All things geology, climate, oceans, and more
It’s no secret that ice around the world is receding as global temperatures rise. Even so, the sudden destabilization of a remote ice cap in the Russian High Arctic has scientists throwing around words like “extraordinary” and “unprecedented.” That’s because the Vavilov Ice Cap—located on October Revolution Island between the Kara and Laptev seas—is situated…
The detection of strange, unpredicted behavior deep below the surface near the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults suggests scientists have an incomplete understanding of the processes responsible for earthquakes in the region. Over the past four decades, geoscientists have recorded thousands of small earthquakes in California’s San Bernardino basin near the San Andreas and…
After nearly two months, the largest wildfire in California history has finally been contained. The Ranch Fire can now officially take its place in the record books, having burned a grand total of 459, 123 acres. The Ranch Fire was part of the Mendocino Complex, which lit up on July 27. Paired with the River…
It is becoming increasingly clear the planet is trying to tell us it is sick of our crap and it is done playing. The latest example? A firenado sucking a team of firefighters’ hose into the sky. The surreal footage comes from British Columbia, which you may remember saw day turn into the night due…
Tropical Storm Mangkhut was on the move Monday as it made its way through Southeast Asia. The former Super Typhoon, which at its peak became the strongest storm to form on Earth this year so far, has been pummeling Hong Kong, Macau, and the Philippines all weekend. Heavy rainfall from has triggered landslides throughout northern…
After plowing into the North Carolina coast late last week, Florence lingered over Carolinas all weekend like an unwanted house guest. Though its winds had slackened to a tropical depression by Sunday, the record-setting rains it unleashed have created a flooding catastrophe that is still unfolding. The scale of that catastrophe is now becoming apparent…
While the world watches Florence make a historic landfall in the Carolinas, there’s another storm on the other side of the planet worthy of our attention. Super Typhoon Mangkhut is the biggest, baddest storm on the planet, and it’s bearing down on the Philippines’ most populous island. After ripping apart houses in Guam like tin…
With an ear-splitting howl and booming surf, Hurricane Florence has arrived. The storm could be a landmark event that breaks rainfall records, leaves waterways flooded for weeks, and reshapes the Carolinas coast for decades. Florence is a super-sized, powerful Category 2 hurricane with tropical storm-force winds extending 195 miles out from its core. Because of…
The Carolinas are bracing for the storm of a lifetime as Hurricane Florence rumbles toward the shore. The storm is utterly massive—some might say tremendously big and wet—but it’s hard to truly grasp the scale unless you can see the entire beast at once, and to do that, you need to go to space. European…
Authorities are warning coastal residents in the path of Hurricane Florence to evacuate now or be at the mercy of the Category 3 storm, which is expected to slow upon hitting the coast of the Carolinas on Thursday and ravage the region with storm surge, rainfall, and flooding. According to CNN, North Carolina Governor Roy…
Hurricane season is in full swing, and the Atlantic is raging. If you live on the coast, you owe it to yourself to pay attention to what storms are out there, where they’re headed, and what the impacts could be. Whether you’re new to hurricane watching or a weather geek, Earther has you covered. These…
All weather watchers’ eyes are on Hurricane Florence, a Category 4 beast on a collision course with the Carolina coast. But while the winds are generating headlines and there’s a lot of questions about what category it will be when it makes landfall, the real issue is the water. And there’s going to be lots…
It’s the statistical peak of Atlantic hurricane season today, and it appears the message has been received. The tropical Atlantic has spawned three hurricanes, but none is more worrisome than Hurricane Florence. The National Hurricane Center advisory at 11 a.m. listed Florence as a Category 3 storm, with winds of 115 mph. That’s the threshold…
Hurricane Florence is the biggest threat in the Atlantic right now, but it’s hardly the only storm. The tropics have gone wild, with three hurricanes spinning at the same time, as you can see for yourself in satellite imagery captured as the sun rose on the Atlantic Monday morning. In addition to rapidly-strengthening Florence (which…
Hurricane Florence, which was briefly downgraded to a tropical storm last week, was re-upgraded to hurricane status on Sunday and looks like it is destined to barrel straight at the U.S.’ East Coast. According to CNN, odds are good that it will have strengthened to Category 4 status—meaning sustained winds in the range of 130-156…
It’s been a year of unique weather to say the least. The latest potentially bizarre weather happening to add to the list? Florence, the first major hurricane of the season, could follow a highly unusual route from the center of the Atlantic into the heart of the Eastern Seaboard thanks to a weird atmospheric setup.…
We’ve seen a lot of good maps of Earth’s polar regions of late. A map that shows the thickness of the entire Antarctic ice sheet. Another that shows Greenland’s hidden bedrock contours in unprecedented detail. But a new terrain map of Antarctica is still special. It’s not just the highest resolution ever produced for the…
The three-month span from June to August is always the worst season. It’s a season of armpit sweat; a time of searching for shade or air conditioning. And if it felt like this summer sucked even more than usual, you’re not imagining it. The summer of 2018’s hellacious heat set a new record. U.S. summer nights…
On September 15, NASA will launch a laser 310 miles above the Earth to scan our planet’s ice sheets like never before, recording changes in the elevation of these frozen landscapes down to the width of a pencil. The laser, which lives aboard NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2), will shower the Earth…
The Atlantic hurricane season has suddenly found its legs. Following some summer doldrums, a number of factors have come together to fuel a run of tropical weather. That includes Hurricane Florence, which just became the first major hurricane of the season. The storm reached Category 3 status—the threshold for major hurricanes—on Wednesday morning. The storm…
