Attribution science is an emerging field of research that explores the connection between climate change and extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heat waves, and flooding. A prime example of this is Hurricane Harvey, where studies have shown that climate change caused the storm to unleash significantly more rainfall than it would have before the …
Latest Update on Locally Acquired Malaria Cases in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), four people in Florida and one person in Texas are currently receiving treatment for locally acquired malaria. While cases of malaria in the U.S. are rare, the occurrence of these cases coincides with the ongoing …
The use of a variety of plants, particularly the dandelion, has been forgotten as we have become disconnected from nature. Although some individuals become infuriated upon seeing dandelions, they are an important and useful plant that has fed people for thousands of years. The most nutritious greens a person can consume are young dandelion leaves, …
Valneva’s vaccine for chikungunya, a mosquito-borne virus that creates symptoms comparable to dengue and Zika, has demonstrated positive results in a late-stage clinical trial according to The Lancet. Valneva used a less potent form of the virus in the vaccine, which was given to 3,082 of the 4,115 healthy adults enrolled in the trial across …
In light of recent discussions about climate change, a question was raised on social media about what caused climate change before humans existed. This question, however, misses the mark, as climate has always changed naturally with or without human existence. That being said, current anthropogenic activities are amplifying climate change now more than ever. In …
Tropical Storm Arlene (June 2023) NOAA/CIRA The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 1st. Over the course of any given season, a non-trivial portion of my writing is devoted to tropical systems. They are newsworthy, impact lives, and the impetus for some of my early interests in meteorology as a child. Only a …
Las Vegas, Nevada – Earth Timelapse Google Earth has been gathering imagery from satellites for 15 years, offering anyone with an internet connection stunning views of our planet from any altitude. The tool, which launched in 2001, is packed with features, including one called Timelapse, which lets you see how a particular location has changed …
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/00/b7/00b7300b-1cb4-4fb1-9d2f-1d6951f10521/opener-aprmay2023_e06_wildfi "Science: California Embraces the Strategy of Combating Wildfires with Controlled Burns")
Photographs and accompanying text were provided by Andria Hautamaki. Jeff Greef had to evacuate his Northern California cabin when the Dixie Fire threatened the area. He had watched the sky darken with smoke and had taken precautions such as building the cabin with fire-resistant materials and thinning the surrounding forest. The Plumas Underburn Cooperative is …
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Ben Huff’s photographs and text feature college student Abby Watts from Juneau, Alaska, standing on a nunatak, an exposed ridge above the Juneau Icefield. Accompanied by Fabienne Meier, a student from Zurich, Switzerland, Watts studies enormous boulders in varying shades of gray. They record data in a waterproof yellow notebook, measuring the rocks in centimeters. …