5+ day, 19+ hour ago   (1442+ words) WorldAtlas Alaska records more large earthquakes than the other 49 states combined, and the interior census area that leads this list is slightly larger than the state of Montana. One terminology note first: Alaska has no counties, so this list uses…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (828+ words) WorldAtlas In southeast Alaska, researchers worked out which way storms blew four centuries ago. They did it by noting which way the fallen trunks pointed. A forest that leans one way is a record, and what it records changes every…...

5+ day, 14+ hour ago   (612+ words) WorldAtlas It is mind-boggling that out of the earth's 57 million square miles of land, redwood trees grow along just 3,438 square miles of coastline, a narrow band beginning in Northern California and ending just past the Oregon state line. This was…...

3+ day, 18+ hour ago   (570+ words) WorldAtlas Black bears are remarkably adaptable animals, but they remain closely tied to forests above all else. Thick cover gives them places to rest and raise cubs, while berries, nuts, insects, and wildlife found throughout the wooded landscape keep them…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (1392+ words) WorldAtlas Across the Canadian Arctic, hundreds of thousands of lakes have never been touched by a human being. They have no names, no visitors, and no record beyond satellite imagery. They are the extreme end of a spectrum that has…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago   (863+ words) WorldAtlas The Florida Keys are home to North America's only coral barrier reef. Over 15,000 species of marine life inhabit the Gulf of Mexico. Monterey Bay is home to everything from microscopic zooplankton to blue whales. Hawaii’s warm tropical waters are…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago   (264+ words) A single bolt of lightning can travel for miles across the sky before it ever reaches the ground. It is essentially a giant electrical spark created inside a thunderstorm. Strong winds toss water droplets, ice crystals, and tiny bits of…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago   (343+ words) More than 180 non-native aquatic species have been recorded in the Great Lakes basin. One notorious invader, however, has so far been kept from establishing a reproducing population in the lakes themselves: the silver carp. Silver carp were brought to the…...

5+ day, 19+ hour ago   (1155+ words) Here is where they actually are, which species, and why the bite statistics are far less alarming than the sentences above. The Gulf Islands National Seashore is the best-documented case in the country, largely because University of Florida extension staff…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (726+ words) WorldAtlas They root up meadows overnight, destroy native habitat, breed faster than almost anything can control them, and shrug off nearly every attempt to get rid of them. Feral swine, known variously as wild boar, wild hogs, and feral pigs,…...