While NASA rovers on the surface of Mars look for hints of life, researchers back on Earth are studying ‘echoes of life’ from ancient basins – hoping that the two sites might be similar.

Long before thermometers, nature left its own temperature records. A climate scientist explains how ongoing global warming compares with ancient temperatures.

Most of the carbon disturbed by trawls is unreactive and difficult to convert to CO₂.

Evidence in Earth’s natural archives, from tree rings to seafloor sediments, points to one trend. Some climate models suggest another. Here’s why are important.

‘Blue carbon’ habitats can store a lot of carbon – but not reliably enough to offset emissions.

Roughly 6 million years after the Grand Canyon's formation, researchers have discovered that nearby groundwater is much younger than they thought it was.

Millions of people around the world live on river deltas and are vulnerable when those rivers shift direction. A new study shows why and where these events, called avulsions, happen.

A newly discovered city-size lake might contain a history of the world's largest ice sheet in East Antarctica since its earliest beginnings.

Lake sediment in the Tibetan Plateau suggests permafrost at high elevations is more vulnerable than arctic permafrost under projected future climate conditions.

Ancient methane gas ocean cores from 23 million years ago are revealing clues about modern-day global and environmental changes.