The Places on Earth That Are Changing Without Looking Different
A landscape can appear almost unchanged while the systems beneath it are moving in a very different direction. A road can remain level to the eye while the ground beneath … Read More
Category: Science and Environment
science
Nature’s Signals, Science’s Answers: How Scientists Are Turning Living Systems Into Environmental Early Warnings
A forest does not issue a warning when drought begins. A river does not send an alert when its biological community starts changing. Coral reefs do not display a thermometer … Read More
Discovering What the Earth Is Telling Us
The Earth does not send warnings in words. It sends them through temperatures, ocean heat, changing ice, shifting water reserves, vegetation, atmospheric chemistry and the growing frequency or intensity of … Read More
Earth, Energy, and Everything in Between: How One Energy System Connects the Planet, Economy and Digital Age
Earth’s energy story begins far beyond power plants and electricity grids. Every ecosystem, weather system and human energy system ultimately operates within a larger flow of energy, much of it … Read More
The Science Behind Tomorrow’s Environment
The environment of tomorrow will not be shaped by one invention or a single scientific breakthrough. It is increasingly being shaped by a network of measurement systems, models, sensors, satellites, … Read More
Microplastics Are Everywhere But What Do We Actually Know About Their Impact?
Microplastics have become one of the most visible symbols of modern pollution. They have been detected in oceans, rivers, soil, food, drinking water, indoor dust and air. Researchers have also … Read More
What Happens If the World’s Glaciers Disappear?
Glaciers are often described as frozen archives of Earth’s climate. But they are also active parts of the modern world: they feed rivers, support ecosystems, influence sea level and shape … Read More
The Sixth Mass Extinction: Are Humans Changing Life on Earth Forever?
Earth has experienced catastrophic biological upheavals before. The fossil record identifies five major mass extinctions, including the event 66 million years ago that ended the age of non-avian dinosaurs. The … Read More
Can We Really Clean the Oceans? The Science and Limits of Fighting Plastic Pollution
The idea of “cleaning the oceans” is appealing because it suggests a problem with a visible solution: build better machines, collect the floating debris and restore the sea. The science … Read More
The Hidden World Beneath Our Feet: Why Soil May Be One of Earth’s Most Important Ecosystems
A handful of healthy soil can contain an extraordinary variety of living organisms, yet soil is still easy to treat as little more than dirt beneath roads, farms and buildings. … Read More