Feb 07 Why clouds are key to new climate change projections By Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360 Recent climate models project that a doubling of atmospheric CO2 above pre-industrial levels could cause temperatures to soar far above previous estimates. A warming earth, researchers now say, will lead to a loss of clouds, allowing more solar energy to… Continue reading
Feb 07 Preliminary data records Antarctica’s hottest temperature on record By Associated Press World Meteorological Organization spokeswoman Clare Nullis, citing figures from Argentina's national weather service, said the Esperanza base recorded 18.3 degrees C elsius ( 64.9 Fahrenheit) on Thursday — topping the former record of 17.5 degrees tallied in March 2015. Continue reading
Feb 06 NASA’s record-setting Koch returns safely from space By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Christina Koch wrapped up a 328-day mission on her first flight into space, providing researchers the opportunity to observe the effects of long-duration spaceflight on a woman. Continue reading
Feb 05 Scientists dive into ‘Midnight Zone’ to study dark ocean By James Brooks, Associated Press A team of scientists is preparing to dive deep into the depths of the Indian Ocean into a “Midnight Zone” where light barely reaches, but life still thrives. Continue reading
Feb 05 ‘King tides’ documented globally show risks of climate change By Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Volunteers from New Zealand to the United States are helping scientists document what will happen to coastal communities as climate change melts the polar ice caps and sea levels rise. Continue reading
Jan 30 Hawaii telescope reveals details of the sun’s turbulent surface By Malcolm Ritter, Associated Press A telescope in Hawaii is revealing the turbulent gas surface of the sun in what scientists called unprecedented detail. Continue reading
Jan 28 Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales continue population decline By Dan Joling, Associated Press A biennial survey conducted by the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimated the population of the white whales at 250 to 317, with a median estimate of 279. Continue reading
Jan 28 How thawing permafrost is transforming the Arctic By Ed Struzik, Yale Environment 360 The frozen layer of soil that has underlain the Arctic tundra for millennia is now starting to thaw. This thawing, which could release vast amounts of greenhouse gases, is already changing the Arctic landscape by causing landslides, draining lakes, and… Continue reading
Jan 26 ‘This is huge’: Locust swarms in Africa are worst in decades By Ben Curtis, Josphat Kasire, Cara Anna, Associated Press The worst outbreak of desert locusts in Kenya in 70 years has seen hundreds of millions of the bugs swarm into the East African nation from Somalia and Ethiopia. Those two countries have not had an infestation like this in… Continue reading
Jan 22 ‘Forever chemicals’ found in drinking water in dozens of cities By Isabella Isaacs-Thomas Researchers sampled drinking water at more than 40 locations in 31 states between May and December of 2019. Continue reading