Five Outstanding Questions in Earth Science

What are today's biggest unanswered questions in earth science?

In the July issue of EARTH Magazine, experts from a variety of disciplines weigh in on what they consider to be the biggest unsolved mysteries across the geosciences and how they think we may solve them.

Of course, in science, answering one question typically floods the field with new questions and thus new lines of investigation. For example, the discovery in the mid-19th century that carbon dioxide traps heat in Earth's atmosphere led scientists to engage in lengthy studies – many that continue today – on the mechanics of the greenhouse effect, emission sources and impacts on global climate. How will answering these unsolved questions alter the course of earth science? Read the story online at  

http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/five-outstanding-questions-earth-science.

Read this story and more in the July issue of EARTH Magazine, available online now at http://www.earthmagazine.org. Learn whether egg-laying was a factor in dinosaur decline; find out if Venice is still sinking; and discover what abnormalities astronauts see all in this month’s issue of EARTH.