HS-ESS3-5

Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.

  1. Environment

    Analyze this: Microplastics are showing up in Mount Everest’s snow

    Microplastics have made their way to the snow on Earth’s tallest peak. Most of the plastic likely comes from climbers’ equipment and clothes.

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  2. Environment

    Surprising long-haul dust and tar are melting high glaciers

    Dust and tar blown onto high mountains, like the Himalayas, boost the melting of snow and ice far more than scientists had realized. Here’s why.

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  3. Computing

    Explainer: What is an algorithm?

    These step-by-step instructions underlie social media, internet searches and other computer-based activities. But what are they exactly? We explain.

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  4. Plants

    The faster trees grow, the younger they die

    As climate change spurs forest tree growth, it also shortens trees’ lives. That results in a quicker release of climate-warming carbon back into the atmosphere.

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  5. Climate

    Siberian heat wave that caused an oil spill made more likely by climate change

    The six-month heat wave in Siberia during the first half of 2020 would not have happened without human-caused climate change, researchers find.

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  6. Environment

    Fossil fuels appear to release far more methane than we thought

    Ice cores reveal less methane than expected. This suggests today’s fossil fuel industry is responsible for nearly all of the methane emissions from natural sources today.

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  7. Science & Society

    CO2 emissions have nosedived as COVID-19 keeps people home

    The COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel that can pollute the air. By April, travel-related daily emissions of greenhouse gases was back to 2006 levels.

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  8. Climate

    Climate change drove Australian wildfires to extremes

    Australia’s devastating 2019–2020 wildfires were at least 30 percent more likely because of human-caused climate change.

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  9. Climate

    How to curb the climate heating by contrails

    Contrails are narrow clouds left behind in the sky by jets. They add to climate change. But a new study suggests a way to curb their contribution.

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  10. Environment

    Australian fires have imperiled up to 100 species

    As massive wildfires consume huge swaths of Australia’s bush, untold species — many of them found nowhere else — are now threatened with extinction.

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  11. Climate

    5 things to know about the climate-saving benefits of tree planting

    A recent analysis of the benefits of massive efforts to plant more trees triggered a firestorm of controversy.

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  12. Climate

    Explainer: Why some clouds glow in the dark

    A surprise space rock lit up the night sky over California — and left behind a rare type of cloud. Such glowing beauties may become more common with climate change.

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