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A more acidic ocean could give some species a glow-up. As the pH of the ocean decreases as a result of climate change, some bioluminescent organisms might get brighter, while others see their lights dim, scientists report January 2 at the virtual annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. Bioluminescence is de […]

Science News drew over 22 million visitors to our website this year. Our COVID-19 coverage was most popular. Here’s a recap of the other most-read news stories and long reads of 2020. Top news stories 1. In a first, a person’s immune system fought HIV — and won Scientists analyzed billions of cells from two […]

To say that 2020 was challenging is an understatement. A world laid low by a pandemic. Racial inequities laid bare through social protests. Regions laid waste in the wake of extreme natural disasters. Yet science often rose to tackle these challenges. We started the year knowing next to nothing about the novel coronavirus. Huge questions […]

Campaigners welcomed commitments to ramp up funding for biodiversity but raised concerns it came at the expense of other climate and aid spending France and the UK are encouraging donor countries to channel more climate finance to protect and restore nature, starting with Africa’s Great Green Wall. Speaking at the One Planet Summit for biodiversity […]

By Esprit Smith, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Plants play a key role in mitigating climate change. The more carbon dioxide they absorb during photosynthesis, the less carbon dioxide remains trapped in the atmospherem, where it can cause temperatures to rise. But scientists have identified an unsettling trend – 86% of land ecosystems globally are becoming […]

By Lara Streiff, NASA’s Earth Science News Team As glaciers flow outward from the Greenland Ice Sheet, what lies beneath them offers clues to their role in future ice thinning and sea-level rise contribution. Outlet glaciers are rivers of ice flowing within the cracks of the bedrock and draining into the surrounding sea. They retreat […]

By Lara Streiff, NASA’s Earth Science News Team More plants and longer growing seasons in the northern latitudes have converted parts of Alaska, Canada and Siberia to deeper shades of green. Some studies translate this Arctic greening to a greater global carbon uptake. But new research shows that as Earth’s climate changes, increased carbon absorption […]

By Abigail Seadler, NASA’s Earth Science Division Economic and social shutdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to noticeable changes in Earth’s environment, at least for the short term. NASA researchers are using satellite and ground-based observations to track these impacts on our air, land, water, and climate. These datasets have been collected […]

By Alan Buis, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory As a utilities planner for the City and County of San Francisco, David Behar knows that access to the latest information about sea level rise is crucial to his job — and his city. Behar is climate program director for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. He tracks […]

Alok Sharma will give up his responsibilities as UK business minister to focus on preparations for critical UN climate talks in Glasgow this November Cop26 president-designate Alok Sharma will no longer serve as the UK’s business minister and focus solely on preparations for the UN climate summit in Glasgow in November. Prime minister Boris Johnson’s […]

Sign up to get our weekly newsletter straight to your inbox, plus breaking news, investigations and extra bulletins from key events Expectations for 2020 were largely confounded by the coronavirus pandemic. Barring further surprises, 2021 will be shaped by a two-speed recovery. In most of the Asia-Pacific region and much of Africa, the virus is under […]

Portugal aims to pass an EU 2030 climate target into law by June, says minister with a leading role in negotiations between member states and parliament Negotiations on the European Climate Law – including the bloc’s proposed 55% emissions reduction target for 2030 – are expected to wrap up before the end of June as […]

Anyone who has ever hesitated in front of a trash bin knows the problem: It’s hard to determine what can be recycled. Consider the average potato chip bag. It’s got film plastic, metal, dyes, and food residue; it’s complicated. Today’s recycling doesn’t handle complexity well, so the typical chip bag is destined for the landfill. […]