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. Paleontology

    Some of Earth’s extinct giants may have been smaller than thought

    Evolving techniques and data indicate some ancient giants like Dunkleosteus and Megalodon may have been smaller than initial estimates suggested.

  2. Climate

    Earth’s ancient ‘greenhouse’ conditions were hotter than thought

    A timeline of 485 million years of Earth’s surface temperatures shows ancient greenhouse conditions were hotter than scientists thought.

  3. Climate

    Summer-like heat is scorching the Southern Hemisphere — in winter

    Warmer winters are fast becoming a global phenomenon and can affect everything from the food we grow to the spread of diseases.

  4. Paleontology

    The asteroid that may have killed the dinosaurs came from beyond Jupiter

    The Chicxulub crater, left behind by the impact, contains elemental traces that suggest the origins of the notorious projectile.

  5. Climate

    Extraordinary heat waves have readers asking how A/C affects greenhouse gas emissions

    Air conditioning is responsible for nearly 4 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions but that will climb along with rising temperatures.

  6. Climate

    Zigzag walls could help buildings beat the heat

    A corrugated exterior wall reflects heat to space and absorbs less heat from the ground, keeping it several degrees cooler than a flat wall.

  7. Earth

    Earthquakes added to Pompeii’s death toll

    Broken bodies found at the archaeological site indicate that earthquakes played a role in the legendary tragedy.

  8. Climate

    Record-breaking Coral Sea temperatures threaten the Great Barrier Reef

    Near-annual extreme heat in the Coral Sea, including in 2024, is causing back-to-back mass bleaching events in the iconic Great Barrier Reef.

  9. Climate

    Earth’s jet stream helps create the seeds of clouds

    The newly discovered process for making aerosols might also be the most productive.

  10. Climate

    Earth keeps breaking global heat records

    How hot could it get? In the first edition of Science News’ Extreme Climate Update, we look at how high temperatures could soar.

  11. Climate

    Plants might not hold on to carbon as long as we thought

    Radiocarbon from bomb tests reveals that plants store more carbon than previously estimated in leaves and stems, which are vulnerable to degradation.

  12. ‘Space hurricanes’ churn at both of Earth’s magnetic poles

    The southern hemisphere’s ionosphere experiences about 23 space hurricanes per year, which is on par with the northern hemisphere.