Carolyn Gramling

Carolyn Gramling

Earth & Climate Writer

Carolyn is the Earth & Climate writer at Science News. Previously she worked at Science magazine for six years, both as a reporter covering paleontology and polar science and as the editor of the news in brief section. Before that she was a reporter and editor at EARTH magazine. She has bachelor’s degrees in Geology and European History and a Ph.D. in marine geochemistry from MIT and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She’s also a former Science News intern.

All Stories by Carolyn Gramling

  1. photo of Mount Nyiragongo erupting
    Earth

    In 2021, a deadly volcano erupted with no warning. Here’s why

    Before the Nyiragongo eruption, underground magma was already close to the surface and so didn’t trigger instruments that look for lava movement.

  2. Buildings with mountains in the background in Nuuk, Greenland
    Earth

    The Arctic is warming even faster than scientists realized

    The Arctic isn’t just heating up two to three times as quickly as the rest of the planet. New analyses show that warming is almost four times as fast.

  3. a man in a red shirt and a black cap standing in front of a misting fan
    Climate

    Humans may not be able to handle as much heat as scientists thought

    Humans’ capacity to endure heat stress may be lower than previously thought — bad news as climate change leads to more heat waves around the globe.

  4. an illustration of a mammal ancestor, with a rodent-like head and long furry body, exhaling hot air on a cold night
    Paleontology

    Mammal ancestors’ shrinking inner ears may reveal when warm-bloodedness arose

    An abrupt shift in inner ear shape of mammal ancestors 233 million years ago, during a time of climate swings, points to evolution of warm-bloodedness.

  5. An illustration of Meraxes gigas, a large dinosaur with a big head, fearsome teeth and tiny arms similar to a T. rex, roaring, with other dinosaurs in the background
    Paleontology

    A newfound dinosaur had tiny arms before T. rex made them cool

    A predecessor to Tyrannosaurus rex, Meraxes gigas had a giant head and puny but muscular arms, suggesting the limbs served some purpose.

  6. illustration of a feathered theropod dinosaur eating a small furry mammal
    Paleontology

    Feathers may have helped dinosaurs survive the Triassic mass extinction

    New data show that dinosaurs were able to weather freezing conditions about 202 million years ago, probably thanks to warm feathery coats.

  7. illustration of Vampyronassa rhodanica in pink with a blue background
    Paleontology

    Vampire squid are gentle blobs. But this ancestor was a fierce hunter

    New fossil analyses of 164-million-year-old ancestors of today’s vampire squid show the ancient cephalopods had muscular bodies and powerful suckers.

  8. painting of a bouquet of flowers that includes a yellow rose near the center
    Chemistry

    A pigment’s shift in chemistry robbed a painted yellow rose of its brilliance

    The degradation of an arsenic-based paint stripped shadows and light from a still life flower in a 17th century work by painter Abraham Mignon.

  9. Illustration of the ancient beaverlike mammal Kimbetopsalis simmonsae
    Paleontology

    How mammals took over the world

    In the book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, paleontologist Steve Brusatte tracks the evolutionary innovations that made mammals so successful.

  10. illustration of megalodon about to eat a pod of toothed whales
    Paleontology

    Great white sharks may have helped drive megalodons to extinction

    Analyzing zinc levels in shark teeth hints that megalodons and great whites competed with each other for food.

  11. a wave flows into a parking lot with the Miami skyline in the background and palm trees face extreme wind
    Climate

    Scientists hope to mimic the most extreme hurricane conditions

    A $12.8 million NSF grant is funding the design of a facility that can generate winds of at least 290 kilometers per hour and towering storm surges.

  12. the city of Otsuchi, Japan after a devastating earthquake
    Earth

    Machine learning and gravity signals could rapidly detect big earthquakes

    Large earthquakes make speed-of-light adjustments to Earth’s gravitational field. Researchers have now trained computers to detect the signals.