Top Stories

Rare, Widespread Snow in the Atacama Desert

In August 2026, back-to-back winter storms left parts of the Atacama Desert in northern Chile covered in a rare blanket of snow. 

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Elephant Butte Reservoir Runs Low

After orbiting Earth in 1962, John Glenn remarked on an irrigated valley northwest of El Paso, Texas, that stood out against the surrounding desert. 

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Ice Island Survives Run-In With Joe Island

Summer is prime iceberg season in Greenland’s glacier-fed fjords, and 2026 was no exception. 

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Drought Intensifies Across Puerto Rico

The month of May typically marks the onset of the wet season in Puerto Rico. 

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Heavy Water Helps Weather Forecasts

Isotopes of atmospheric water leave fingerprints that can improve weather modeling.

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Climate Change Won’t Simply Shrink Marine Life

Global study of more than 23,000 marine mollusk species projects major shifts in body size by 2100 — including surprising growth in some animals and ocean regions.

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These Coastal Wildflowers Thrive in Salt-Laden Air That Kills Other Plants

On the windswept coasts of Oregon and California, there lives an unassuming little plant that can withstand salty blasts that kill its inland counterparts.

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Suburban Sprawl Puts Western Homes at Risk from Wildfires

Somersett, a short drive from downtown Reno, Nevada, is a peaceful place where homes with sweeping, high-desert views line cul-de-sacs and roads meander through shrubland, trailheads, and golf courses.

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A Surge of Marine Heat Waves Threatens to Scramble Ocean Life

The common octopus is a warm water species that usually lives in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean.

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