An archaeologist takes bog samples in Germany for analysis of past civilizations and what they cultivated.
Stefan Puchner/picture alliance via Getty Images
Understanding how humans came to exert such enormous pressure on Earth’s ecosystems can inform more sustainable ways of living.
Sand dunes in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert can stretch for 100km.
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Dunes can preserve a record of historic climate changes and shifting continents.
Mr. Tempter / shutterstock
Geologists recently voted down a proposal to formally recognise the Anthropocene.
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For decades, scientists have tried to uncover the cause of long-term changes in Earth’s biodiversity. New simulations point at geography playing a critical role.
Two crystalline materials together: kyanite (blue) embedded in quartz (white).
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There are a lot of myths about crystals − for example, that they are magical rocks with healing powers. An earth scientist explains some of their amazing true science.
EPA-EFE/Gian Ehrenzeller
Satellites can detect land moving by just a few millimetres, but we can never be sure exactly how or when a slope will slide.
Jonas Weckschmied/Unsplash
The preliminary global-average temperature anomaly for September is a shocking 1.7°C. These are the drivers of current record-breaking heat.
A man works his way through the rubble of buildings in Marrakesh, Morocco, after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake on Sept. 8, 2023.
Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images
A deadly earthquake in Afghanistan, following one in Morocco, highlights the risks in the region.
Indonesia’s Mount Merapi spews lava during an eruption on May 23, 2023. Over 250,000 people live nearby.
DEVI RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Image
For some people, it’s a choice based on cultural beliefs or economic opportunities provided by the volcano. Other times it’s less a choice than the only option.
The Jharia coal field in India has been on fire underground since 1916.
Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images
Some rocks will burn, and others will melt, depending on how they were formed and what minerals they contain.
Sander Lenaerts/Unsplash
To us, Earth’s landscapes might change very little. But over millions of years, our planet’s surface has shifted in innumerable ways.
Engineers have tried to corral a mud volcano in Indonesia that has covered more than 1,700 acres with mud.
Eka Dharma/AFP via Getty Images
When mud, fluids and gases erupt at the Earth’s surface, they hint at what’s happening underground, allowing scientists to build a more comprehensive 3D view of what’s going on inside our planet.
ImageBank4u/Shutterstock
Earth has liquid rock inside. Here’s what happens to that rock to make lava happen.
There’s a lot of science behind the natural forces that let this guy work his magic at the beach.
Victoria Pickering/Flickr
From capillary forces to sand grain shape, the simple mix of sand and water hides the complexity within.
James Lovelock outside his home laboratory.
Homer Sykes/Alamy Stock Photo
Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis suggested that Earth could be considered a single, self-regulating organism.
Slicing through the Jura, France’s youngest mountain range: stage 8, 2022.
Guillaume Horcajuelo / EPA
The world’s biggest cycling race is a great way to teach people about geology – and test our own ideas.
Earth’s interior 80 million years ago with hot structures in yellow to red (darker is shallower) and cold structures in blue (darker is deeper).
Ömer Bodur/Nature
Ancient blobs deep inside the Earth gather together and break apart like continents, according to new research.
Lava flows from a fissure in the aftermath of eruptions from the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, May 22, 2018.
Andrew Richard Hara/Ena Media Hawaii via Getty Images
Volcanoes might seem like nature’s incinerators, but using them to burn up trash would be dangerous and disrespectful to indigenous people who view them as sacred.
James Ross/AAP
A largely hidden fault beneath the Victorian Alps has triggered a magnitude 5.8 quake that was felt as far afield as Sydney, Adelaide and Launceston. Here’s what we know so far.
The Sun over Earth, seen from the International Space Station.
NASA
When heat in doesn’t equal heat out, Earth sees changes.