Right now, Earth is about 3.1 million miles farther from the sun than it is in early January when it reaches perihelion, its closest point. Compared to its average distance of 93 million miles, that’s ...

Earth has experienced both hot and cold periods over time, though warm times have been more common. That’s true of the last 485 million years, as seen in this timeline reported in 2024. Our genus, ...

A new study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of Arizona offers the most detailed glimpse yet of how Earth’s surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. In a paper ...

The findings from the research show just how much Earth’s surface temperature has changed and fluctuated over time, providing an important window into understanding modern climate change. “If you’re ...

While previous simulations of ancient Earth's climate have put the planet's average surface temperature between 14 and 26 degrees Celsius (57.2 and 78.8 degrees Fahrenheit), the new model widens ...

Earth is firmly in the cold category now and even the worst-case global warming scenario of a 3-degree increase in Earth’s temperature, bringing us to 16.9 degrees would still leave us in the ...

Palm trees in Alaska, crocodiles in Wyoming: Fossils show that Earth’s temperature has changed over hundreds of millions of years. Now a new study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of ...

Extensive evidence, including global temperature and sea ice data, shows Earth's climate is changing due to human activity. Hotspots ranked Start the day smarter ☀️ Funniest cap messages Get ...

Over the last 485 million years, Earth has been both a lot colder and a lot hotter than once thought. A new temperature timeline that combines geologic data with computational simulations reveals ...

Overall, the researchers find that the global mean temperature has likely varied from a low of about 11° C, seen in the recent glacial periods, up to a high of 36° C, seen about 90 million years ...