Arctic beavers are following their instincts and, in the process, accelerating the rate of Arctic permafrost melt and carbon release.
Science
Missing Oxygen
Unanswered questions about missing oxygen during the 1.4 billion years between the first hints of free oxygen and the Great Oxidation Event.
Banded Iron Formations
Banded iron formations are direct indicators of oceanic oxygen levels, and they provide us with a record of Earth’s oxygenation.
Floating Homes
The concept of floating homes has been taken to a new level as countries adapt to the reality of rising seas.
Underground Fires
The escaping exhaust fumes from underground fires deliver a constant stream of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, and the fires have proven almost impossible to extinguish.
Life Takes Another Leap Forward
A billion years passed between the first free oxygen production and Earth’s Great Oxygenation Event. What was going on over this vast stretch of time?
A Blue-Green Revolution
The first organisms to master photosynthesis were cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. These lowly bacteria started the blue-green revolution.
Creeping Landslides Threaten Alaskan Highway
Some stories are too quirky to ignore, and we must reap what we sow. The activation of zombie landslides in Alaska is a direct result of global climate change.
The Rise and Fall of a Chemosynthetic Empire
Early life wasn’t much to look at — single-cell, chemosynthetic creatures and ancestorial viruses floating in chemical-rich, primordial oceans. It wasn’t pretty, but it was a start.
The Cost of Flooding We All Pay For
The cost of flooding in the USA is high. We’ve seen it, and we constantly read about it in the news. A recent survey of flood risk for commercial real estate is not encouraging.