One of the most interesting articles I found this year was called Desierto Florido (A Desert in Bloom). A desert in bloom is a rare phenomenon that occurs roughly every five to seven years due to El Nino, which refers to the cycle of warm and cold temperatures measured by sea surface temperatures in the … More Article Discussion

In May 2009, an ecologist counted 306 humpbacks whales on Wilhelmina Bay, it was the highest density of humpbacks ever recorded in the region. In the past, these whales wouldn’t have been found in the Wilhelmina Bay because the sea would have been covered with ice. Besides the fact that the humpbacks whales have been recovering … More Whales Benefiting from Global Warming

The world’s largest coral reef ecosystem is experiencing the worst mass bleaching event in history. According to a recent survey more than 500 coral reefs spanning 2,485 miles, the majority of the reefs were undergoing extensive and severe bleaching. Bleaching occurs when the corals are exposed to stress such as warmer than average waters for … More Great Barrier Reef Coral Bleaching

Honeybees are under threat globally, in the Unites States their population has decreased significantly due to a condition called Colony Collapsed Disorder (a phenomenon in which worker bees disappear from a colony, leaving behind a queen, food, and a few nurse bees to take care of the queen). In Europe, researchers found up to 57 pesticides … More Poisoned Honeybees

Outbreaks are large scale weather events that can last one to three days and span huge regions. Recently according to a new study, the average number of tornadoes during outbreaks have significantly increased, the average number of tornadoes per outbreak rose from about 10 in the 1950’s to about 15 in the past decade. The variability … More Tornado Outbreaks are Becoming More Common

The use of plastic for consumer products has become increasingly dominant and its production has been steadily increasing since it was first put into wide use. In a recent study, scientists found a new way to measure ocean trash that involves counting samples of plastic floating on the surface of the world’s oceans and its … More Plastic, Plastic Everywhere

For the first time in a decade, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, will be able to be seen with the naked eye at once in the sky. Starting January 20th until February 20th, it will be possible to see the five planets aligned in a row, about 45 minutes before sunrise. Mercury will appear in … More 5 Planets visible at night

Animals evolved about 600 million years ago and late in Earth’s history. Their late evolution and the fact that oxygen is central for animal respiration led to the idea that animal evolution corresponded with an increase in the atmospheric oxygen concentrations. However, recent studies from samples from the Xiamaling Formation in China showed that a deep … More Oxygen before animals?

The incredible warmth that bathed the eastern half of the country in December makes 2015 officially the hottest year ever recorded in the United States. December’s warmth was caused by a combination of El Nino climate patterns over the North Atlantic. The warm temperatures outran the cold ones by a 21-to-1 ratio. In addition, not only … More 2015: 2nd Hottest Year

Tamu massif is a volcano the size of New Mexico or the British Isles that was identified under the Pacific Ocean. It is located about 1,000 miles east of Japan, it is a rounded dome that measures about 280 by 400 miles (more than 100,000 sq miles). Its top lies about 6,500 feet below the ocean … More World’s largest volcano