Like so many great scientific discoveries, Tom Brocks  research would revolutionize the field of biology — and pave the road to the development of the gold-standard COVID-19 tests used to fight a pandemic — with a question.  In 1964, the microbiologist was driving out West when he stopped to visit Yellowstone National Park. It was the first time he saw the park's picturesque hot springs. - USA Today or Apple News

An ancient, well-preserved tree that was alive the last time the Earth's magnetic poles flipped has helped scientists pin down more precise timing of that event, which occurred about 42,000 years ago.  This new information has led them to link the flipping of the poles to key moments in the prehistoric record, like the sudden appearance of cave art and the mysterious extinction of large mammals and the Neanderthals. They argue that the weakening of the Earth's magnetic field would have briefly transformed the world by altering its climate and allowing far more ultraviolet light to pour in.  Until now, scientists have mostly assumed that magnetic field reversals didn't matter much for life on Earth, although some geologists have noted that die-offs of large mammals seemed to occur in periods when the Earth's magnetic field was weak. - NPR / Science

More than a third of farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt, nearly 100 million acres, has completely lost its carbon-rich topsoil due to erosion, according to a new study published in the journal PNAS.  The loss of topsoil has reduced corn and soybean yields in the Midwest by 6 percent, resulting in a loss of nearly $3 billion a year for farmers, and increased runoff of sediment and nutrients into nearby waterways, worsening water quality.  The study found that the greatest loss of carbon-rich topsoil was on hilltops and ridge lines indicating that tillage, or the repeated plowing of fields, was largely to blame as loosened soils moved downslope. The research also found that this erosion has removed nearly 1.5 petagrams of carbon from hills in the Corn Belt. Restoring the topsoil, the study’s authors argued, could help productivity and potentially turn agricultural fields into carbon sinks. - YaleEnvironment360

With millions of Texas residents still without power amid frigid temperatures, conservative commentators have falsely claimed that wind turbines and solar energy were primarily to blame.  “We should never build another wind turbine in Texas,” read a Tuesday Facebook ost from Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. “The experiment failed big time.”  “This is a perfect example of the need for reliable energy sources like natural gas & coal,” tweeted U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana, on Tuesday. In reality, failures in natural gas, coal and nuclear energy systems were responsible for nearly twice as many outages as frozen wind turbines and solar panels, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, said in a press conference Tuesday.  Still a variety of misleading claims spread on social media around renewable energy, with wind turbines and the Green New Deal getting much of the attention.  A viral photo of a helicopter de-icing a wind turbine was shared with claims it showed a “chemical” solution being applied to one of the massive wind generators in Texas. The only problem? The photo was taken in Sweden years ago, not in the U.S. in 2021. The helicopter sprayed hot water onto the wind turbine, not chemicals. - ABC News

"Most of the generation lost has been from coal and gas, according to ERCOT, with only 13% attributable to wind. 'By some estimates,' The Texas Tribune reported Tuesday, 'nearly half of the state's natural gas production has screeched to a halt. Gathering lines freeze, and the wells get so cold that they can't produce,' Parker Fawcett, a natural gas analyst at S&P Global Platts, told the Tribune. 'And, pumps use electricity, so they're not even able to lift that gas and liquid, because there's no power to produce.'"

While ice has forced some turbines to shut down just as a brutal cold wave drives record electrify demand, that's been the least significant factor in the blackouts, according to Dan Woodfin, a senior director for ERCOT which operates the Texas grid.  The main factors?  Frozen instruments at natural gas, coal and even nuclear facilities as well as limited supplies of natural gas, he said.  "Natural gas pressure" in particular is one reason power is coming back slower than expected Tuesday, added Woodfin. 

Since 1880, the Earth’s average surface temperature has risen by 0.07°C (0.13°F) every decade. That number alone may seem negligible, but over time, it adds up.  In addition, the rate of temperature change has grown significantly more dramatic over time—more than doubling to 0.18°C (0.32°F) since 1981. As a result of this global warming process, environmental crises have become the most prominent risks of our time.  In this global temperature graph, climate data scientist Neil R. Kaye breaks down how monthly average temperatures have changed over nearly 170 years. Temperature values have been benchmarked against pre-industrial averages (1850–1900). - Visual Capitalist

Since volcanoes like Sunset Crater, called basaltic scoria cones, usually erupt only once, they don’t receive much of the attention their more active counterparts see. But the new research showed this eruption liberated disproportionally high amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur for the volume of material released, suggesting these scoria cones might be more impactful than previously thought. “What we’re finding here is that some of these volcanoes may actually be able to erupt in a similar manner to something like Mount St. Helens,” said Chelsea Allison, lead author on the new paper. “It’s really important that we can understand how that’s happening…so that in the future, if such an event were to occur, we’d be prepared for what might happen.” - EOS

Emissions of trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, were supposed to taper off after the Montreal Protocol banned CFC-11 production in 2010. But 2014 to 2017 saw an unexpected bump. About half of that illegal pollution was pegged to eastern China.. Now, atmospheric data show that global CFC-11 emissions in 2019 were back down to the average levels seen from 2008 to 2012, and about 60 percent of that decline was due to reduced emissions in eastern China. These findings suggest that the hole in Earth’s ozone layer is still on track to close up within the next 50 years — rather than being delayed, as it would have been if CFC-11 emissions had remained at the levels seen from 2014 to 2017. - Science News

Emissions of trichlorofluoromethane, or CFC-11, were supposed to taper off after the Montreal Protocol banned CFC-11 production in 2010. But 2014 to 2017 saw an unexpected bump. About half of that illegal pollution was pegged to eastern China. Now, atmospheric data show that global CFC-11 emissions in 2019 were back down to the average levels seen from 2008 to 2012, and about 60 percent of that decline was due to reduced emissions in eastern China.  The hole in Earth’s ozone layer is still on track to close up within the next 50 years — rather than being delayed, as it would have been if CFC-11 emissions had remained at the levels seen from 2014 to 2017. - Science News

The Rocky Mountains that lie within Blackfoot traditional territory are threatened with mountaintop removal. The Grassy Mountain coal project in Alberta, Canada, is slated to begin coal extraction in fall 2021. It is expected to be profitable for only 25 years. However, by then the almost 4,000-acre project will have blasted the terrain with explosives, separating the substrata from the coal and creating a new rock-scape the size of almost 3,000 American football fields.  Places where mountaintop coal removal occurs are never the same; just look at West Virginia, where mountain areas once rich with biodiverse forests have been reduced to barren desolation. And, as my grandmother taught me, disturbed areas are not places to practice Blackfoot traditional knowledge. - - High Country News Perspective