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Science / Our Planet

A natural gas flare burns over a fracking site in the Bakken Oil Fields of northwestern North Dakota.

Anthropocene

Recession, Not Fracking, Drove a Drop in U.S. Carbon Emissions

The switch from coal to natural gas played only a small role in the recent carbon dioxide decline

EJSCREEN overlays demographic data with EPA pollution data.

The EPA Has a New Tool For Mapping Where Pollution and Poverty Intersect

To better target its efforts, the agency is identifying problem areas, where people are facing undue environmental risks

Flames and smoke cover the hillsides near Yucca Valley in California during a June wildfire.

Anthropocene

Wildfires Are Happening More Often and in More Places

Average fire season length has increased by nearly a fifth in the last 35 years, and the area impacted has doubled

Not all water is easy to see.

Anthropocene

How Can We Keep Track of Earth’s Invisible Water?

This week’s episode of Generation Anthropocene goes on a deep dive into some of the planet’s more mysterious water sources

Lake Jökulsárlón shimmers with the reflection of a magnificent iceberg. This lake, located at the edge of Vatnajökull, Iceland’s largest ice cap, formed slowly when part of the glacier began to recede in the 1920s. The glacier continues to calve (split), releasing more icebergs into the expanding lake.

A New Photo Exhibition Depicts Just How Dramatic Mother Earth Can Be

Iceland, the land of fire and ice, brings vivid focus to the raw power of a geophysically active Earth

Ash and aerosols pour out of the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland in 2010.

Anthropocene

Sixth-Century Misery Tied to Not One, But Two, Volcanic Eruptions

The ancient event is just one among hundreds of times volcanoes have affected climate over the past 2,500 years

The world as we knew it.

Anthropocene

How Geography Shaped Societies, From Neanderthals to iPhones

This weeks’ episode of Generation Anthropocene discusses efforts to quantify social development and the cultural retention of the Navajo

The Yampa River in Dinosaur National Monument

Twenty of the West’s Leading Water Managers Raft Colorado’s Yampa River

In a historic drought, a group of decision makers take to the water to discuss the future of rivers

Our dynamic home.

Anthropocene

The Top Five Conversations About Earth in the Age of Humans

The Generation Anthropocene podcast brings you stories from the front lines of Earth science, history and philosophy

14 Fun Facts About Marine Bristle Worms

In honor of the first ever International Polychaete Day, learn about the bristly worms that are everywhere in the ocean

Water, water, everywhere …

Anthropocene

Here’s How U.S. Groundwater Travels the Globe Via Food

Major aquifers are being drained for agricultural use, which means the water moves around in some surprising ways

The aptly named elegant tern.

Anthropocene

Warming and Overfishing Sent Seabirds Flocking to California

Mexico’s elegant terns have begun nesting farther north in years when their traditional food is scarce

Ask Smithsonian: Why Does Rain Have A Distinctive Smell?

Summertime humidity—and our own memories—help create the conditions for how we perceive the sharp, fresh odor of a rain storm

Previous analysis of the Kennewick Man's skull suggested that he might be closely related to Asian populations and Polynesians. But new genetic analysis indicates his ancestral roots are in the Americas.

New Research

Genome Analysis Links Kennewick Man to Native Americans

Ancient DNA sequenced from the skeleton adds to the controversy over the individual’s ancestry

A village nestled inside the Brazilian Amazon.

Anthropocene

Protecting Land in Brazil Reduces Malaria and Other Diseases

Areas under strict protection see the most benefit in shielding people from illness and infection

Anthropocene

Earth’s Oxygen Levels Can Affect Its Climate

Models of past eras show that oxygen can influence global temperature and humidity as its concentration changes

The NOAA ship R/V Roger Revelle collects climate data in the Antarctic in 2008.

Anthropocene

There Is No Global Warming Hiatus After All

Improved data and better analysis methods find no slowdown in the pace of global temperature rise, NOAA scientists report

The dusty white rock of the Las Vegas Formation, near the edge of Tule Springs National Monument, bakes in the midday heat.

Urban Explorations

Discover a Fossil Jackpot Off the Las Vegas Strip

Remains of mammoths, camels and other beasts of the Ice Age tempt visitors out of Sin City and into Tule Springs National Monument

An astronaut snapped this picture of Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, in November 2013.

Anthropocene

Warmer Waters Are Making Pacific Typhoons Stronger

Decades of storm data show that tropical cyclones in the Pacific are getting more intense as ocean temperatures rise

The famed snow-covered church in Kiruna.

Instead of Being Swallowed by a Mine, This Arctic Town is Moving

The people of Kiruna are moving their entire town brick-by-brick

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