Lightning strikes - perhaps a quintillion of them, occurring over a billion years - might have provided sparks of life for the early Earth by unlocking phosphorus, says new research.
On Good Friday, March 27, 1964, south-central Alaska heaved under one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded, registering a 9.2 on the Richter scale.
A new study documents the distribution of supercell-tornado wind intensities and sizes, revealing that most are much stronger than damage surveys indicate, with more than 20% of tornadoes potentially capable of causing catastrophic EF-4/EF-5 damage.
In early 2020, satellite data showed a decline in air pollution coinciding with Covid lockdowns. One year later, as lockdown restrictions loosen and regular activity resumes, air pollution is bouncing back to pre-Covid levels.
Fossilized plants found in the rocks and soil beneath Greenland ice suggests the ice melted at some point in the last million years and may do so again.
Earlier studies have suggested the possibility that Earth was once covered with water. New evidence - focused on Earth's mantle - suggests our planet was a true water world, covered by a global ocean, billions of years ago.