Phys.org: Earth science

The Ordovician Period stands as a critical chapter in Earth's geological history, with carbon isotope records serving as both a key tool for stratigraphic correlation and a vital archive to unravel the coevolution of ancient climates and biospheres. For decades, however, prior research has largely focused on carbonate carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) data, leaving organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg) records significantly understudied.

A new study led by the U.S. Forest Service, with Chapman University as a key senior collaborator, published in Nature Communications, suggests Earth's own tropical soils may contribute to climate change as global warming continues, releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) as they warm and potentially accelerating a dangerous feedback loop.

The ground-shaking that an earthquake generates is only a fraction of the total energy that a quake releases. A quake can also generate a flash of heat, along with a domino-like fracturing of underground rocks. But exactly how much energy goes into each of these three processes is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to measure in the field.

How did humans become human? Understanding when, where and in what environmental conditions our early ancestors lived is central to solving the puzzle of human evolution.

Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are known to raise temperatures in Earth's atmosphere. But slow feedback processes, including heat storage in the ocean and changes in the carbon cycle, mean that sometimes, such temperature changes don't manifest right away; it can take decades, or even millennia, for Earth to reach equilibrium.

A pioneering study led by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) and the Marine and Environmental Sciences Center (MARE) identifies seaweed forests on the northern coast of Portugal as strategic allies in carbon capture and storage.

Warm water flowing into fjords and beneath ice shelves will continue to be a prime cause of glacial melting as global temperatures rise. This melting will, in turn, contribute to sea level rise and increasing inundation of coastal areas.

Rising temperatures of the world's oceans threaten to accelerate the melting and splintering of glaciers—thereby potentially increasing the number of icebergs and, with it, the need to better understand more about their movement and impact. Through a series of experiments, a team of scientists has pinpointed some of the factors that cause icebergs to capsize, offering insights into how climate change may affect Earth's waters.

Dinosaurs had such an immense impact on Earth that their sudden extinction led to wide-scale changes in landscapes—including the shape of rivers—and these changes are reflected in the geologic record, according to a University of Michigan study.

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before.

On July 28, 170 researchers sent a letter to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Congress after NSF's 2026 budget request included plans to end its lease of a U.S. research vessel in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.

Climate change is driving more frequent and more intense wildfires around the world, including in the United States. These huge blazes cause a range of problems that affect health, the environment, property and the economy. However, a new study reveals a surprising paradox: the heat from wildfires in the western U.S. may actually improve air quality in the eastern part of the country.

The 19th-century American naturalist Henry David Thoreau described the small freshwater lake at Walden as "Earth's eye"—a measure of the complexity of ecological interactions.

An "enormous" submerged mountain that rivals peaks in the Rockies has been mapped for the first time in a previously unexplored area of the western Pacific, according to NOAA Ocean Exploration.

Under the lead of the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW), a sediment core from the Southeast Pacific was examined that reflects the last 8 million years of Earth's history.

If you were lucky 74,000 years ago, you would have survived the Toba supereruption, one of the largest catastrophic events that Earth has seen in the past 2.5 million years.

Recent heat waves in the United States underscore a growing public health threat: Extreme heat events are growing longer, hotter, and more frequent. Soaring temperatures raise the risk of various health problems, such as heat stroke and cardiovascular disease—particularly for older people, people with preexisting conditions, and people who work outdoors.

Global climate models are software behemoths, often containing more than a million lines of code.

Most of Earth's fresh water is locked in the ice that covers Antarctica. As the ocean and atmosphere grow warmer, that ice is melting at a startling pace with sea levels and global currents changing in response. To understand the potential implications, researchers need to know just how fast the ice is disappearing, and what is driving it back.

Farmers near Meeker, in northwestern Colorado, have been diverting water from the White River to flood their fields for irrigation for more than 100 years.