The demise of a West Antarctic glacier poses the world’s biggest threat to raise sea levels before 2100 — and an ice shelf that’s holding it back from the sea…
Category: Earth
The Southern Ocean is still swallowing large amounts of humans’ carbon dioxide emissions
The Southern Ocean is still busily absorbing large amounts of the carbon dioxide emitted by humans’ fossil fuel burning, a study based on airborne observations of the gas suggests. The…
Climate change could make Virginia’s Tangier Island uninhabitable by 2051
Virginia’s Tangier Island is rapidly disappearing. Rising sea levels are exacerbating erosion and flooding, and could make the speck of land in the Chesapeake Bay uninhabitable within the next few…
Fungi may be crucial to storing carbon in soil as the Earth warms
When it comes to storing carbon in the ground, fungi may be key. Soils are a massive reservoir of carbon, holding about three times as much carbon as Earth’s atmosphere.…
Bubble-blowing drones may one day aid artificial pollination
Drones that blow pollen-laden bubbles onto blossoms could someday help farmers pollinate their crops. Rather than relying on bees and other pollinating insects — which are dwindling worldwide as a…
Insects’ extreme farming methods offer us lessons to learn and oddities to avoid
To picture this farm, imagine some dark blobs dangling high up in a tree. Each blob can reach “about soccer ball size,” says evolutionary biologist Guillaume Chomicki of Durham University…
Engineered honeybee gut bacteria trick attackers into self-destructing
Deadly, fat-sucking mites and wing-wrecking viruses, take note. Specially engineered gut microbes can defend honeybees by tricking their enemies into self-destruction. Rod-shaped Snodgrassella bacteria, common in bee guts, were engineered…
Can forensics help keep endangered rosewood off the black market?
Jian Zhong Wang’s home in the southern Chinese city of Nanning is an inviting place. Light spills in through large bay windows, which offer a stunning view of the garden…
Too much groundwater pumping is draining many of the world’s rivers
Humankind’s collective thirst is slowly desiccating landscapes worldwide, a study of groundwater finds. Water stored in aquifers underground makes up the vast majority of accessible freshwater on Earth. Its abundance…
Many cosmetics contain hidden, potentially dangerous ‘forever chemicals’
A new chemical analysis has revealed an ugly truth about beauty products: Many may contain highly persistent, potentially harmful “forever chemicals” called PFAS. PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,…
