Planet Earth

All

Articles

Videos

Kilauea Lava Flow Consumes Cemetery, Reaches Town

Pahoa lava flow and fence

October 29th, 2014

Weeks of grim waiting ended yesterday (Oct. 28) for two homeowners in Hawaii's Pahoa village, as they became the first to lose their yards and fences to the relentless river of lava from Kilauea volcano.

Oil from BP Spill Coats Miles of Gulf Seafloor

Scientists tracked some of the hydrocarbons from the Deepwater Horizon spill to the bottom of the Gulf, shown here overlaid on seafloor bathymetry.

October 28th, 2014

A significant chunk of the missing oil from 2010's Deepwater Horizon oil spill has been discovered sitting on the seafloor at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Lava Flow from Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano Speeds Up

Lava flow in Pahoa

October 27th, 2014

An oozing lava flow from Hawaii's Kilauea volcano picked up speed over the weekend as it crept toward Pahoa, prompting local authorities and residents to prepare for possible evacuations on the Big Island.

2 Years On: Sandy Inspires Storm of Climate Research

As Hurricane Sandy churned up the coast, it sent waves crashing ashore near the Verrazano Bridge in Brooklyn, N.Y.

October 29th, 2014

The frankenstorm has spurred an unprecedented amount of research to tackle the questions about the role climate change may have played in worsening the storm, how global warming might affect similar storms, and why Sandy caused so much damage.

Experts: Great Barrier Reef's Biggest Threat is Coal

A great butterfly fish, global warming

October 28th, 2014

Reef historian Iain McCalman, in Sydney, and reef scientist Stephen Palumbi, in California, are monitoring reef degradation from opposite sides of the planet. They compared notes.

Northern Lights: 8 Dazzling Facts About Auroras

The northern lights come in an array of colors, like this stunning show above Maine.

October 27th, 2014

The aurora borealis can make for a spectacular night sky show, even sometimes visible from space. Here are eight amazing facts about the northern lights.

Telltale Signs of Life Could Be Deepest Yet

extreme life

October 24th, 2014

Telltale signs of life have been discovered in rocks that were once 12 miles (20 kilometers) below the surface — some of the deepest chemical evidence for life ever found.

China Won't Breathe Easy Until Port Pollution Solved (Op-Ed)

shipping and dolphin

October 28th, 2014

China is taking initial steps to control emissions from ports and shipping — an important new flank in that nation's war on pollution.

Photos: Lava Threatens Homes in Hawaii

Lava on road

October 27th, 2014

Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has been erupting for more than 30 years. A new stream of lava started flowing on June 27, 2014. By the fall, the molten rock was pushing close to homes and buildings in the town of Pahoa on Hawaii's Big Island.

A New Way to Form Continents

Earth map on hands, continent creatation

October 26th, 2014

Most people will have heard of plate tectonics: moving pieces on the surface of the planet that collide, pull away or slide past one another over millions of years to shape our world, but new information points to a more complex process.