Environment

More Stories in Environment

  1. A satellite view of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, with a clear tornado track carving through the city
    Environment

    Satellite imagery reveals ‘hidden’ tornado tracks

    Twisters that churn over barren landscapes leave scars that are invisible to human eyes but are detectable with infrared light.

    By Katherine Kornei
  2. A photo of the salt flats in Badwater Basin in Death Valley, California in the foreground with mountains and sky in the background.
    Math

    Here’s why the geometric patterns in salt flats worldwide look so similar

    New research suggests the shared geometry of salt flats from Death Valley to Iran comes from fluid flows underground.

    By Matthew R. Francis
  3. A photo of a city street with over large bits of microplastics overlaying the image.
    Health & Medicine

    Microplastics are in our bodies. Here’s why we don’t know the health risks

    Researchers are racing to try to understand how much humans are exposed and what levels are toxic.

    By Anne Pinto-Rodrigues
  4. A shoreline in southern Louisiana shows green marsh grass where it meets still water
    Environment

    The Deepwater Horizon oil spill ruined long-term shore stability

    For at least eight years, the oil disaster continued to kill soil-retaining marsh plants along the Louisiana coast, accelerating shoreline loss.

    By Joshua Rapp Learn
  5. A photo of several tents set up on in Antarctica.
    Climate

    Many Antarctic glaciers are hemorrhaging ice. This one is healing its cracks

    Scientists have explored the recesses of an Antarctic glacier that is currently stable, helping improve predictions of the continent’s fate.

    By Douglas Fox
  6. Claude Monet’s 1899 painting “Charing Cross Bridge”.
    Environment

    Air pollution made an impression on Monet and other 19th century painters

    The impressionist painting style can be partly explained by the reality of rising air pollution from the industrial revolution, an analysis finds.

    By Bas den Hond
  7. A photo of Greta Thunberg standing with a sign with a group of people standing behind her.
    Climate

    Greta Thunberg’s new book urges the world to take climate action now

    Greta Thunberg's ‘The Climate Book’ covers the basic science of climate change, the history of denialism and inaction, environmental justice and solutions.

    By Erin Wayman
  8. photo of a seal with a plastic bottle in the ocean
    Oceans

    50 years ago, scientists discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

    In 1973, plastic bottles adrift in the North Pacific alarmed scientists. Fifty years later, more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic litter the area.

    By Demian Perry
  9. A photo of a researchers camp on Antarctica's Thwaites Glacier.
    Climate

    Rapid melting is eroding vulnerable cracks in Thwaites Glacier’s underbelly

    Thwaites is melting slower than thought, but the worst of it is concentrated in underbelly cracks, threatening the Antarctica glacier’s stability.

    By Douglas Fox