Climate change could turn some blue lakes to green or brown

Some picturesque blue lakes may not be so blue in the future, thanks to climate change. In the first global tally of lake color, researchers estimate that roughly one-third of…

Gas flares are leaking five times as much methane than previously thought

In many oil and gas producing regions, flames light the sky. The flares burn off 98 percent of the escaping natural gas, oil and gas companies claim. But observations of…

Robin Wordsworth re-creates the atmosphere of ancient Mars

Visitors to the village of Drumnadrochit, on the western shore of Scotland’s murky Loch Ness, come to see the nearby ruins of Urquhart Castle or to chance a glimpse of…

Jacky Austermann looks to the solid earth for clues to sea level rise

It’s no revelation that sea levels are rising. Rising temperatures brought on by human-caused climate change are melting ice sheets and expanding ocean water. What’s happening inside Earth will also…

How Kenyans help themselves and the planet by saving mangrove trees

On the fringe of Kenya’s Gazi village, 50 kilometers south of Mombasa, Mwatime Hamadi walks barefoot on a path of scorching-hot sand toward a thicket of trees that seem to…

How Kenyans help themselves and the planet by saving mangrove trees

On the fringe of Kenya’s Gazi village, 50 kilometers south of Mombasa, Mwatime Hamadi walks barefoot on a path of scorching-hot sand toward a thicket of trees that seem to…

How to make recyclable plastics out of CO2 to slow climate change

It’s morning and you wake on a comfortable foam mattress made partly from greenhouse gas. You pull on a T-shirt and sneakers containing carbon dioxide pulled from factory emissions. After…

A carbon footprint life cycle assessment can cut down on greenwashing

Today, you can buy a pair of sneakers partially made from carbon dioxide pulled out of the atmosphere. But measuring the carbon-reduction benefits of making that pair of sneakers with…

A coral pollution study unexpectedly helped explain Hurricane Maria’s fury

Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico early on September 20, 2017, with 250-kilometer-per-hour winds, torrential rains and a storm surge up to three meters high. In its wake:…

Extreme climate shifts long ago may have helped drive reptile evolution

There’s nothing like a big mass extinction to open up ecological niches and clear out the competition, accelerating evolution for some lucky survivors. Or is there? A new study suggests…