Climate Change

A moose in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve.

Minnesota’s Moose Are Missing, And No One Really Knows Why

Disease? Warm summers? No one knows for sure what is leading to the moose's decline in this state

How to Sleep Like Salvador Dali

Dali felt as though sleep was a waste of time (so did Edison, and many other influential people) but science suggests that sleep is pretty important

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The Iditarod Is Being Threatened by Warm Temperatures

A lack of snow is affecting the annual Iditarod sled dog race

Earthworms Could Make Climate Change Worse

While earthworms benefit soils, they do play a significant role in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide - though not nearly as great as humans, of course

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Scientists See Insect Outbreaks From Space

A new tool uses satellite imagery to help researchers track small disturbances such as bug infestations, which may increase in scope as climate changes

Methane gas has impacted our atmosphere since the Romans.

Air Pollution Has Been a Problem Since the Days of Ancient Rome

By testing ice cores in Greenland, scientists can look back at environmental data from millennia past

Melting sea ice is a threat to many Arctic species, including polar bears.

How Climate Change Affects the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough looks at how our scientists are studying our changing climate

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Urban Heat Islands Can Alter Temperatures Thousands of Miles Away From a City

Ambient heat produced by a city's buildings and cars often gets lifted into the jet stream and affects temperatures in places thousands of miles away

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Scientists Dismiss Geo-Engineering as a Global Warming Quick Fix

A new study shows that dispersing minerals into oceans to stem climate change would be an inefficient and impractical process

Here’s Why It Is Really, Really Cold Out

Blame this increasingly-common form of Arctic circulation for today's frigid weather

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Plants Flower Nearly a Month Earlier Than They Did A Century Ago

In 2012, many plants in the eastern U.S. flowered earlier than in any other year on record

Coal-fired stoves are a major source of black carbon.

Black Carbon May Contribute Almost as Much as Carbon Dioxide to Global Warming

Black carbon's role in driving warming is much higher than previously thought

The unmanned Global Hawk will conduct NASA’s first climate change research in the stratosphere.

NASA Drones to Study Stratosphere for Climate Change Clues

On Friday, the agency will send an unmanned aircraft 65,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean to gather data for use in climate change modeling

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Round Three: Drills vs. Insanely Thick Antarctic Ice. Fight!

The hunt for microbial life in Antarctic subglacial lakes continues. Now it's the American's turn

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Scorchingly Hot 2012 Riddled With Extreme Weather

Drought, heatwaves, cyclones--even a tornado in Hawaii--mark last year as one filled with record-breaking severe weather

Small red boring sponges embedded in star coral, killing the coral polyps immediately surrounding them.

Drill, Baby, Drill: Sponges Bore Into Shells Twice as Fast in Acidic Seawater

In acidic water, drilling sponges damage scallops twice as quickly, worsening the effects of ocean acidification

The ongoing fires as seen by astronaut Chris Hadfield

Australia is Burning, And It’s Only Going to Get Worse as the World Warms

Across Australia wildfires are raging. And yes, there is a climate connection

Coral from the Northern Line Islands reveals a link between climate change and El Niño.

Is Climate Change Strengthening El Niño?

New research on Pacific corals that trace climate patterns back 7,000 years shows how recent El Niños compare with those of the past

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There Goes the Ecosystem: Alien Animals Invade Antarctica

Humanity is well on its way to screwing up Antarctic and the Southern Ocean in addition to the warmer corners of the world

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What Is the Anthropocene and Are We in It?

Efforts to label the human epoch have ignited a scientific debate between geologists and environmentalists

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