Forest fires can occur naturally, but in the world's largest rain forest, fire can signal large-scale deforestation.
Hazards & Disasters
Posted inNews
Pinpointing the Trigger Behind Yellowstone's Last Supereruption
Geologists suggest that mixing of magma melt pockets could have caused the explosion a little more than 600,000 years ago.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Wave Gliding in the Eye of the Storm
Scientists use a new remote-controlled robot to capture data from the middle of an open ocean typhoon.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Oil Residues Accelerate Coastal Wetland Losses
Coastal wetland loss after an oil spill can be more extensive than after a hurricane.
Posted inNews
It’s Not Just Fracking: New Database of Human-Induced Quakes
In the largest compilation of anthropogenically induced earthquakes, causes range from building water reservoirs to mining.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Tracking Trends in U.S. Flood Risk
As floods become more frequent around the globe, scientists work to pinpoint what puts certain regions at risk.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Source Properties of Deep Earthquakes
A global review of earthquake rupture parameters reveals that deep earthquakes have larger fracture energies and may have different rupture mechanisms than shallower seismic events.
Posted inNews
Tracking Global Change with a Cloud-Based Living Atlas
With their feet in the cloud, Descartes Labs is pushing the limit of how we study the Earth with satellite images.
Posted inNews
Can Data Extracted from Twitter Help Map Flood Hazards?
Tweets, if scrutinized closely, may allow scientists to map hazards in real time, helping to guide emergency response.
Posted inNews
Soil Bacteria Could Help Absorb Natural Gas Leaks
For the first time, new research examines the response of terrestrial soil microbes to a massive natural gas blowout and offers hope for new remediation strategies.