West Antarctic Rift System, a 2,200-mile valley created by separating tectonic plates. Continue reading
Aug 25 Column: I was an Exxon-funded climate scientist By Katharine Hayhoe, The Conversation Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe has a unique perspective on ExxonMobil’s deliberate attempts to sow doubt on the reality of climate change because she was there. Continue reading
Aug 24 Interior Department calls for changes to national monuments but offers no details. Here’s how we got here By Nsikan Akpan Interior secretary Ryan Zinke called Thursday for a “handful” of changes to 27 national monuments that have been under review since this spring. The 120-day review, set in motion by an executive order from President Donald Trump, was due… Continue reading
Aug 24 Gut microbes found in hunter-gatherers shift with the seasons By Teresa Carey The gut microbes of the Hadza, Tanzanian hunter-gatherers, shift with the seasons, according to a new study. Applied on a longer timescale, these patterns might explain why industrialized populations have less diversity in their gut microbiomes and more chronic disease… Continue reading