
Quantum quirk explains why carbon dioxide causes global warming
13 February 2024
A phenomenon called the Fermi resonance, which affects how molecules vibrate, is responsible for a large part of carbon dioxide’s planet-warming effect

13 February 2024
A phenomenon called the Fermi resonance, which affects how molecules vibrate, is responsible for a large part of carbon dioxide’s planet-warming effect

30 May 2023
Three decades ago, we spotted the single most energetic particle ever seen, nicknamed the 'Oh-My-God particle'. Since then, we have seen many more ultra-high-energy cosmic rays – and now we are unravelling the mystery of what produces them

11 May 2023
Solar-powered balloons floating 20 kilometres above ground have recorded inaudible low-frequency signals that have so far not been traced back to any known source

3 April 2023
The production of CFCs was banned globally in 2010, but researchers have detected rising levels of five CFC chemicals from unknown sources

14 December 2022
A spike in the greenhouse gas methane in 2020 may be explained in part by a drop in nitrogen oxide emissions during the covid-19 pandemic

22 November 2021
How modern life is causing catastrophic changes to the delicate balance of nitrogen in the air

5 November 2021
The lowest level of the atmosphere, called the troposphere, has been growing warmer and gaining thickness at a rate of 53 metres per decade since 2000

17 March 2021
The wispy cloud trails left by aircraft cause more warming than the carbon emissions from their fuel. Now there might be a simple way to stop them forming

1 March 2021
One billion years from now, Earth’s atmosphere is projected to contain a million times less oxygen than today, making it uninhabitable to complex aerobic life

12 February 2021
The mesosphere – the atmospheric layer 50 to 80km above the ground – is out of bounds to normal aircraft, but millimetre-sized devices could fly there powered by sunlight