Arctic Greening
Photograph: Jeff Kerby/National Geographic Society01
Photograph: Gergana Daskalova/National Geographic Society02
Photograph: Isla Myers-Smith/National Geographic Society03
Photograph: Jeff Kerby/National Geographic Society04
Photograph: Jeff Kerby/National Geographic Society05
Photograph: Jeff Kerby/National Geographic Society06
Tiny Hairs That Help Corals Breathe May Malfunction in Warming Oceans
Several new studies have uncovered this long overlooked aspect of coral physiology that could be the key to the animals’ fate in a changing climate.
Marlowe Starling
Congratulations! You Just Lived Through the Hottest Month Ever Recorded
While the strengthening El Niño helped boost temperatures, climate change is the main culprit for making August so hot.
Molly Taft
A Startup Wants to Power Data Centers With ‘Supercritical’ Carbon Dioxide
The technology could strap onto existing gas turbines and make them more efficient—but it wouldn’t do away with their emissions entirely.
Molly Taft
Plastic Is Melting Onto Corals
Scientists have found a new form of pollution, one where plastic and pieces of coral become irreversibly intertwined.
Ritsuko Kawai
Elusive ‘Geoneutrinos’ Are Building a New Map of Earth’s Volatile Interior
A global network of detectors are reporting some of the most substantial measurements yet of neutrinos created deep underground by the radioactive elements that power our planet’s tectonic activity.
James Dinneen
The Data Center Backlash Should Also Be a Climate Reckoning. It Isn’t Yet
Climate groups are latching onto the data center opposition movement, but it remains to be seen if they can get people to care about the facilities’ impact on the atmosphere.
Molly Taft
Why It Seems Like Great White Sharks Are Overrunning Maine
While a bunch of sharks cruising the Maine coast may seem ominous, it’s actually a sign of a conservation success story.
Molly Taft
It Still Feels Like Summer in Parts of the US. Blame El Niño
Heat records are being shattered thanks to a boost from the natural climate pattern—and burning fossil fuels, of course.
Dennis Mersereau
Flock Offers Employees Buyouts as Customers Flee
As dozens of cities end contracts for its controversial license plate readers, Flock is rolling out a voluntary severance program, WIRED has learned.
Paresh Dave
A Decade-Long Experiment Is Unlocking the Mysteries of the Ocean’s ‘Deep Reefs’
Scientists left structures up to 100 meters under the surface. Here’s what they found when they retrieved them 10 years later.
Byrd Pinkerton
With a Better Understanding of Physics, We Could Predict Volcanic Eruptions
“There’s no reason we can’t think that, at some point in the future, we can have volcano forecasts that are like weather forecasts.”
Robin George Andrews
The World Forgot About Ebola. The Organization Fighting It Has Never Been More Worried
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to be the largest ever.
Isabella Ward