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Weather

Falling stars as seen on a balloon journey in pioneering aeronaut James Glaisher's book Travels in the Air. A record-setting balloon flight manned by Glaisher is the subject of the new movie The Aeronauts.

Based on a True Story

The True History of the Aeronauts Who Transformed Our View of the World Above

For early balloonists like James Glaisher, the sky was uncharted—and dangerous—territory

Mercury-Laden Fog May Be Poisoning California’s Mountain Lions

A new study has found that pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains display higher mercury levels than big cats in inland regions

Jupiter and its Great Red Spot as seen by the Hubble Telescope on June 27, 2019.

New Research

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot May Not Be Dying Out Just Yet

Earlier this year, the spot appeared to be losing big chunks, but new research suggests it was gobbling up a smaller storm

A New Yorker captured this image of a flooded subway entrance on November 20.

How the New York City Subway Is Preparing for Climate Change

“We’re doing this because climate change is real,” the MTA account wrote on Twitter after a local shared a snapshot of a flooded subway entrance

Two cows photographed in 2017 on Cedar Island. Three cows, not pictured, were found later following Hurricane Dorian.

Three Cows Swept Away by Hurricane Dorian Have Been Found Alive

Officials think the brave bovines swam between four and five miles to the Cape Lookout National Seashore

A general view shows the flooded St. Mark's Square, the Doge's Palace (L), the Lion of St. Mark winged bronze statue and the Venetian lagoon after an exceptional overnight "Alta Acqua" high tide water level, on November 13, 2019 in Venice.

Venice Declares State of Emergency as City Battles Worst Floods in 50 Years

The Italian city’s high-water mark reached 74 inches on Tuesday

More than 60 bushfires destroyed 200 homes in Australia.

Australia Is Battling ‘Catastrophic’ Bushfires

‘I’ve been in this industry for 40 years and I have not seen a scenario like this before,’ one fire official said

Summer snowpack at Zackenberg in 2018.

New Research

Extreme Snowfall Prevented Arctic Species From Breeding Last Year

Snow coverage persisted through late July, which prevented plants, insects and birds from reproducing normally

Trending Today

Record-Breaking Storm Dumps Four Feet of Snow on Parts of Montana

The September storm broke snowfall and temperature records across several states

The spider species featured in the study is unusually social, living in colonies of several hundred females and exhibiting either aggressive or docile tendencies

Hurricanes Are Making This Spider Species More Aggressive

The new findings have broader implications for understanding extreme weather events’ effects on animal behavior

Trending Today

Rare Lightning Strikes Detected 300 Miles From North Pole

Cool temps, low moisture and a stable atmosphere usually prevent thunderstorms from developing in the Arctic

Former U.S. ambassador to Canada David Jacobson visits Alert on a much cooler day in 2010.

Trending Today

The World’s Northernmost Permanent Settlement Set a Record High Temperature

The military installation of Alert on Ellesmere Island, 600 miles from the North Pole, hit 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit last week

July rolled in with a blaze, but that didn't smoke out Independence day spirit.

For the First Time Ever, Temperatures Reached 90 Degrees in Anchorage

Alaska is not a stranger to sweaty summer days, but climate scientists are nevertheless concerned about the recent heatwave

Catastrophic disasters like the pair of cyclones that devastated Mozambique earlier this year, seen here, can over shadow more commonplace, smaller-scale events, including intense heatwaves, storms and flooding.

One Climate Crisis Disaster Occurs Every Week, U.N. Official Warns

Governments should prioritize ‘adaptation and resilience’ measures designed to curb the effects of ongoing lower-impact climate events, experts say

These "before" (May 31, 2018) and "after" (June 19, 2019) images illustrate the Indian city's dire water shortage

Satellite Images Reveal the Extent of Chennai’s Water Shortage

Poor management, groundwater overuse and climate change-driven weather shifts are among the factors driving the crisis

Although the saying, "it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk," has been a common expression for over a century, it likely has never actually been hot enough to cook an egg on pavement.

Attempting to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk Has Been a Summer Pastime for Over 100 Years

The Fourth of July is also National Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk Day, and no amount of scientific logic can crack this tradition

Reports of super nest this year started coming early in May. Experts have counted four so far sparking concerns that Alabama could be gearing up for another summer like 2006, when more than 90 super nests were recorded. (Photo taken in 2006.)

Alabamians, Beware the Wasp ‘Super Nest’

Having survived an unusually mild winter, yellow jacket wasps are building huge nests, sometimes in human spaces

Cool Finds

A 10-Mile-Wide Ladybug Swarm Buzzed Over San Diego

At first, meteorologists thought the shadow on the radar was a storm. But this cloud didn’t bring rain

People enjoy a hot afternoon at the Astoria Pool in the borough of Queens on August 17, 2015, in New York City.

New Research

Heat Waves Could Kill Thousands of People in U.S. Cities if Climate Goals Aren’t Met

A new study calculates that as temperatures increase, up to 5,800 people will die in New York and 2,400 in L.A. during the hottest years

Megacities tend to have up to 10 percent more cloud cover than surrounding rural areas

Megacities Like Paris and London Can Produce Their Own Clouds

The phenomenon appears to be linked with the vast amount of heat produced by urban centers

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