Efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 °C could unintentionally place growing pressure on the world’s food supply, according to a new perspective published in Environmental and Biogeochemical Processes. The analysis warns that climate commitments relying heavily on afforestation and other land-based carbon removal strategies may reduce global cropland by 12.8% by 2100.

SAN ANTONIO — August 5, 2026 — A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) provides evidence that liquid nitrogen is rising to Pluto’s surface through cracks in the northern edge of the Sputnik Planitia, part of the massive heart-shaped glacier on the dwarf planet’s surface. This is the first evidence of liquid recently flowing on Pluto. The study is based on data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft and is led by SwRI Associate Vice President Dr. Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission.

For the first time, researchers have discovered a new species of extinct amphibian from Ice Age Los Angeles at La Brea Tar Pits: a spadefoot toad which they have named Spea labreae. Only one other extinct Pleistocene amphibian from North America has ever been found (a tree frog from Florida). While the toad may be much smaller than the mammoths and saber-toothed cats that made the Tar Pits famous, this discovery has a big impact on our understanding of the climate at the end of the last ice age. Described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, S. labreae spotlights the ongoing daily discoveries at the Samuel Oschin Global Center for Ice Age Research at La Brea Tar Pits as the iconic museum begins a historic transformation.

More than a year after the historic Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires, residents still face urgent environmental questions: Is my soil contaminated? Are the beaches safe? What should I do if contamination is found?