Earth Sciences Archives - State of the Planet

California Quake Faults Are Highly Sensitive to Solid Earth Tides, Say Scientists

Oceans have tides, and so does the solid earth. Could they have an effect on earthquake faults? Yes, say scientists, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they cause big quakes.

by |May 10, 2023

Upcoming Scientific Fieldwork, 2023 and Beyond

Climate School researchers are carrying out fieldwork on every continent and every ocean. A guide to upcoming projects.

by |May 9, 2023

Vikings Abandoned Greenland Centuries Ago in Face of Rising Seas, Says New Study

Counterintuitively, seas were rising around Greenland as it went through a cold period centuries ago. This helped drive out Viking colonists, says new research.

by |May 1, 2023
Two men and a woman in formal wear pose in front of a Vetlesen Prize backdrop

Vetlesen Prize Ceremony Honors Two Distinguished Researchers in Earth Sciences

A celebration held at Columbia University recognized scientists Anny Cazenave and David Kohlstedt as the 2020 and 2023 Vetlesen Prize recipients.

by |May 1, 2023

Land Subsidence in the Netherlands

At a symposium on land subsidence, I learned about how the Dutch transformed their country so that about a quarter of it is below sea level and how they cope with it.

by |April 23, 2023
Three flowchart cartoons show tools and stages of the data development lifecycle.

New Project Aims to Advance Open and Inclusive Science

A new CIESIN project funded by NASA’s Open Source Science Initiative will produce online learning modules to develop open science literacy for researchers at diverse career stages and from varied backgrounds.

Ivan Tolstoy, Who Elucidated Travels of Sound Through Oceans and Air, and Helped Map Seabeds, Dies at 99

From beginnings as an exile from the Russian Revolution, a life spent studying geology and long-distance acoustics at sea and in the atmosphere.

by |April 4, 2023

1,000-Plus Years of Tree Rings Confirm Historic Extremity of 2021 Western North America Heat Wave

Scientists quickly pronounced the summer 2021 heat wave that hit western North America to be unprecedented, but they had no long-term physical proof. Now they do.

by |March 27, 2023

Exploring the Sundarbans and Back to Dhaka

Our group of 24 Americans and Bangladeshis continued to explore the Sundarbans mangrove forest, rice farming in embanked low-lying islands, and heritage sites of Bangladesh.

by |March 22, 2023

Across the Ganges to Southwest Bangladesh and the Sundarbans

Our group of 23 American and Bangladeshi students and professors traveled from the Jamuna River to the Ganges and Gorai Rivers, and then down to an island on the edge of the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest.

by |March 18, 2023