HS-ESS2-2
Analyze geoscience data to make the claim that one change to Earth's surface can create feedbacks that cause changes to other Earth systems.
-
Environment
Burning to learn
Fires cause billions of dollars of destruction to homes and forests every year. But not all fires are bad, especially for forests. With a better understanding of fire, scientists can both help people prevent dangerous fires — and identify which ones it would be better to let burn.
-
Environment
Explainer: How and why fires burn
A fire’s colorful flame results from a chemical reaction known as combustion.
-
Earth
Earthquake-triggered lightning?
An experiment with beads offers support for the claim that a rare type of lightning may accompany some quakes.
By Andrew Grant -
Earth
Explainer: Ice sheets and glaciers
Ice sheets and glaciers give scientists clues about climate change.
By Douglas Fox -
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.
-
Earth
Big rocks’ balancing acts
Scientists study how balanced boulders resist falling over — and what that may say about earthquakes.
By Douglas Fox -
Earth
Tsunami’s trek traced in the sky
Scientists photograph atmospheric ripples that followed the March tsunami across the Pacific.
-
Climate
A dire shortage of water
Parts of the southwestern United States are in the middle of the worst drought in at least 500 years.
By Emily Sohn