Storms, swarms, and 2024 so far

This year has been full of incredible science—from unexpected earthquakes to historic moments in outer space, and plenty of wild weather! Here are some of the most unique science stories from 2024 so far,  including some you might not have heard about.

The year started with extreme winter storms sweeping across North America, bringing sub-zero temperatures, and huge amounts of snowfall!

But temperatures soon rose sharply. In fact, March 2024 was the hottest on record globally! This caused the earliest flowering of these cherry blossom trees, in Washington DC, for over 20 years.

Unpredictable weather has continued to appear more recently too, with the beginning of tornado season. Warmer weather conditions can create severe thunderstorms. From these storms, tornadoes form.

These rotating columns of powerful wind can cause damage to buildings, power supplies, and transport links. So, scientists record the number of tornadoes that happen across the United States, hoping they can use the data to better understand the patterns and behaviors of tornadoes.  

By May 20th, 839 tornadoes had been recorded—far more than the average 549 that are usually recorded by this date each year. With some of the most affected states including Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Sadly, a number of people died in these storms, and many homes were lost — a real reminder of why Scientists want to learn more about nature’s most powerful storms.

The natural world has been full of big discoveries and big numbers in 2024.

An expedition deep in the Pacific Ocean resulted in more than 100 possible new species being spotted. While on dry land, trillions of Cicadas began to emerge throughout the United States—in a phenomenon that hasn’t been seen in over 200 years.  

But these weren’t the only big swarms and new species hitting the headlines. 

At an important tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, a huge swarm of bees brought play to a standstill. The swarm flew into the stadium, and onto the court, making it unsafe for the players and fans. As everyone took cover, an expert bee remover extracted the bees! It took over an hour for him to safely remove them, before play could be restarted. 

Now that’s un-bee-lievable!

In late March, a team of researchers declared that they had identified an undiscovered species of ancient amphibian. The team was working with an inch-long fossilized skull, belonging to an early amphibian that lived 270 million years ago. They identified parts of the amphibian’s face, including its large oval-shaped eye sockets, long curved snout, and small nostrils. These unique features lead the team to declare the amphibian as a new species, which they believe may have been similar to a stout salamander.

The team named the new species Kermitops Gratus—because they thought the fossil looked similar to Kermit the frog! They hope this fun name will bring more attention to the work of Palaeontologists, who study fossils to learn more about life on Earth.

For more on any of these stories and the year’s scientific events, take a look back through previous episodes of Twig Science Reporter!

We’ll be back later in the summer, with more incredible science news.