Overpumping groundwater, worsening droughts and more rapid evaporation due to higher temperatures have caused a drastic decline in the amount of available freshwater, according to a new study. “Continental drying” has redirected the planet’s total water to the oceans to such degree that it has now surpassed melting ice sheets as the biggest contributor to…
Two top National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials who played a role in the high-profile “Sharpiegate” investigation at the agency were placed on administrative leave this week. Stephen Volz, the assistant administrator of NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service, and Jeff Dillen, a deputy general counsel at NOAA, were placed on leave Thursday morning, Volz told…
The risk that alcohol poses to women’s health has mounted over the last two decades, as women have begun to drink more frequently and in larger quantities. Alcohol-related deaths among women more than doubled from 1999 to 2020. And deaths from alcohol-related hepatitis, a disease resulting in severe liver inflammation, nearly tripled among women over…
Meanwhile, in southern Nevada’s Clark County, the coroner’s office announced last week that 29 heat-related deaths have been reported so far this year — up from the same time in 2024. Clark County includes the city of Las Vegas, which is one of the fastest-warming cities in the country, according to a study published earlier…
The director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center announced her resignation Monday, marking yet another high-profile departure as questions loom about the agency’s budget and future. Makenzie Lystrup, who has served as director of the center in Maryland since April 2023, will leave the agency on Aug. 1, according to a NASA statement. Goddard oversees…
The chase From mid-May through the end of June, ICECHIP storm chasers traveled across the Front Range of the Rockies and the central Plains, sometimes riding in vehicles armored against falling ice. They launched drones, released weather balloons and set up mobile doppler radars — all techniques honed by tornado chasers. As one group positioned…
Three different meteor showers are happening at the same time this month, giving skywatchers plenty of chances to spend their summer nights looking for shooting stars. The annual alpha Capricornids, the Southern delta Aquariids and the Perseid meteor showers are all currently active, with each celestial show set to last through mid-August. Here’s what to…
Four people in Florida have died this year from bacterial infections that can cause “flesh-eating” wounds, the state’s health department reported this month. The culprit, the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, thrives in warm seawater. The deadly cases were seen in counties spread around Florida’s extensive coastline, from Bay County in the Panhandle and Hillsborough County, where…
This summer, in particular, has been characterized by intense rainfall and floods. States such as Texas, New Mexico, North Carolina, Illinois, New York and New Jersey are among those that experienced major flooding events in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the country was hit by at least four 1-in-1,000-year rainfall events in less than a…
Gastrointestinal cancers, which include colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancer, are rising dramatically in younger adults, though doctors aren’t fully sure why. Even some of the possible causes require more research, they say. According to a review published Thursday in JAMA, gastrointestinal cancers have become the fastest-growing type of cancers diagnosed in adults younger than 50…
