What really happens when lightning strikes cars, what to do if you’re out in the open or on a beach, and other tips for National Lightning Safety Awareness Week.
A lack of human activity in the Southern Ocean is just one reason why the air is so clean. Clouds and rain play a vital role in scrubbing the atmosphere, removing natural airborne particles too.
There are an infinite number of paths an ice crystal can take before you touch it.
A bleaching event at a reef in Key Largo, Fla. The complex interplay of temperature and cloud cover is at the heart of cloral bleaching events.
(Liv Williamson/University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science via AP)
Understanding how both cloud cover and temperature work to promote coral bleaching provides valuable insight into how reefs will change over various climate scenarios.
Rising pollution on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, India.
Sudarshan Jha/Shutterstock
Several states are experimenting with weather modification to try to generate snow as water supplies shrink. An atmospheric scientist explains the history behind it – and the challenges.
Some places rarely see the sun.
Donat Photography / EyeEm
Clouds are central players in climate change, and ‘Path 99’ reveals them in a new light using data discarded by scientists.
Wildfires burn on the island of Evia, north of Athens, Greece, on Aug. 3, 2021, as the country dealt with the worst heat wave in decades. Temperatures reached 41 C in parts of Athens.
(AP Photo/Michael Pappas)
The latest report on climate science comes on the heels of heatwaves, wildfires, flooding and storms. It will help policy-makers act on plans to curb emissions or adapt to climate change.
If successful, solar geoengineering would would reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the Earth’s surface and warms the planet.
(Shutterstock)
Solar geoengineering could theoretically cool the Earth to slow global warming, and it has been controversial. Still, countries should research its risks and benefits.
Is it time to take drastic steps to modify Earth’s climate to avoid catastrophic warming? A panel of experts says the idea deserves study.
Permafrost is thawing across the Arctic, releasing microbes and organic materials that have been trapped in the frozen ground for thousands of years.
NOAA via Wikimedia Commons
New research shows that permafrost contains huge amounts of particles that make it easier for cloud moisture to freeze. Thawing permafrost is releasing these ice-nucleating particles.
Some rainstorms drench you in a second, while others drop rain in a nice peaceful drizzle. A meteorologist explains how rainstorms can be so different.
Climate models have been overestimating how much sunlight hits the Southern Ocean. This is because the clouds there are different from clouds anywhere else. Bacterial DNA helped us understand why.