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A World Without Clouds
A state-of-the-art supercomputer simulation indicates that a feedback loop between global warming and cloud loss can push Earth’s climate past a disastrous tipping point in as little as a century.
How Nearby Stellar Explosions Could Have Killed Off Large Animals
Subatomic particles called muons are thought to have streamed through the atmosphere and irradiated megafauna like the monster shark megalodon.
Forests Emerge as a Major Overlooked Climate Factor
New work at the intersection of atmospheric science and ecology is finding that forests can influence rainfall and climate from across a continent.
Cores From Coral Reefs Hold Secrets of the Seas’ Past and Future
Layered deposits of coral skeletons hold vast stores of environmental data from thousands of years ago, including annual records of ocean temperatures, water pollution and storm activity.
A Thermodynamic Answer to Why Birds Migrate
New modeling studies suggest that birds migrate to strike a favorable balance between their input and output of energy.
Below Our Feet, a World of Hidden Life
The soil teems with billions of hidden microbes. Researchers have begun to catalog how these organisms are changing the world.
A ‘Rebel’ Without a Ph.D.
A conversation with the mathematical physicist Freeman Dyson on quantum electrodynamics, climate change and his latest pet project.
The Ocean’s Dynamic Role in Climate Change
New data collected by mathematicians and oceanographers in the frigid waters of the Southern Ocean could dramatically improve climate models.
In Mysterious Pattern, Math and Nature Converge
All complex correlated systems, from Arctic melt ponds to the Internet, appear to be governed by the same math as a random matrix.