A hidden chemical leak may be quietly delaying the ozone layer’s comeback. The Montreal Protocol, signed in 1987, is widely considered one of the most effective environmental agreements ever implemented. It has driven a global phaseout of chemicals that once damaged the ozone layer and increased risks such as skin cancer and other health problems. [...]

Researchers report that methane absorption has increased under shifting climate conditions, based on a long-term study conducted in Germany. Forest soils play a key role in regulating the climate by removing large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere. A research team from the University of Göttingen and the Baden-Württemberg Forest Research [...]

Scientists have found a powerful new way to follow water as it moves around the planet—by tracking subtle “fingerprints” hidden inside its atoms. Scientists can now follow the path of a single drop of water as it moves through the world. Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, and some of these atoms naturally occur [...]