Phys.org: Earth science

Climate change will have a considerable influence on the biodiversity and productivity of meadows and pastures. However, according to the results of the large-scale climate and land use experiment, the extent of these changes depends on the land use. A team of researchers from UFZ and iDiv has found that grassland optimized for high yield responds much more sensitively to periods of drought than less intensively used meadows and pastures.

East Asia frequently faces floods, leading to significant economic losses, casualties, and agricultural damage. Most summer floods in this region are caused by excessive rainfall. Mesoscale convective systems (MCS), large organized storms characterized by cumulonimbus clouds, play a significant role in these events. MCSs typically produce intense, concentrated, and long-lasting rainfall, which can trigger floods. Despite this, their contribution to major flood events in East Asia has received relatively little attention, largely due to a research gap between meteorology and hydrology fields. As a result, the quantitative relationship between MCS and major flood events at the climate scale has not been well established.

Magnetite, the most magnetic mineral on Earth, is increasingly being found in seafloor environments that are rich in iron and have high methane flux. But how it forms in such settings—whether by microbes that thrive near methane seeps or by processes that don't require life—is not entirely clear.

An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen—13,000 feet below the surface.

Antarctic canyons play a crucial role in the instability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, as they facilitate the transfer of relatively warm water (Circumpolar Deep Water) from the abyssal areas to the continental shelf and from there to the base of the ice sheet, thus contributing to its melting.

Because of interactions with Earth's hot mantle, water-logged oceanic plates release water as they slide beneath less dense overriding plates in subduction zones. This water rises and hydrates the mantle above it, contributing to the formation of volcanoes at the surface and limiting the maximum depths of damaging earthquakes.

As Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast continue recovering from Hurricane Beryl, a new survey from the University of Houston and Texas Southern University is providing insight into Texans' past experiences with extreme weather, including prolonged power outages, and how those experiences impacted their preparedness for future events.

On 8 September 2023, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck western Morocco, causing damage and destruction that claimed thousands of lives in rural communities in the High Atlas Mountains.

Dartmouth researchers are using computational mathematics and machine learning to develop models that better predict sea ice thickness in regions of the Arctic.

A new tool that can be used to predict the emergence of unusually large and unpredictable waves at sea—known as rogue waves—up to five minutes into the future is presented in a study published in Scientific Reports. The authors suggest that the tool could be used to issue advance warnings to ships and offshore platforms to enable those working on them to seek shelter, perform emergency shutdowns, or maneuver to minimize the impacts of approaching rogue waves.

Northwestern University-led researchers have discovered a new way that nature cycles phosphorus, a finding that uncovers a missing piece of Earth's puzzling phosphorus cycle.

Almost 2,000 years ago, Pliny the Younger wrote letters describing the shaking ground as Vesuvius erupted. Now, a collaborative study led by researchers from the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) and Pompeii Archaeological Park has shed light on the effects of seismicity associated with the 79 CE eruption.

A Rutgers University-New Brunswick-led research team employing an emerging technique to detect signs of past hurricanes in coastal sediments has found evidence of storms dating back more than 400 years. In doing so, they have confirmed an approach that could give them a better understanding of how the frequency of storms changes when the climate changes.

Scientists from The University of Manchester, The University of Aberdeen and Newcastle University have found that the restoration of upland peatlands is a highly effective strategy for reducing downstream flooding.

To better predict long-term flooding risk, scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory developed a 3D modeling framework that captures the complex dynamics of water as it flows across the landscape. The framework seeks to provide valuable insights into which communities are most vulnerable as the climate changes, and was developed for a project that's assessing climate risk and mitigation pathways for an urban area along the Southeast Texas coast.

How are rivers characterized? Traditional methods rely on plant forms and sedimentological techniques, focusing on deposits. Riccardo Maitan, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Padova, is developing a novel approach based on river hydrological behavior, emphasizing morphodynamics. His work aims to identify the signature of peak discharge variability—a key hydrological metric—in meandering rivers. This research spans over 15 years of USGS data and Google Earth image time series.

As sea ice disappears and grows less reflective, the Arctic has lost around a quarter of its cooling power since 1980, and the world has lost up to 15%, according to new research led by University of Michigan scientists.

In August 2023, 14,000 cubic meters of sandstone and shale detached from a slope in the French Alps. This rockslide at La Praz closed a road and a major railway between France and Italy at least until the end of 2024.

When it comes to diatoms that live in the ocean, new research suggests that photosynthesis is not the only strategy for accumulating carbon. Instead, these single-celled plankton are also building biomass by feeding directly on organic carbon in wide swaths of the ocean.

Skoltech researchers and their colleagues from Sber have proposed deep learning models that predict droughts using climate data. Long-term forecasts of this kind are sought by agricultural producers planning their operations, as well as by insurance companies and banks evaluating climate risks and fine-tuning corporate credit ratings.