Video: 03:37:00 Watch the full replay of the launch of ESA’s state-of-the-art FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite. Both were launched together aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marking a new milestone in Europe’s Earth Observation Programmes. Flight…
The European Space Agency’s FLEX Earth Explorer satellite and the Copernicus Sentinel-3C satellite have been launched together aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, marking a new milestone in Europe’s Earth Observation Programmes.
A World War I submarine wreck off Denmark is leaking TNT into the surrounding water, seabed, and marine life more than a century after it sank. Scientists warn that thousands of similar wrecks could pose growing environmental risks as they continue to corrode.
Iceland is one of just three countries, along with Norway and Japan, that still allows commercial whaling in its waters, but that may be about to change. The Icelandic government will put forward a bill in February that could ban the practice. Read more on E360 →
Video: 00:06:30 Plants may look still and silent, but every leaf is constantly responding to its environment. As plants photosynthesise, they emit an incredibly faint glow called fluorescence. Invisible to our eyes, this signal can reveal how plants are using sunlight and how they respond to heat, drought, pests and…
Two Earth observation satellites – ESA’s Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) satellite, and the third satellite for the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission – are encapsulated inside the nose cone of a Vega-C launcher and are awaiting liftoff at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Mount Etna’s ancient eruptions followed radically different paths, with some magma lingering near the surface for weeks while other magma raced upward from nearly 30 kilometers deep in just hours. Scientists traced the difference to volcanic gases such as carbon dioxide and water, offering a powerful new way to…
Scientists have found that Arctic cyclones become especially destructive when several strike one after another. These storm clusters cause about twice as much sea ice loss as isolated cyclones, with impacts that persist roughly two and a half times longer. As Arctic ice becomes thinner and weaker, the damage from…
The Indian and Pacific oceans have been climatically linked for centuries, but scientists say that connection is now breaking down in an exceptional way. Ancient climate records suggest volcanoes disrupted the relationship in the past, while today human-caused warming appears to be driving a much more unusual shift.
Ancient rocks from Western Australia suggest water was reaching deep inside Earth more than three billion years ago, long before modern plate tectonics may have fully developed. Researchers propose that water-rich pieces of crust periodically sank into the mantle through a process they call “dripduction.” The buried…
As the planet heats up, tundras are thawing, wetlands are fermenting, and forests are succumbing to larger and more frequent wildfires. The breakdown of these natural systems is unleashing huge volumes of emissions, further intensifying warming from the burning of fossil fuels. According to new research, such feedback…
Stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, a massive bloom of sargassum seaweed is swamping beaches and killing coastal wildlife. But scientists have discovered the floating algae also shelters a vast array of ocean creatures, and some are now calling for its protection. Read more on E360 →