volcano

By Agustín del Castillo For 20 years, the Colima fir tree (Abies colimensis) has been at the heart of many disputes to conserve the temperate forests of southern Jalisco, a state in central Mexico. Today, the future of this tree rests upon whether the area’s avocado crops will advance further and whether neighboring communities will […]

By James Renwick Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz Earth had several periods of high carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and […]

By Malavika Vyawahare Giant tortoises and flying foxes once roamed La Réunion, a volcanic island off the eastern coast of Africa. Then humans arrived and decided to stay. Within 150 years of their appearance, large fruit-eating animals like the giant tortoises (Cylindraspis indica) and flying foxes (Pteropus niger), a type of bat, were wiped off […]

By Jason Bittel Since Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano began erupting in early May, we’ve been mesmerized, month after month, by videos depicting what can happen when molten rock dances through the air, forms gigantic rivers or crashes into a Ford Mustang. But some videos are much harder to watch—like those depicting the many homes destroyed or […]

On Wednesday the Indonesian government opened an airport on Bali as wind blew away ash spewing out of a volcano, clearing the air for planes and giving residents and tourists a chance to escape. In the past several days, the volcano has disrupted operations at Bali’s airport, the second-busiest in Indonesia, while tens of thousands […]