China and other nations want to scrap leap seconds by 2035, years earlier than planned, because melting polar ice is quietly changing how fast Earth spins. The tiny timekeeping tweak has an outsized history of software glitches and internet headaches.
On China's 16th Arctic expedition, the icebreaker Xue Long lowers a 24-bottle sampler into the polar sea, turning seawater into a physical exam for the planet's fastest-warming ocean.
As China's solar capacity overtakes coal for the first time, scientists remind us that over 90 percent of trapped heat ends up in the ocean, not the air. The uneven warming explains why some regions feel the heat far more than others.
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