Environmental Science

The Great Lakes are named so for several reasons. HowStuffWorks looks at why the Great Lakes are so great, including their impressive depths.

By Mark Mancini

Petrified wood can be found all over the world, but how is it created?

By Mark Mancini & Desiree Bowie

Wine pomace - the portion of grapes left over from winemaking - has a variety of uses, from fertilizer to a nutrition-enhancing ingredient in foods.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The spring, or vernal, equinox traditionally marks the first day of spring - but climate scientists use a different date altogether. Find out more about this and other facts about the spring equinox.

By Mark Mancini

The experts have seen people trying to recycle bowling balls and curling irons. They call it 'wishful recycling'. But paper and plastic items can be problematic too.

By Dave Roos

Underwater icicles, also called brinicles or sea stalactites, form when super-cold brine meets normal seawater. The sub-zero phenomenon can kill some sea life.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The formidable gusher could stop flowing for a few months in 2019 in order to repair some bridges in dire need.

By Rachel Pendergrass

A growing network of global activists is taking an alternative approach to saving the environment: Pushing to recognize natural ecosystems as having legal rights like humans.

By Stephanie Vermillion

Satellite data shows just how much air quality has improved during the coronavirus crisis, from China, India, Italy and beyond.

By Marco Hernandez

It's been 51 years since the first Earth Day, and while progress has been made in some areas, humanity still has had a major impact on the planet.

By Andrea Thompson

One term might give you the impression of something grand and mysterious, while the other makes you think of claustrophobia-inducing environs that threaten human life. But what's the real difference?

By Nathan Chandler

The controversial technology of reflecting sunlight away from the planet could help blunt the worst impacts of climate change. Harvard University climate scientist David Keith weighs in.

By Betsy Mason

It covers more than 30 percent of the planet, and is home to all kinds of sea creatures. What other facts make the Pacific Ocean so amazing?

By Mark Mancini & Yara Simón

NOAA's Argo program distributes floating observatories across the globe. Why? They collect data about the world's oceans that is critical to understanding the planet.

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

You can find hematite found all over Earth, as well as Mars. The bloodstone the main source of iron and is also used in jewelry and painting.

By Trevor English & Austin Henderson

Anyone who's been to the ocean has probably seen the foamy white stuff that clings to the sand after a wave breaks and recedes, but what the heck causes that bubbly foam and is it dangerous?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Lakes seem like serene places to escape and enjoy peace and quiet. So you'd probably be surprised to learn that a lake can actually explode without warning. It's happened, with deadly consequences.

By Mark Mancini

A killer smog 70 years ago helped lead to the first federal air pollution laws.

By Patrick J. Kiger

But that doesn't mean they worshipped them.

By Dave Roos

The Mushroom Burial Suit is designed to give our dead bodies new life by breaking them down and nourishing the soil.

By Jesslyn Shields

How, in today's world, could a cave this massive go undetected for so long?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Coral grows faster when it's cut or broken and scientists are taking advantage of that to replenish depleted reefs.

By Cherise Threewitt

Prior to the mid-1990s, the magnetic north pole traveled at speeds of around 9 miles per year. Now, it's 34 miles annually. What accounts for the acceleration?

By Mark Mancini

The pigment ultramarine was as expensive as gold in medieval Europe; so how did it end up in the teeth of a nun buried at a monastery in rural Germany?

By Jesslyn Shields

What makes peat bogs so perfect at preserving human remains? We look at what's behind these waterlogged areas of decaying plant matter.

By Mark Mancini & Desiree Bowie