climate change

Researchers have long suspected that an ingredient in sunscreen called oxybenzone was harming corals, but no one knew how. A new study shows how corals turn oxybenzone into a sunlight-activated toxin.

The launch of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability—the first new school at the university in 70 years—comes thanks to a $1.1 billion gift from a venture capitalist and his wife.

Insect populations and species diversity are drastically reduced in areas affected by both climate change and agriculture-related habitat destruction, according to a new study.

Southern Australia has recorded its first-ever cases of the disease in an outbreak that has so far killed three people.

Texas A&M cited potential foreign interference when explaining why it shut down a jointly run modeling laboratory.

A study finds that dozens of bird species are nesting up to 25 days sooner each year than they were a century ago, likely due to climate change.

In addition to causing more frequent natural disasters, global warming can have long-term health effects, which range from heat stress to mosquito-borne disease.

The growing season on the tundra is starting earlier as the planet warms, but the plants aren’t sequestering more carbon, a new study finds.

When soil heats up, microbes scale back protein synthesis machinery by making use of higher reaction rates that occur at higher temperatures, a study finds.

Half or more of the world’s largest forest is in danger of transitioning into grassland, researchers say.

Record-breaking rainfall has caused widespread flooding and devastation in Queensland and New South Wales, forcing the closure of some university campuses.

The decrease in growth appears to be associated with increasing water temperatures, affecting animals throughout the marine food web.

Methane production, likely achieved by a diverse group of methanogenic archaea, occurs at similar rates in both alive and dead seagrasses, a study reports. The findings highlight the potential environmental impact of seagrasses declining globally.

Corals that previously experienced heat stress respond better the next time around. Researchers are trying to figure out how, and hope to one day take advantage of the phenomenon to improve coral restoration efforts. 

The dual purposes of the plants’ hidden colors may conflict as the climate warms, authors of a new study suggest.

Scientists warn that climate change–induced early flowering could have negative effects on wildlife, agriculture, and gardening.

The Scientist spoke with University of Wollongong ecologist Dana Bergstrom about protecting the continent’s native plants and animals in the face of climate change and a growing human presence.

More than two-thirds of mammals in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula went extinct during the Eocene-Oligocene transition some 30 million years ago, a study finds.

A modeling study estimates that by drastically reducing fish biomass over the past century, industrial fishing may be affecting ocean chemistry, nutrient fluxes, and carbon cycling as much as climate change.