Archive for November 2022
Where Mauna Loa’s lava is coming from – and why Hawaii’s volcanoes are different from most
Magma fountains through a fissure on Mauna Loa, becoming lava, on Nov. 30, 2022. K. Mulliken/USGS Hawaii’s Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, began sending up fountains of glowing rock and spilling lava from fissures as its first eruption in nearly four decades began on Nov. 27, 2022. Where does that molten rock come…
Read MoreBeware of ‘Shark Week’: Scientists watched 202 episodes and found them filled with junk science, misinformation and white male ‘experts’ named Mike
Hammerhead sharks schooling near Costa Rica’s Cocos Island. John Voo/Flickr, CC BY The Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week is the longest-running cable television series in history, filling screens with sharky content every summer since 1988. It causes one of the largest temporary increases in U.S. viewers’ attention to any science or conservation topic. It’s also…
Read MoreEven weak tropical cyclones have grown more intense worldwide – we tracked 30 years of them using currents
Hurricane Nicole was a Category 1 storm, but it caused extensive damage to Florida in 2022. Lauren Dauphin/NASA Earth Observatory Tropical cyclones have been growing stronger worldwide over the past 30 years, and not just the big ones that you hear about. Our new research finds that weak tropical cyclones have gotten at least 15%…
Read MoreIs China ready to lead on protecting nature? At the upcoming UN biodiversity conference, it will preside and set the tone
Four Père David’s deer (_Elaphurus davidianus_), also known as milu deer, on a wetland near the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve in Jiangsu Province, China. He Jinghua/VCG via Getty Images As the world parses what was achieved at the U.N. climate change conference in Egypt, negotiators are convening in Montreal to set goals for curbing…
Read MoreWe’re decoding ancient hurricanes’ traces on the sea floor – and evidence from millennia of Atlantic storms is not good news for the coast
Deep ‘blue holes,’ like this one off Belize, can collect evidence of hurricanes. The TerraMar Project, CC BY If you look back at the history of Atlantic hurricanes since the late 1800s, it might seem hurricane frequency is on the rise. The year 2020 had the most tropical cyclones in the Atlantic, with 31, and…
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