Reference Terms
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Fossil fuel
Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, primarily coal, fuel oil or natural gas, formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. In common dialogue, the term fossil fuel also includes hydrocarbon-containing natural resources that are not derived from animal or plant sources. These are sometimes known instead as mineral fuels. The utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development and largely supplanted water-driven mills, as well as the combustion of wood or peat for heat. Fossil fuel is a general term for buried combustible geologic deposits of organic materials, formed from decayed plants and animals that have been converted to crude oil, coal, natural gas, or heavy oils by exposure to heat and pressure in the earth's crust over hundreds of millions of years. The burning of fossil fuels by humans is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that allows radiative forcing and contributes to global warming. A small portion of hydrocarbon-based fuels are biofuels derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide, and thus do not increase the net amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
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Earth & Climate News
March 28, 2026
Mar. 28, 2026 Scientists have created a new kind of carbon material that could make carbon capture much cheaper and more efficient. By carefully controlling how nitrogen atoms are arranged, they found certain structures capture CO2 better and release it using far ...
Mar. 27, 2026 A massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar in March 2025, but what makes this event extraordinary is what happened next. For the first time, a nearby CCTV camera captured the fault rupture in ...
Mar. 27, 2026 Stable sea ice along Alaska’s coast is disappearing faster than expected, with the season shrinking by weeks and even months in recent decades. The ice is forming later in the fall and, in some places, breaking away earlier in spring. This trend ...
Mar. 26, 2026 A sweeping global report finds that migratory freshwater fish are in steep decline, with populations down roughly 81% since 1970. These species depend on long, connected rivers, but dams and human pressures are cutting off their routes. Hundreds of ...
Mar. 25, 2026 When temperatures plunge, the risk to your heart rises dramatically. A large U.S. study shows cold weather is linked to far more cardiovascular deaths than heat, accounting for tens of thousands of extra deaths each year. Scientists found the safest ...
Mar. 23, 2026 People often get the environmental impact of food wrong, according to new research. While many assume processed foods are the worst, they tend to overlook the surprisingly high impact of items like nuts and underestimate how damaging beef really is. ...
Mar. 23, 2026 Tiny plastic particles aren’t just choking oceans and cities—they’re quietly infiltrating forests too. Scientists discovered that most microplastics arrive through the air, settling onto treetops before being washed or dropped to the forest ...
Mar. 22, 2026 Beavers may be unlikely climate heroes, but new research suggests they could play a powerful role in fighting climate change. By building dams and transforming streams into wetlands, these industrious animals dramatically reshape how carbon moves ...
Mar. 21, 2026 A hidden freshwater system deep beneath the Great Salt Lake has been revealed using airborne electromagnetic surveys. Scientists found that freshwater extends much farther under the lake than expected, reaching depths of up to 4 kilometers. The ...
Mar. 21, 2026 Antibiotics are accumulating in a major Brazilian river, especially during the dry season when pollution becomes more concentrated. Scientists even detected a banned drug inside fish sold for food, raising concerns about human exposure. A common ...
Mar. 20, 2026 A mysterious spike of platinum buried deep in Greenland’s ice has long fueled theories of a catastrophic comet or asteroid strike 12,800 years ago—possibly triggering a sudden return to icy conditions known as the Younger Dryas. But new research ...
Mar. 19, 2026 Tropical peatlands, some of the planet’s largest underground carbon stores, are now burning at levels never seen in at least 2,000 years. By analyzing charcoal preserved in peat across multiple continents, scientists discovered that fires had ...
Latest Headlines
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Mar. 27, 2026 A fossil ape discovered in northern Egypt is reshaping the story of human evolution. The species, Masripithecus, lived about 17 to 18 million years ago and may sit very close to the ancestor of all ...
Mar. 26, 2026 Deep inside a cave, scientists uncovered fossils from 16 species, including a newfound kākāpō ancestor that may have been able to fly. These remains reveal that New Zealand’s ecosystems were ...
Mar. 21, 2026 Scientists have uncovered the oldest direct evidence yet that Earth’s tectonic plates were on the move 3.5 billion years ago. By analyzing magnetic fingerprints in ancient rocks, they reconstructed ...
Mar. 18, 2026 Pink granite boulders sitting mysteriously atop Antarctica’s Hudson Mountains have led scientists to a stunning discovery: a hidden granite mass buried beneath Pine Island Glacier, stretching ...
Mar. 18, 2026 AI’s growing energy use sounds alarming, but its global climate impact may be far smaller than expected. Researchers found that while AI consumes huge amounts of electricity, it barely moves the ...
Mar. 15, 2026 A new detection method called “Jerk” could dramatically improve how scientists forecast volcanic eruptions. By using a single broadband ...
Mar. 15, 2026 The asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs didn’t keep life down for long. New research shows that microscopic plankton began evolving into new species within just a few thousand years—and ...
Mar. 14, 2026 Spiders and insects may not be fan favorites, but they are vital to the health of ecosystems—and scientists barely know how they’re doing. Researchers found that nearly 90% of North America’s ...
Mar. 14, 2026 Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of strange plume-like structures hidden deep inside the Greenland ice sheet. New research suggests ...
Mar. 12, 2026 Researchers have uncovered a universal pattern showing how temperature affects life on Earth. Across thousands of species—from microbes to reptiles—performance rises gradually with warming until ...