Category: Environment

An annotated map of the US showing notable climate events that occurred across the country during March 2019 (NOAA NCEI)

US Experienced Coldest First Quarter in Five Years

Environment

4/15/2019 - The so-called bomb cyclone that brought heavy snow, blizzard conditions and major flooding to the Midwest in March landed with a resounding meteorological "ka-boom!" and became one of two billion-dollar weather and climate disasters this year. The other was a severe storm that struck the Northeast, Southeast and Ohio Valley… SEE MORE

bomb cyclone

Homann Heirs Solar System Astronomical Chart

Myth-Busting the Tide

Environment

4/3/2019 - By Jonathan White author of Tides: The Science and Spirit of the Ocean Myths about tides abound. I gave a talk last year for a science series in my hometown, and during the Q and A, a man who I knew was an accomplished physicist asked why the tides were… SEE MORE

tides

A small airborne campaign has been monitoring glacial changes since 2009

A Decade of Exploring Alaska’s Mountain Glaciers

Environment

4/1/2019 - By Maria Jose Vinas ALASKA - In Alaska, 5 percent of the land is covered by glaciers that are losing a lot of ice and contributing to sea level rise. To monitor these changes, a small team of NASA-funded researchers has been flying scientific instruments on a bright red, single-engine… SEE MORE

Migrating Blue Whales Rely on Memory More than Environmental Cues to Find Prey

Environment

3/25/2019 - Oregon State University - Blue whales reach their massive size by relying on their exceptional memories to find historically productive feeding sites rather than responding in real time to emerging prey patches, a new study concludes. Researchers examining records of both whale migration and oceanic conditions in the California Current… SEE MORE

The Billion Oyster Project returning oyster shells back into New York Harbor

Cleaning New York Harbor with One Billion Oysters

Environment

3/24/2019 - By Jackie Wattles The New York Harbor for years has been polluted and depleted of marine life. But one nonprofit is working to clean the murky water and revive its long-lost ecosystem — one oyster at a time. The Billion Oyster Project has worked since 2014 to rebuild oyster reefs… SEE MORE

The view of the rising Earth as seen from Apollo 8

The Moon May be a Great Place to Make Water

Environment

3/22/2019 - By Marshall Shepherd World Water Day is March 22nd, 2019, and the theme is "leave no one behind." In 2010, the United Nations (UN) established that access to water is a human right. Billions of people still live without safe drinking water, particularly marginalized groups around the world. Water is… SEE MORE

The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath, Scientists Warn

Environment

3/20/2019 - By Laura Poppick Escaping predators, digestion and other animal activities—including those of humans—require oxygen. But that essential ingredient is no longer so easy for marine life to obtain, several new studies reveal. In the past decade ocean oxygen levels have taken a dive—an alarming trend that is linked to climate… SEE MORE

The final supermoon of 2019 is expected to contribute to king tides

March King Tides to be Fueled by Pull of the Supermoon

Environment

3/20/2019 - By Alex Sosnowski The final supermoon of 2019 will contribute to king tides and the potential for minor coastal flooding in areas prone to high water issues in the United States this week. During the full moon, the Earth, sun and the moon are in close alignment. This pulls on… SEE MORE

Right whale researchers heading out for the day

A Day in the Life of a Right Whale Researcher

Environment

3/16/2019 - By Jason Gray Jason Gray, a member of the New England Aquarium Development Team, took a trip up to Lubec, Maine, to see what it’s like to be an Anderson Cabot Center right whale researcher during field season. The knock on the door comes at 5 a.m. “Good to go!”… SEE MORE

Is Your Sunscreen Killing Coral Reefs?

Environment

3/13/2019 - By Dobrina Zhekova The next time you take a dip in the warm waters of the Caribbean or Hawaii, think about this: you aren't just swimming in seawater. There may also be as many as 82,000 kinds of chemicals from personal care products that have made their way into the… SEE MORE