A handful of new studies analyze the depletion and contamination of groundwater, as well as the effects of climate change—and how communities are responding.
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Greener, Wetter Arabia Was a Crossroads of Early Human Migration
Hand axes, hippo bones, and a stack of ancient lake beds show that arid Arabia experienced intervals of humid weather, spurring pulses of human migration over the past 400,000 years.
Drone Rules Make Tracking Down Faults a Difficult Feat
Regulations differ from country to country, but on one point, they’re relatively uniform: Drones must remain within their operators’ line of sight. How do earthquake scientists collect drone data while working within the rules?
Chinese Architecture Evolved with Changes in Snowfall
Roof design in northern China changed over centuries in response to extreme snow events, new research suggests.
Freshwater Mussel Shells May Retain Record of Alpine Snowpack
A new study explores a possible proxy for seasonal freshwater input that could elucidate changes in alpine snowpack as the planet warms.
Días más largos probablemente incrementaron el oxígeno temprano de la Tierra
Tapetes microbianos en el sumidero del Lago Huron, combinado con modelado, sugiere que el cambio en duración del día de la Tierra podría haber jugado un rol principal en la oxigenación de la atmósfera.
How Do You Know If You’ve Experienced Global Warming?
Answering this question can help policymakers, scientists, and climate communicators develop more effective strategies to reach skeptics and deniers.
Degraded Coral Reefs May Be More Resistant to Climate Change
New research on Kiribati’s beleaguered atolls paints a complex picture of reef recovery.
Purple Bacteria Fix Nitrogen in Proterozoic-Analogue Lake
A new study challenges the assumption that cyanobacteria were the only major nitrogen fixers in the Proterozoic eon.
Ancient Flint Tools Reveal Earth’s Changing Magnetic Field
Stone tools may provide data on paleomagnetism that are out of reach for other markers, such as prehistoric pottery.