Planet Earth

New research hints that plate tectonics began earlier than 4 billion years ago — not long after Earth had formed.

Earth from space This 2023 astronaut photo shows a pair of perfectly aligned "wave clouds" rippling above the Crozet Islands in the Southern Ocean. The unusual patterns are the result of changes in temperature caused by gravity waves.

A new simulation of the shaking from a magnitude 7.8 south San Andreas earthquake suggests that Los Angeles might avoid a worst-case scenario.

Norway's photogenic "Dragon's Eye" likely formed around 20,000 years ago, when all of Scandinavia sat beneath an enormous mass of ice called the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.

New seismic data show that a helium reservoir discovered in February in northern Minnesota is larger than initial estimates indicated, inching the project closer to commercial extraction.

In a warmer world, every El Niño could look like today's most extreme events.

Project seeks to protect ancient tree lineages that have survived from a time before Earth’s continents broke apart.

Changes in sea level and glacial melt could make earthquakes more likely in the coming years.

Scientists used thousands of years of climate data to show that El Niño Southern Oscillations can be predicted more than two years in advance.

Every month has broken the temperature record of the previous for the past 12 months, and the signs of climate breakdown are already here, a new analysis shows.