Earth Had Its Second Warmest Year in Recorded History in 2019
The six warmest years in recorded history have been the past six: 2014–2019
Latest Stories
Mysterious, Dusty Objects Are Swarming the Milky Way’s Core
Swirling around our galaxy’s central supermassive black hole, these objects share properties with both stars and gas clouds
Democratic Candidates Agree on Climate Change, Except for Role of Natural Gas
Whether to allow fracking and the use of natural gas as a transition fuel emerged as a rare point of contention in last night’s debate
Should We Alter the Human Genome? Let Democracy Decide
We need greater scientific and moral clarity on germ line editing
Can We Predict Earthquakes At All?
If we can predict hurricanes, floods, and tornados to differing degrees of reliability, why don’t we know when the next big earthquake will come?
Paleontologists Dig Into a Giant Sloth Boneyard
Ancient drought and unfortunate bathroom habits may have doomed some ice age sloths
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods: A New Climate-Related Threat from Above
As the climate changes and glaciers melt, a lesser-known threat lurks in alpine areas: glacial lake outburst floods. These events happen rapidly, releasing huge amounts of water with little or no warning...
Tunnels Would Be Cheaper than Police
Originally published in December 1868
Will Taal Volcano Explosively Erupt? Here’s What Scientists Are Watching
The seismic rumblings of the Philippines’ second most active volcano hold clues to what it might do
Bacteria Helped Plants Evolve to Live on Land
Soil bacteria may have taken residence in early algal species, gifting the algae with the ability to withstand drier conditions on land. Annie Sneed reports.
