Earth’s global average surface temperature in 2020 tied with 2016 as the warmest year on record, according to an analysis by NASA. Continuing the planet’s long-term warming trend, the year’s globally averaged temperature was 1.84 degrees Fahrenheit (1.02 degrees Celsius) warmer than the baseline 1951-1980 mean, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space…

Scientists have discovered that birds know to avoid the plants where toxic animals dwell. To do this, the scientists exposed artificial cinnabar caterpillars, characterised by bright yellow and black stripes, and non-signalling fake caterpillar targets to wild avian predation by presenting them on ragwort and a non-toxic plant — bramble, which is not a natural…

Earthquakes in the Black Rock Desert are rare and capturing the seismic recordings from these earthquakes provides a glimpse into the volcanic system of the Black Rock Desert that, while not showing any signs of erupting, is still active. A pair of earthquake sequences, in September 2018 and April 2019, focused scientists’ attention on the…

Across the U.S. road crews dump around 25 million metric tons of sodium chloride — much like table salt — to unfreeze roads each year and make them safe for travel. Usage varies by state, but the amount of salt applied to icy roads annually in some regions can vary between approximately 3 and 18…

Using rare oxygen molecules trapped in old ice and snow, US and French scientists have answered a long-standing question: How much have ‘bad’ ozone levels increased since the start of the Industrial Revolution? «We’ve been able to track how much ozone there was in the ancient atmosphere,» said Rice University geochemist Laurence Yeung, the lead…

Crop pests and diseases in China have significantly increased, with climate change being one of the relevant drivers, new research finds. Based on a unique, previously unpublished data set ranging from 1970 to 2016, an international team including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) compared long-term statistical records about pest and disease occurrence…

One solution to agriculture’s many challenges is to develop smarter fertilizers that aim not only to nourish the plant but also to maximize soil bacteria’s positive effects on the plant. Researchers analyzed the effects of potential fertilizers on a health-promoting bacterium native to the roots of dryland wheat in Northern Utah, bringing the ‘microbiome revolution’…

A new study confirms that for millennia, Indigenous people managed their relationship with shellfish and sea otters to safeguard their access to shellfish which remain important for food, social, and ceremonial uses today. «What our research found was that people actually kept sea otters out of particular areas which gave them access to large shellfish,»…

New research into how viral proteins interact and can be disabled holds promise to help plants defend themselves against viruses — and ultimately prevent crop losses. The study found that viral proteins interact with each other to help a virus hijack its host plant and complete its life cycle. When some of these viral proteins…

Algae colonizing dead coral are upending scientists’ ability to accurately assess the health of a coral reef community, according to new work from a team of marine science experts. Corals are marine invertebrates that build tiny exoskeletons, which accumulate to form giant coral reefs. Widely appreciated for their beauty, these reefs are havens for biodiversity…