Category: Earth

USGS Decadal Change in Groundwater Quality program map showing how concentrations of pesticides, nutrients, metals, and organic contaminants in groundwater are changing during decadal periods across the United States. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) have been monitoring groundwater quality in wells across the country for more than three decades,…

Stunning image of the Moon’s shadow cast on Earth during the annular eclipse on October 14, 2023. This image was captured by NASA’s EPIC imager aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory, a satellite located at Lagrange Point 1. As the Moon crossed between the Sun and Earth during the 2023 annular solar eclipse, its shadow…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Research shows that over 4,800 years in the Northern Rockies during wet periods and dry periods, subalpine forests consistently recovered from wildfires, growing back vegetation and leaving evidence of their resilience in lake sediment cores. Kyra Clark-Wolf, now a CU Boulder postdoc with the North Central Climate Adaptation Center (NC CASC),…

In 2023, rising sea temperatures, amplified by human activities and El Niño, threatened coral reefs, especially around Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Satellite data indicated high risks of coral bleaching and mortality in these regions by mid-October. The seas around Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas saw large accumulations of heat stress beginning in summer 2023,…

Greenland is dotted with frozen meltwater lakes such as the one above, photographed during a NASA expedition in 2012. UCI Earth system scientists led a study into the role of warm, dry, downslope winds in accelerating thawing of the Greenland ice sheet. As part of the same project, the researchers found a contrasting outcome at…

Mosaics in Science intern Whitney Wyche pictured next to the equipment she used to measure the changing acoustic environment in Glacier National Park. Credit: Whitney Wyche From the eerie echo of a bugling elk to the gentle swoosh of water lapping against a stony shore, a unique combination of sounds helps distinguish each national park.…

Illustration of the GHG exchange modeling for the Finnish drained peatland forests in this study by using the MELA forest simulator, the hydrological SpaFHy-peat model, the Yasso07 soil carbon model and empirical models. The green boxes indicate vegetation related modeling and element fluxes, while the orange boxes indicate drivers for the hydrological model. The black…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Despite steps toward decreasing deforestation, uncontrolled wildfires are threatening environmental gains in Brazilian Amazonia, one of the world’s most critical carbon sinks and a region of high biological and cultural diversity. An international team of scientists are raising the alarm in a letter published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. “Increasing wildfires……

The vast expanse of the United States is replete with captivating landscapes and features. Islands, especially, hold a unique allure. From the tropical ambiance of Hawaii to the rugged terrains of Alaska, American islands paint a vivid picture of nature’s marvels. Let’s embark on a journey through science and geography as we explore the five…

Satellite image of fall colors blanketing Kodiak Island captured on October 3, 2023, by the Operational Land Imager-2 on Landsat 9. The Alaskan tundra puts on a fleeting display of color before the snows fall and bears hibernate. As summer turns to fall in Alaska, days of abundant sunlight give way to rapidly encroaching darkness.…