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Climate Change

It’s shocking how many everyday inventions we use without acknowledging the inventors that helped bring them to us.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

Five Women Inventors You Didn’t Learn About in History Class

These innovators pioneered word processing, launched Americans into space and more

A vessel nears the commercial wind farm 3.8 miles off the coast of Block Island.

Planet Positive

This Historic Community Is Pushing the Nation Toward a Wind Power Revolution

Block Island, off the New England coast, overcame political strife to lead the way on energy independence

When corals are stressed, they will expel their algal partner in a process called coral bleaching.

Mass Coral Bleaching Hits Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

Unusually warm waters are stressing sensitive corals, causing the fourth major bleaching event in the last seven years

Eileen McSaveney (left) and Terry Tickhill (right) use a hand augur to drill Lake Vanda, Wright Valley, Antarctica, during the 1969-1970 field season. Water collected during this effort was used to date the lake.

Ten Pioneering Women of Antarctica and the Places Named for Them

These coves, peaks, glaciers and other landmarks honor female explorers and scientists who have contributed to our understanding of the continent

Under the proposed rules, companies would need to divulge climate-related risks that are likely to impact the business.

SEC Proposes New Climate Change Disclosures for Companies

The proposal passed on a 3–1 vote, and the public will now have around 60 days to submit comments

Reservoirs like Lake Powell are falling to record-low water levels due to years of persistent drought.

The West Coast Should Brace for Spring Megadrought, NOAA Warns

More than half of the United States is likely to struggle with limited water supply and increased risk of wildfires in the coming months

Flamingos in the Atacama region of Chile

Mining Lithium for Electric Vehicle Batteries May Threaten Flamingos, a Study Finds

A lake in Chile has seen decreases in two flamingo populations over the last 11 years, which researchers link to lithium mining

Red pandas are classified as endangered and are legally protected in their home countries.

Before Seeing ‘Turning Red,’ Learn These Amazing Red Panda Facts

Delight your friends with these eight surprising details about the furry creatures

To better understand how hypoxia—dangerously low oxygen levels—affects crabs, researchers and fishers are working together to find a way to adjust to changing conditions in the northeast Pacific Ocean.

A New Tool May Help Crab Fishers Sidestep Dead Zones

Low-cost sensors that fit into crab pots could provide real-time data on oxygen fluctuations in the ocean

A view of Teotihuacan, San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico

Here Are the World’s 25 Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites

The World Monument Fund’s list includes sites in the Maldives, Pakistan, the United States and elsewhere, but was finalized before the war in Ukraine

Wildfires blazed through Big Sur in January 2022.

We Are Changing Climate Faster Than We Can Adapt, New IPCC Report Warns

Despite the ‘irreversible’ impacts of a warming planet, scientists emphasize there is still time to act

Browntail moth caterpillars have small hairs that can cause a poison ivy-like rash and difficulty breathing in humans.

Rash-Causing Moths Are Spreading in Maine Because of Climate Change

The outbreak of browntail moths in the state will likely grow worse as temperatures increase, researchers say

Artist rendering of a solar canal system for California.

California Is About to Test Its First Solar Canals

The innovative project is a win for water, energy, air and climate

The bat falcon in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Alamo, Texas

Bat Falcon Is Spotted for the First Time in the United States

Why the bird ventured so far north is a mystery, but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service says the raptor’s range seems to be expanding

Several Gulf Coast cities including Pensacola, Florida suffered flooding from storm surges and heavy rainfall during Hurricane Sally in September 2020.

Sea Levels Will Rise One Foot Along U.S. Coasts by 2050

Some regions could see as much as seven feet of sea level rise by the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t curbed

Antarctic pearlwort (pictured) , grew and spread five times faster between 2009 and 2018 than growth rates observed between 1960 and 2009  

Warming Temperatures Are Turning Antarctica Green

Native flowering plant species grew faster and more densely in the last decade than in the previous 50 years combined

Lichens produce oxygen, trap moisture, and serve as food and shelter to other organisms.

Lichens Are in an Evolutionary Race Against Climate Change

The symbiotic organisms could need more than a million years to adapt to just 1 degree Celsius of warming, a new study suggests

The American West’s megadrought has been exacerbated by human-caused climate change. It is likely to continue for at least another year.

The Western U.S. Is Experiencing the Worst Drought in More Than 1,200 Years

Human-caused climate change is responsible for 42 percent of the soil moisture deficit in the last 22 years, a new study finds

A partial woolly rhinoceros mandible with several teeth still attached.

Cool Finds

Dozens of Extinct Ice Age Animal Remains Found During Construction of a New Town in England

Archeologists found bones from a woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wolf, hyena, horse, reindeer, mountain hare, red fox and various small mammals

Gentoo penguins may become more numerous in parts of Antarctica that were once too icy for the temperate birds. 

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Farther South Than Normal

As the climate warms, gentoo penguins are expanding to habitats that were previously too icy for them to raise chicks

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