All things geology, climate, oceans, and more
The wait for El Niño continues, but scientists are already gearing up for its impacts. Chief among those is how it warms the planet as a whole. In this age of climate change, 2019 is already shaping up to be an extremely hot year, but El Niño could give it a little boost. El Niño…
Between Mozambique and Madagascar lies the island of Mayotte. Since May 10, the French Geological Survey has been keeping an eye on a collection of earthquakes taking place just off the island’s eastern shores, which peaked with a magnitude 5.8 shake. This swarm was curious enough all by itself—and then, on November 11, things took…
It appears no corner of the planet is safe from wildfires. Queensland, Australia is dealing with a bizarre spate of bush fires in what’s normally the wet season, a setup that’s eerily reminiscent of recent conditions in Northern California. At least 70 fires are burning across the state, the largest of which has scorched more…
California’s nightmarish Camp Fire is nearly out after weeks of destruction, but firefighters are still finding new bodies even as the confirmed death toll has risen to 85. According to CNN, officials found two additional bodies in Paradise, the town wiped off the map by the fire’s rapid advance in early November, and another in…
Smoke from the wildfires that have devastated California for weeks has stretched some 3,000 miles to East Coast cities. The Weather Channel reported this week that the haze was expected to linger through Wednesday before an arctic chill descends on the Northeast over the Thanksgiving holiday. While pictures shared on social media captured a colorful…
If you live in the Northeast, you better put some mittens on your turkey this Thanksgiving. Because temperatures are gonna’ drop—and not like it’s hot. In fact, this holiday might summon some of the coldest temperatures the region’s ever seen for the month of November. It’s normal for cold Arctic to drift down from Canada…
The world’s changed a lot over the last quarter century. In fact, 22 percent of our planet’s livable surface has changed dramatically between the years 1992 and 2015, according to a new study published Monday. The study, published in the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, used satellite data from the European Space…
Americans of all political persuasions are rushing to blame the devastating Camp Fire on their political foes, but Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke would like everyone to take a deep breath and calm down… and recognize that “radical environmentalists” are to blame. Zinke, who is under investigation for numerous alleged ethics violations, appeared on the Breitbart…
One of Guatemala’s most violent volcanoes is back at it again. Less than six months after a major eruption killed more than 150, Volcan de Fuego roared to life in the early hours of Monday. Burbling lava and a towering ash cloud visible from space sent about 4,000 people scrambling for safety. Fuego has been…
In what may be the first bit of good news in a while for Northern California, rain could be on the way by the end of this week. It could put the kibosh on the Camp Fire, ending one chapter of the deadliest and most destructive fire in California’s history. Unfortunately it won’t be all…
While visiting California this weekend, President Donald Trump said Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told him that “raking” was part of the country’s forest management before insinuating that it’s something the United States should be doing to mitigate wildfires. The remark was bizarre, to be sure. But now, Niinisto says that no such conversation ever happened.…
The confirmed death toll in the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, has risen to 76, with nearly 1,300 names still remaining on an ad hoc list of missing individuals. The town of Paradise, which a firestorm overtook in a matter of hours on Nov. 8, is more or less…
President Donald Trump traveled to Northern California this weekend to survey the area affected by the Camp Fire, which has become the deadliest and most destructive fire in the state’s history. During the visit, the president appeared to double down on some of his previous rhetoric involving what he has described as forest mismanagement. CNN…
The Earth around the Mariana Trench, which contains the deepest point on the planet, could be slurping up at least 4.3 times more water than previously estimated, according to new research. Scientists collected data using seismographs sunk to the ocean bottom in order to better understand water’s behavior at subduction zones. These are places where…
After not experiencing any meaningful amounts of precipitation for at least 500 years, Chile’s Atacama Desert is finally getting some rain. Quite unexpectedly, however, these rains—instead of fostering life—are doing the exact opposite. Life on Earth cannot exist without water, but for microbes highly adapted to arid conditions, the sudden introduction of excess water can…
Nearly a week after the Camp Fire devastated an entire town, destroying 7,600 homes and at least 260 commercial properties, officials say hundreds of people are still missing, and many among them are senior citizens. An updated list from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office shows that a significant number of the individuals identified as missing…
Everyone who fled the Camp Fire has a story about when they knew things were going to be very, very bad on that fateful Thursday that the flames tore through the town of Paradise and the surrounding region. Jeremy Vesely’s came when the spot fire on the ridge above his newly-built home went from smokey to…
The Camp Fire that overtook the Northern California town of Paradise last week quickly became the most destructive wildfire in state history. Now, with more than 42 dead and hundreds still missing, it is the state’s deadliest. The Camp Fire began on Thursday. Downed power lines likely sparked the blaze, but powerful winds and bone…
Iceberg mania briefly overtook the internet last month when NASA captured a rectangular freakberg. But icebergs are with us all the time, and there’s a new animation to help you celebrate them in all shapes and sizes. Climate visualization specialists Pixel Movers and Makers have taken more than 40 years of data on the migration…
More than 20 people are dead and thousands of homes and other properties destroyed after wildfires descended on California this week, burning both sides of the state and laying waste to everything in their path. The Woolsey fire has reportedly burned more than 70,000 acres and hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to…
