Articles for category: Climate & Environment, Ecology

The Lake That Vanishes and Returns Every Decade

The Lake That Vanishes and Returns Every Decade

Jan Otte

Have you ever heard of a body of water that seems to follow its own mysterious schedule, disappearing completely only to return years later as if nothing happened? In the vast expanse of Nevada’s high desert, such phenomena aren’t just folklore or ancient legends. They represent one of nature’s most puzzling displays, where lakes appear ...

Rotorua's Boiling Lakes – A City on the Edge of Geothermal Chaos

Rotorua’s Boiling Lakes – A City on the Edge of Geothermal Chaos

Annette Uy

Imagine waking up every morning to the smell of sulfur drifting through your window, while the ground beneath your feet occasionally trembles with the raw power of Earth’s molten core. This isn’t a scene from a disaster movie – it’s daily life in Rotorua, New Zealand, where residents live alongside some of the most spectacular ...

fairy circle.

The Mystery of the Fairy Circles: How Plants Are Creating Patterns That Scientists Can’t Explain

Maria Faith Saligumba

In the arid landscapes of Namibia and parts of Australia, an enigmatic phenomenon known as fairy circles captivates both scientists and nature enthusiasts alike. These circular patches of barren land, surrounded by lush vegetation, have puzzled experts for decades. The mystery deepens as they appear to form in strikingly organized patterns, as if nature itself ...

Earthquakes and Uplift: Shaping the Plain

The Earthquakes That Shaped Christchurch: Tectonic History Beneath the Garden City

Trizzy Orozco

On a quiet morning in Christchurch, the ground can seem solid and trustworthy, a gentle stage for life’s routines. But beneath the city’s leafy avenues and English-style gardens, something ancient and restless stirs—a world of shifting plates and hidden scars. The earthquakes that have rocked Christchurch aren’t just blips in the news; they are reminders ...

Mosquito Bay - The Crown Jewel

Bioluminescent Bays of Puerto Rico – Glowing Microbes You Can Kayak Through

Annette Uy

Imagine gliding silently through dark tropical waters when suddenly, your paddle strikes the surface and ignites an explosion of electric blue light. The water around your kayak transforms into liquid starlight, swirling and dancing with every movement. This isn’t a scene from a science fiction movie – it’s the breathtaking reality of Puerto Rico’s bioluminescent ...

The Methane Burp: What Happens If Arctic Permafrost Suddenly Thaws?

The Methane Burp: What Happens If Arctic Permafrost Suddenly Thaws?

Annette Uy

Picture this: beneath your feet in the Arctic, there’s a natural freezer that’s been keeping billions of tons of ancient organic matter frozen solid for thousands of years. This isn’t just any ordinary freezer though – it’s storing something that could change our planet’s climate faster than we ever imagined. Right now, as you read ...

Cross-pollination of dandelions by the wind and bees.

The Bees That Have Evolved to Fight Back Against Their Own Parasites

Trizzy Orozco

It’s a warm afternoon in a bustling meadow, where bees dart from flower to flower, collecting pollen and spreading life. But beneath this idyllic scene lies an ongoing battle as old as time itself. Bees, those industrious architects of the natural world, are not only fighting for survival against environmental threats but also against parasites ...

The Hidden Volcano Field Beneath New Mexico's Desert

The Hidden Volcano Field Beneath New Mexico’s Desert

Gargi Chakravorty

Beneath the seemingly barren landscape of New Mexico’s high desert lies one of North America’s most intriguing geological secrets. You might drive across this terrain and see nothing but rolling hills, ancient mesas, and scattered scrub vegetation. Yet below your feet stretches an extensive network of volcanic features that tells a remarkable story spanning millions ...