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Weather

The annual Woolly Worm Festival is a fiercely popular local event that’s been going on for nearly half a century.

Groundhogs Are Old News. In This Tiny Town, Caterpillars Predict the Weather

Thousands of people flocked to Banner Elk, North Carolina, this year to watch the nation’s biggest woolly worm caterpillar race

A shot of Hurricane Ian, taken from the International Space Station on September 28, 2022

Atlantic Hurricanes Are Getting More Dangerous, More Quickly

If such changes are in response to climate change, the future may feature more sudden, daunting storms

Boats got stuck on Lake Titicaca's dried bed in September in Huarina, Bolivia, due to drought.

This September Was the Earth’s Hottest on Record

The scorching month follows the hottest June, July and August in recorded human history

The gash that sank the Huronton in 1923 is still visible.

Cool Finds

100-Year-Old Shipwreck Discovered 800 Feet Below Lake Superior

The “Huronton” sank after colliding with a larger ship amid heavy fog and smoke in October 1923

Researchers are still trying to confirm the cause of death, but they suspect the high water temperatures are to blame.

At Least 125 River Dolphins Have Died Amid Drought and Heat in Brazilian Amazon

Though the pink animals’ cause of death is not confirmed, temperatures in the remote Lake Tefé reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit in late September

Five flamingos—three adults and two juveniles—hung out for a few hours along the shore of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. One is not pictured here.

Flamingos Spotted in Wisconsin for First Time on Record Amid String of Rare Appearances

Following Hurricane Idalia, the conspicuous pink birds have been sighted in at least 11 states where they don’t typically live

An advertisement for California citrus, circa 1920

When California and Florida Attracted Settlers With Promises of a Perfect Climate

Today, they rank at the top of lists of U.S. states most at risk from climate change

The map's predictions for the 2023 leaf-peeping season

See When Brilliant Fall Foliage Will Peak With This Interactive Map

The tool’s county-by-county predictions will help you plan the best leaf-peeping trips

So far, volunteers have counted roughly 75 newly revealed footprints.

Drought Reveals 113-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks in Texas

The footprints are normally submerged under the water and silt of the Paluxy River, part of which has dried up this summer

A vehicle stuck on the shoulder of a road near Mayo, Florida, as Hurricane Idalia crosses the state.

Hurricane Idalia Hits Florida Amid Projected ‘Above-Normal’ Storm Season

The hurricane is the strongest to strike the state’s Big Bend area in about 125 years

An X-ray microcomputed tomography scan of a male Eucera bee mummified inside a cocoon.

Paleontologists Discover Mummified Bees Preserved in Their Cocoons for 3,000 Years

Some kind of “catastrophic” event, such as a sudden freeze or flood, likely killed all the young adult bees at once, according to a new study

Hilary hits Cabo San Lucas in Baja California State, Mexico. 

Tropical Storm Hilary Makes Landfall

The National Hurricane Center downgraded Hilary to a post-tropical storm, though it warned of continued life-threatening and locally catastrophic flooding

Skull of Homo erectus from the Republic of Georgia

An Extreme Ice Age May Have Wiped Out Europe’s Earliest Humans 1.1 Million Years Ago

New research suggests the continent was devoid of hominins for about 200,000 years after a previously unknown cold snap

An aerial image of the banyan tree taken on August 10, 2023

Will Maui’s Beloved 150-Year-Old Banyan Tree Survive the Scorching Wildfires?

Amidst the devastation of Lahaina, a coastal town in Maui, the tree is burned but still standing

Satellite imagery shows the destruction wildfires have caused in the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.

Deadly Maui Wildfires Raze Landscape, Destroy Historic Coastal Town

At least 36 people have been reported dead and thousands were displaced by the fast-moving flames that ignited on Tuesday

Firefighters have observed fire whirls on the north side of the York Fire.

Spinning ‘Fire Whirls’ Tear Through the Mojave Desert Amid California’s Largest Wildfire This Year

The dangerous columns of fire can rapidly change direction and spread embers over long distances

A diver swims around a coral reef in Key West, Florida, on July 14, 2023. Coral reefs in the Florida Keys are at risk of bleaching and death because of very hot water temperatures this summer.

Water Temperatures Hit ‘Hot Tub’ Levels in the Florida Keys

A buoy in Manatee Bay recorded 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit on Monday evening, as coral reefs suffer

Researchers say that as climate change melts ice in Greenland, the influx of cool freshwater could weaken a network of ocean currents that affects Earth's weather.

A Vital Ocean Current System Could Collapse as Soon as 2025, Study Predicts

Climate change could halt the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation sooner than thought, per a new paper, but some scientists are skeptical

Water submerged electrical wiring and outlets, leading to the evacuation of the pop-up galleries.

Rainstorm Floods Exhibition Featuring Picasso, Matisse and More

New York’s Hamptons Fine Arts Fair was battered by a summer storm, prompting an evacuation as water soaked the floors

The sun sets during a record heat wave in Tempe, Arizona, on July 18, 2023.

From Japan to Louisiana to Rome, Here Are Ten Heat Records Earth Has Broken Since June

As the planet clocks the warmest June ever, here’s a list of temperature marks that fell this summer

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