Author Profile: J Duncombe

Publications from J. Duncombe

Brown smoke billows from the Willow Fire in Payson, Ariz., in 2004, fueling the formation of a towering pyrocumulonimbus system above

News 27 December 2019

What Do You Get When You Cross a Thunderstorm with a Wildfire?

Lightning, fire vortices, and black hail are some of the frightening features of fire-fueled storms, which may become more common in the future.

1 Comment

Biogeosciences

News 13 December 2019

Are Beavers Nature’s “Little Firefighters”?

It’s about dam time: Beavers are acknowledged for their firefighting skills in five recent blazes.

1 Comment

News 12 December 2019

Human Brains Have Tiny Bits of Magnetic Material

Here’s the first map of the magnetic mineral magnetite in the human brain. Turns out that our brain stem may be full of it.

7 Comments

Climate Change

A pool of meltwater on Greenland’s ice sheet

News 10 December 2019

A New Source of Sea Level Rise from Greenland: Ice Slabs

Runoff from the Greenland ice sheet’s high elevations could double by 2100, thanks to solid layers of ice hiding just beneath the surface.

Geology & Geophysics

Smartphones lay on a shake table to record accelerometer data.

News 8 December 2019

How to Turn Your Smartphone into an Earthquake Detector

A free smartphone app tracks earthquakes using your phone’s accelerometer. One day, the app could issue emergency warnings to those in danger.

Geohealth

News 18 November 2019

Climate Change Will Make Us Sicker and Lose Work Hours

Experts have given the United States a warning: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or suffer the consequences of lower productivity and a sicker population for generations to come.

2 Comments

Climate Change

Aerial images of Breiðamerkurjökull glacial tongue taken in 1989 (top) and 2019 (bottom)

News 8 November 2019

Drones Capture Iceland’s Shrinking Glaciers

Photographs of Iceland’s southern glaciers show pools of water where walls of ice once stood.

Biogeosciences

News 5 November 2019

We Have Broken Nature into More Than 990,000 Little Pieces

Habitat fragmentation is splintering undeveloped areas on Earth.

1 Comment

Geohealth

News 24 October 2019

Brazil’s Oil Spill Is a Mystery, so Scientists Try Oil Forensics

Thousands of barrels of oil have been tarring Brazil’s beaches since September, and no one knows why. An oil spill scientist is running oil forensics to find out.

Geology & Geophysics