Earth's Systems
- Earth
Explainer: Ice sheets and glaciers
Ice sheets and glaciers give scientists clues about climate change.
- Earth
Explainer: Antarctica, land of lakes
There are many, although they tend to be buried under rivers of ice.
- Environment
Explainer: All crude oil is not alike
Crude oil comes in conventional and unconventional types.
- Earth
How Earth’s surface morphs
Partly melted rock acts like grease to help huge masses of the planet’s surface slip up, around and down.
- Climate
Explainer: Why a tornado forms
Tornadoes start with a thunderstorm. But they also require other ingredients, such as instability.
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- Chemistry
Explainer: Ocean acidification
Here’s why shellfish and other animals in the sea suffer when the ocean is forced to absorb too much carbon dioxide.
- Climate
Watching our seas rise
Satellites, coral reefs, ancient Roman fishponds and sinking cities help us understand how humans are changing sea level.
- Environment
Ozone hits a new low
Scientists discover a major thinning in the protective atmosphere over Arctic.
- Earth
Big rocks’ balancing acts
Scientists study how balanced boulders resist falling over — and what that may say about earthquakes.
- Earth
Tsunami’s trek traced in the sky
Scientists photograph atmospheric ripples that followed the March tsunami across the Pacific.
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