Showing titles in Earth Sciences

In the early twentieth century, paleoanthropologists interpreted the differences between specimens of an expanding human fossil record as reflecting taxonomic and evolutionary diversity. Why, then, in the 1940s, did geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky reconfigure human evolution into one...

The fascinating group of animals called dinosaurs became extinct some 65 million years ago (except for their feathered descendants). In their place evolved an enormous variety of land creatures, especially mammals, which in their way were every bit as remarkable as their Mesozoic cousins. The Age of Mammals, the Cenozoic Era, has never had its Jurassic Park, but it was an amazing time in earth's history, populated by a wonderful assortment of bizarre animals. The rapid evolution of thousands of species of mammals brought forth many incredible creatures—including our own ancestors.

In 1908, near Folsom, New Mexico, a cowboy discovered the remains of a herd of extinct giant bison. By examining flint points embedded in the bones, archeologists later determined that a band of humans had killed and butchered the animals 12,450 years ago. This discovery vastly expanded America's known human history but also revealed the long-standing danger Homo sapiens presented to the continent's evolutionary richness. Distinguished scholar Dan Flores's ambitious history chronicles the epoch in which humans and animals have coexisted in the "wild new world" of North America.

Humans depend on soil for 95 percent of global food production, yet let it erode at unsustainable rates. In the United States, China, and India, vast tracts of farmland will be barren of topsoil within this century. The combination of intensifying erosion caused by climate change and the increasing food needs of a growing world population is creating a desperate need for solutions to this crisis.

Africa has long been considered the cradle of life - where life and humans evolved - but somewhere west of Munich, Germany, paleoclimatologist and paleontologist Madelaine Böhme and her team make a discovery that is beyond anything they ever imagined: the 12-million-year-old bones of an ancient ape - Danuvius guggenmos - which makes headlines around the world and defies prevailing theories of human history and where human life began.

Balancing a broad array of archaeological, botanical, and historical evidence, Fruit from the Sands presents the fascinating story of the origins and spread of agriculture across Inner Asia and into Europe and East Asia. Through the preserved remains of plants in archaeological sites, Robert N. Spengler III identifies the regions where our most familiar crops were domesticated and follows their routes as people carried them around the world. Vividly narrated, Fruit from the Sands explores how the foods we eat have shaped the course of human history.

Wagner and Martin Weitzman explore in lively, clear terms the likely repercussions of a hotter planet, drawing on and expanding from work previously unavailable to general audiences. They show that the longer we wait to act, the more likely an extreme event will happen. A city might go underwater.

The aurora borealis, often referred to as the Northern Lights, is a natural light-show that appears in the sky around the north magnetic pole. Auroras can sometimes be seen in other places of the world, but not as clearly. In the southern hemisphere, the phenomenon is called "aurora australis".

Humanity can make short work of the oceans' creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller's sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It's a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Island was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the explorers set sail.

Les étés que nous connaissons aujourd’hui pourraient bientôt nous sembler presque supportables. Canicules à répétition, sécheresses records, incendies géants, villes étouffantes et ressources en eau sous tension : le changement climatique n'est plus une menace lointaine, mais une...

The hazard was mapped, the risks were assessed, the plan was approved, and then reality showed up.But We Had A Plan is a podcast about disasters, risk, resilience, and the wonderfully unpredictable variables that determine what happens when things don't quite go to plan.Hosted by Professional Disaster Manager and Disaster Nomad founder Jess van Schalkwyk, expect conversations with experts, practitioners and fascinating humans about the incidents, ideas, lessons and occasional curveballs that might help us do things better next time.Sometimes technical. Sometimes uncomfortable. Occasionally ...

Service to Our Sea is the marine science podcast from Black Ocean Citizens, hosted by founding director, marine and fisheries social scientist Gurpreet Padda. Black Ocean Citizens is a UK science led movement working to diversify career pathways for minoritised communities into marine, coastal and fishery sciences and governance, and to champion the work of Black and People of Colour ocean advocates. Every episode brings you conversations with scientists, advocates, fishermen and fisherwomen, campaigners, community leaders and ocean thinkers. Together they explore the routes people take into ...

In 1910, Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his team set out on one of the most ambitious and perilous expeditions in the history of exploration: the race to reach the South Pole. In The Worst Journey in the World, expedition member Apsley Cherry-Garrard recounts the extraordinary story of...

Feel the change in your bones? From worsening arthritis pain to seasonal depression, discover why millions of people really are "under the weather" and learn science-backed solutions to take control of your health no matter what the forecast. Your body is a living weather station, responding to...

The World's Most Fascinating Geologic Events takes you on a journey around the world and across time to explore the volcanic and seismic activity, dramatic shifts in climate, and superstorms that have inspired terror and awe over thousands of years. Taught by esteemed Professor Michael E. Wysession at Washington University in St. Louis, these 24 captivating lectures reveal the inseparable links between geologic phenomena and human affairs.

In questo podcast affronteremo temi pratici legati all'atmosfera ed alle sue intricate e affascinanti dinamiche.Tra questi, la dispersione degli inquinanti in atmosfera, il bilancio di energia a cavallo di atmosfera e superficie terrestre, il fenomeno dell'evapotraspirazione, e molto altro.Il podcast è per tutte e tutti: per seguirlo basta un po' di pazienza, volontà di ascoltare, e disponibilità a ragionare.Molto di ciò che incontreremo insieme si colloca nello "Strato Limite Planetario": la parte di atmosfera al contatto con la superficie terrestre, che risponde alle sollecitazioni di ...

Quake tells the true stories of the world's great earthquakes and tsunamis and the science of how the Earth moves. Each episode, host Nirob takes one earthquake — a city that fell on a holy day and shook the faith of a continent, a harbour that burned for three days, a wave that crossed an ocean in a night and killed a quarter of a million people, a nuclear power station overwhelmed by the sea — and rebuilds it: the fault beneath the ground and the people who lived on it, the warnings that were or were not read, the shaking as it actually happened second by second, the aftermath of fire ...

Earth Before Humans travels through deep time to explore the worlds that existed before our species. Each researched episode follows one turning point in geology, climate, evolution, or extinction, from the first oxygen in the atmosphere to ancient seas and asteroid impacts. Evidence, uncertainty, and changing scientific interpretations are explained in clear documentary stories.

There are few stories more remarkable than the evolution of life on earth. Where did humans come from? Where did life come from? New fields of study, such as molecular biology and astrobiology, are shedding remarkable new light on the origin of life and the origin of sex. In this Very Short...

A geologist’s revelatory invitation to discover how our planet’s seemingly inert bones pulse with unexpected vitality If you listen, can you hear the stones speak? The question seems absurd. After all, rocks are lifeless, inert, and silent. In The Whispers of Rock, earth scientist Anjana...