Nitrogen is a big player in how atmospheric organic aerosols (OAs) absorb sunlight. These tiny particles in the air affect Earth's climate. But, the way they change and absorb light is still a mystery. Scientists have found that brown nitrogen (BrN), a nitrogen-rich part of OAs, is the main absorber of light. Researchers used a global model to figure out how much ...
Dust aerosols are a big deal. They mess with our climate, our health, and how plants grow. But what happens when we change the land around? That's what scientists found out using a special computer model called WRF-Chem. They looked at how land changes in northern China from 2000 to 2020 affected dust levels. Over two decades, about 293, 300 square kilometer...
Imagine walking into a classroom where everyone feels welcome and accepted. This is the power of an inclusive classroom climate, especially important during times of conflict and division. But how do we make sure our schools foster such environments? A recent study in Germany decided to test this by introducing the HateLess anti-hate speech program to see if it could...
In the heart of Tennessee, a small stream named East Fork Creek has been under close watch. Scientists have been keeping tabs on it for a whole year, from May 2022 to May 2023. They were curious about how the stream's 'breathing' changes with the seasons and time of day. They set up month-long camps and a special four-day event in July 2022 to gather data. This strea...
Imagine this: two storms are on a collision course, and they might just ruin your holiday travel plans. An Alberta clipper, a speedy storm from Canada, is zooming eastward. It's already left its mark on the northern Plains, and it's headed for the Great Lakes by Thursday night. Meanwhile, an offshore storm is brewing in the Atlantic. If these two weather systems meet...
Airplanes have a big job ahead of them: cutting down on their climate change effects. But it's tricky because we don't know much about what the best ways to do that are. We're not sure how well low-emission fuels will work on a large scale, or how to deal with things like contrails that also affect the climate. It's like trying to solve a puzzle when we're missing so...
In California, a wildfire named the Mountain fire is causing chaos. It's already burned over 19, 600 acres and destroyed many homes in Ventura County. The fire is so big that firefighters are still trying to contain it. They're using helicopters and ground teams to fight the blaze, but strong winds are making their job very tough. These winds can gust up to 85 mph, w...