With Democrats controlling the House of Representatives beginning in January, advocates see an opportunity to try to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil and gas development.
News
Jean O’Brien Dickey (1945–2018)
This pioneer in space geodesy started as a particle physicist and went on to unravel relationships between Earth’s rotation and climate processes.
Enormous Impact Crater Spotted in Greenland Under Glacial Ice
Ice-penetrating radar revealed a 31-kilometer impact crater—one of the world’s largest—in northwestern Greenland that might have been formed fewer than 20,000 years ago.
Fish Continued to Spawn as Hurricane Harvey Swirled Overhead
Spotted seatrout, one of the most popular fish to catch on the shores of Texas, carried on their nightly baby-making ritual despite the havoc of a category 4 storm above.
Black Carbon Not the Primary Cause of Historic Glacial Retreat
Ice cores and glacial records reveal that European glaciers retreated before the rise of industrialization in the 1870s, suggesting that soot deposition did not primarily drive the shift.
World off Course to Meet Emissions Reduction Goals
A new energy report shows a disconnect between scientific research targets and what is happening in the energy markets.
Atacama Desert’s Unprecedented Rains Are Lethal to Microbes
Rainfall in the driest parts of Chile’s Atacama Desert in 2017 resulted in hypersaline lagoons that killed the majority of microbes adapted to millions of years of arid conditions.
The Many Unknown Facets of Plastics in Ecosystems
Few studies have examined lakes or wide swaths of ocean areas, leaving critical data gaps in how plastic pollution affects wildlife and moves across food webs.
Election Results Offer Hope for Climate Action
The Democrats’ control of the House of Representatives promises to provide checks and balances on the Trump administration, environmental leaders say.
Could Life Be Floating in Venus’s Clouds?
If present, microbes could explain evolving patterns in the planet’s atmosphere when observed in ultraviolet light.