How the loss of Earth's atmosphere would cause oceans to boil at freezing temperatures

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Without greenhouse gases, Earth's average surface temperature would be below freezing

Atmospheric molecules that absorb and emit infrared radiation from the planet's surface effectively trap additional incident solar energy that would otherwise escape to space. Without the greenhouse effect, the planet's average surface temperature would be approximately -18 degrees Celsius (0 degrees Fahrenheit).

The weight of Earth's atmosphere is equivalent to a 33-foot deep, global ocean

Because air is made up of gas molecules with mass, it is not weightless. On the planet's surface, we are effectively living in what is the equivalent of the bottom of an invisible ocean of these particles pressing against us, just as water molecules do when we are submerged.

If the Earth stopped spinning, 85% of the world's population would experience supersonic winds

The planet's equator moves about 470 meters per second—over 1,000 miles per hour—and air there would continue moving at this speed for several minutes if the ground stopped rotating. These conditions would cause tsunamis, global storms, and fling debris fast enough to destroy nearly all human-made structures.

How water pressure affects the body

The extreme conditions of the deep sea include increasing amounts of pressure as explorers and organisms descend into its depths. The major danger for both fish and humans is the way pressure changes how body tissues absorb chemical molecules...

Hypotheses on the origins of Earth's water, from comets and asteroids to magma oceans

Before Earth's atmosphere formed, any liquid water would have boiled off, preventing the accumulation of water early on to create today's oceans. Planetary scientists continue to debate whether this water was delivered later from comet or asteroid collisions or via reactions between iron oxide in Earth's molten surface and hydrogen gas from the planetary nebula.

Why Earth would become a more deadly environment without the ozone layer

The ozone layer blocks almost all of the sun's harmful, including dangerous UVC rays that can damage cells by breaking chemical bonds. Without it, rates of skin cancer, crop failures, oceanic die-offs, and widespread ecosystem collapse would increase significantly, making Earth largely uninhabitable.

The importance of the mesosphere, the coldest part of Earth's atmosphere

Atmospheric gases are dense enough in this region to begin burning up debris traveling toward Earth's surface, producing meteor showers, or shooting stars. Although we normally associate decreasing temperatures with increasing altitude, temperatures increase beyond the mesosphere layer due to the absorption of high-energy ultraviolet radiation and X-rays.

Tidally locked exoplanets experience extreme atmospheric temperatures

On worlds like WASP 76b, which orbits its host star approximately 3% the Earth-sun distance, temperatures on its day side can vaporize iron. Winds more than 14 times the speed of sound blow this material to its night side, where it condenses and falls as liquid metal.

Solar wind may have contributed to Mars losing its atmosphere

Scientists believe that over hundreds of millions of years, energetic particles from the sun colliding with atmospheric particles, flinging them away from Mars' weak gravitational field like colliding billiard balls. As atmospheric pressure decline, water also evaporated away from the surface.

Research suggests a 95-kilometer-wide (59-mile-wide) asteroid impact could boil the Earth's oceans

Even a 1-kilometer-wide (0.62-mile-wide) asteroid can trigger earthquakes and tsunamis on impact with oceans. The overwhelming majority of asteroids that reach Earth are much smaller and burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground.

Learn about various ocean-atmosphere cycles impacting global weather patterns

Although the El Niño-Southern Oscillation is among the most impactful, the North Atlantic Oscillation strongly influences weather patterns in the Northeast US by periodically changing atmospheric pressure over the Atlantic. The North Pacific Oscillation fluctuates atmospheric pressure and sea-surface temperatures that affect winter temperatures over much of the US.

Instabilities in the polar jet stream can bring cold Arctic air southward

The polar jet stream marks the boundary between mid-latitude air and the much colder polar air, which are normally contained by the polar vortex—a ring of strong winds that circles the Arctic around 16 to 50 kilometers (10 to 30 miles) above the Earth's surface. Climate change may be responsible for "blocking patterns" that distort the jet stream, allowing polar air to leak into lower latitudes.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Underwater volcanoes significantly contributes to marine extinctions during the Triassic period

An analysis of ocean basins in the Tibetan Plateau helped identify three major periods of volcanism—250-248, 233-231, and 210-208 million years ago—which released significant amounts of greenhouse gases, altering ocean chemistry. The low-oxygen conditions may help explain half of Earth's Triassic extinctions.

Europa's deep ocean may hold the conditions needed to support alien life

Beneath its frozen crust, Europa hides a salty ocean heated by tidal forces from Jupiter. This environment may resemble Earth's deep-sea hydrothermal vents and have allowed for the development of life over billions of years.

Understanding the causes and environmental impacts of crude oil spills and leaks

Although some oil regularly leaks from the bottom of the oceans through the gradual erosion of sedimentary rock, major spills result from accidental ruptures of pipelines or damage to transportation vessels or rigs. Oil can break down the water-repelling ability of feathers, remove the insulation of fur, and poison food chains if ingested.

It is impossible for astronauts to burp in space

Due to Earth's gravity, liquids and solids sink in our digestive system, while gases rise, allowing them to be forced back up the esophagus to be expelled through burping. In the microgravity environment of the International Space Station, burping would result in vomiting if it were possible.

Low temperatures led to the equipment failure that caused the Challenger disaster

The polymer chains that make up an O-ring give it the ability to quickly deform and fill in gaps to seal fluids, including the hot gases from the Challenger's rocket boosters. Cold weather on the day of launch stiffened the O-rings, reducing their flexibility and sealing properties.

Glacial ice loss can be determined by listening to escaping bubbles

Glaciers form from the accumulation of layers of snowfall over hundreds to thousands of years, trapping air bubbles that serve as time capsules of atmospheric conditions at the time. When glaciers melt, these bubbles produce a distinctive sound that can be detected by underwater microphones, allowing assessment of melting from a safe distance.

Supermassive black holes create pressure waves, detectable as extremely low sounds

Space is largely silent because it lacks a medium for sound waves. Some Mars rovers capture sounds of wind, though the sounds are too low to hear. Through sonification, astronomical data can be translated into hearable sounds for broader engagement.

The importance of volatile aroma compounds in the flavor quality of food

Processes such as air movement and heating cause food to lose aroma molecules, which studies have shown play a major role in our sense of taste. While losing these molecules to the environment leaves fewer to be processed during consumption to intensify flavor, it can also produce previously nonexistent aroma compounds or release previously trapped ones, altering or enhancing the food's flavor.

What is freezing fog?

Freezing fog is a weather condition in which fog containing supercooled water freezes on contact with objects, forming a layer of ice and possibly dangerous driving conditions. Get the breakdown with this explainer.

Tropical cyclone formation require warm water and limited vertical wind shear

Ocean temperatures above 27 degrees Celsius fuel rising, moist air, which releases energy through heat as water vapor condenses into clouds. Significant changes in wind speed with height can spread out these upflows, preventing the eventual formation of a central column known as the eye.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

Why is sea level rising?

Rising global sea level is one of the most commonly cited consequences of climate change, but it’s often unclear how it might affect people living on the coasts. Read this explanation of why global sea level is rising and why sea level rise happens at different rates in different locations.

Climate change creates conditions for more invasive species

Increasing temperatures shift the conditions native organisms are accustomed to, allowing those from warmer climates to move in with a greater chance of survival. Drought stress can cause invasive plants to absorb less herbicide, limiting the effectiveness of the control method, while melting ice can open new Arctic shipping routes, expanding the transport of species.

Hurricanes, which rely on air consistently spinning in the same direction, cannot cross the equator because air curves in opposite directions north and south of it.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time