Natural Disasters

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Warming, Rising Acidity and Pollution: Top Threats to the Ocean

Since the last World Oceans Day, we've documented trash in the deep sea, sea snails with acid-weakened shells, high ocean temperatures and more

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Which Primate Is the Most Likely Source of the Next Pandemic?

To help anticipate the next outbreak of an emerging infectious disease, scientists scrutinize our closest relatives in the animal kingdom

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The Colorado: America’s Most Endangered River

A new report points to drought, climate change and increased demand for water as the reasons the iconic river no longer reaches the sea

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New Web Tool Helps Avoid Flooding by Finding the Best Spots to Build Wetlands

Specifically placed small wetlands can help capture watershed runoff, helping city planners to guard against flood disasters

Landslides can be both sudden and devastating to people living in the shadows of mountains. This one, which slid in 2006 in the Philippine province of Southern Leyte, killed more than 1000 people.

Landslide “Quakes” Give Clues to the Location and Size of Debris Flows

Scientists can now quickly assess characteristics of a landslide soon after slopes fail, based on its seismic signature

Locusts covering a bush during the 2004 swarm near the Red Sea cost in Israel.

A Plague of Locusts Descends Upon the Holy Land, Just in Time for Passover

Israel battles a swarm of millions of locusts that flew from Egypt that is giving rise to a host of ecological, political and agricultural issues

Melting sea ice is a threat to many Arctic species, including polar bears.

How Climate Change Affects the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough looks at how our scientists are studying our changing climate

A dark Manhattan after Superstorm Sandy

Can We Ever Stop Worrying About Blackouts?

Only if utility companies are able to make their power grids smart enough to spot outages and "heal" themselves

According to oral tradition, the Mayflower Pilgrims landed near Plymouth Rock in 1620—but first-person accounts of their arrival make no mention of it.

Did the Pilgrims Really Land on Plymouth Rock and More Questisons From our Readers

Where do hurricanes start, the Big Bang, sea gulls and other answers from the Smithsonian’s experts

Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas may increase the risk of earthquake, a new study finds.

‘Fracking’ for Natural Gas Is Linked With Earthquakes

A new study finds a correlation between the underground injection of waste fluids from fracking and dozens of small earthquakes

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Ocean Acidity Rivals Climate Change As Environmental Threat

Rising ocean acidity is now considered to be just as much of a formidable threat to the health of Earth’s environment as the atmospheric climate changes

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The DC Derecho of 2012

A devastating storm swept through Washington Friday night. By Saturday morning we were all left wondering, "what in the world had happened?"

The 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption, one of the largest in recent history, is dwarfed by the scale of supervolcano eruptions

Can Supervolcanoes Erupt More Suddenly Than We Think?

Enormous magma reserves may sit quietly for just thousands or even hundreds of years

The supermoon of March 2011, rising behind the Lincoln Memorial In Washington, DC

The Biggest Supermoon in Years is Coming Saturday Night

The moon's closest approach to earth will coincide with a perfectly full moon

Some scientists have suggested the weight of water in the lake created by the Zipingpu Dam in China triggered the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

UPDATED: How Humans Cause Earthquakes

Fracking is just the latest cause to make the news for its link to quakes

A medium-size solar flare with a coronal mass ejection, captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory on June 7, 2011

Could The Sun Set Off The Next Big Natural Disaster?

A new study finds that a strong solar storm could disable satellites for a decade

The Islamic Empire (top) and Baghdad (bottom), circa 770-910 AD

Arabic Manuscripts: It Used To Snow in Iraq

Baghdad was the bustling capital of the vast Islamic Empire a thousand years ago, when the city's climate was much different than today

The Caldera of Santorini is today a ring of islands in the Aegean.

What Happens Before a Volcano Blows?

Volcanologists thought that the buildup to an eruption would take centuries. But this report adds to a suspicion that it can happen faster than expected

Cats and earthquakes were popular subjects this year.

Top Ten Science Blog Posts of 2011

Cats, zombies, earthquakes, chickens--our readers have an eclectic taste

A map of extreme weather events in the United States, January to October 2011

Visualizing a Year of Extreme Weather

The United States has seen thousands of weather records broken this year

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