Phys.org: Earth science

Satellites circling Earth have many different functions, including navigation, communications and Earth observation. About 8%–10% of all active satellites are military or "dual use" serving intelligence or reconnaissance functions as spy satellites.

Samples of extremely small crystal clots, each polished to the thickness of a human hair or thinner, have revealed information about the process triggering the major 2006 eruption of Alaska's Augustine Volcano.

Monitoring changes in water temperature and pressure at the seafloor can improve understanding of ocean circulation, climate, and natural hazards such as tsunamis. In recent years, scientists have begun gathering submarine measurements via an existing infrastructure network that spans millions of kilometers around the planet: the undersea fiber-optic telecommunications cables that provide us with amenities like Internet and phone service.

The landslide that occurred in Blatten in the canton of Valais at the end of May 2025 and the one in the village of Brienz in Graubünden in June 2023 remind us of the potential for landslide hazards in the Alps. Debris flows are one such hazard. These flows of water, sediment and rock fragments typically occur after heavy rainfall in steep terrain, and rapidly travel down a channel, potentially destroying everything in their path.

Glaciers hold layers of history preserved in ice, offering unique insights into Earth's past that can also help us interpret the future. Trapped amidst the frozen water are microscopic deposits of dust, pollen, and even pollutants that scientists can use to examine environmental changes through time.

New research led by the University of Victoria (UVic) has illuminated a significant and previously unrecognized source of seismic hazard for the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada.

Nor'easters are powerful and often destructive cyclonic storms that primarily impact the East Coast of North America. Some of these weather events have been so fierce that they earned the names "Perfect Storm," "Storm of the Century," and "Snowmaggedon."

The Southwest United States is currently facing its worst megadrought of the past 1,200 years. According to a recent study by the University of Texas at Austin, the drought could continue at least until the end of the century, if not longer.

Between July 3 and 6, Texas Hill Country experienced catastrophic flash flooding along the Guadalupe River system. The floods claimed at least 130 lives, with over 96 fatalities in Kerr County alone. More than 160 people were missing as of July 12, including children attending camps along the river.

From more frequent wildfires to rising sea levels, climate change is disrupting ecosystems and upending once-stable weather patterns. One particularly alarming consequence of rising global temperatures is the potential collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a conveyor-belt-like system of ocean currents driven by the sinking of cold, salty waters in the North Atlantic.

Over the last 3,800 years, agro-pastoral activities have accelerated alpine soil erosion at a pace four to 10 times faster than their natural formation. The history of this erosion has just been revealed for the first time by a research team led by a CNRS scientist.

In the first and only reconstruction of ocean pH ever carried out, new research from the University of St Andrews and the University of Birmingham has discovered that a rapid acidification of oceans, due to a massive and sudden rise in atmospheric CO2, caused a mass extinction event 201 million years ago.

Whether from a forest on fire or gasoline powering a car, organic matter rarely combusts completely: Remnants such as char and soot can persist in the environment for decades. Over time, as physical and biological processes break down the scorched leftovers, some of the carbon they contain leaches into groundwater, lakes, and rivers, eventually making its way to the ocean.

At the dawn of the millennium, a group of eminent scientists began compiling a list of the threats they felt were most likely to impact the world's rocky shorelines over the coming quarter of a century.

A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences solves a long-standing climate mystery: Why don't the records of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) in cave formations like stalagmites—known as speleothems—from central southern China reflect the well-known 100,000-year cycles of ice ages seen in other global climate records? These speleothem δ18O records have long been considered a key indicator of the strength of the Asian summer monsoon, so their failure to show these major climate shifts has puzzled scientists for decades.

Climate change is coming… but what on Earth can we do about it? Scientist Dr. Kimberley Miner has written a guide to riding out the oncoming almighty storm.

A new study from UNC-Chapel Hill reveals that repetitive flooding in North Carolina is far more common and more widespread than previously recognized, with over 20,000 buildings flooding multiple times between 1996 and 2020.

Tropical cyclones hundreds of kilometers away from the Philippines are often more responsible for heavy rainfall than those that hit the country directly during the annual "Habagat" or southwest monsoon season from July to September, according to new research published in Atmospheric Research.

The cleanup of air pollution in East Asia has accelerated global warming, a new study published today (Monday, 14 July) in the journal Communications Earth and Environment has found.

Despite a warming climate, bone-chilling winter cold can grip parts of the U.S. In a study appearing in Science Advances, researchers found that two specific patterns in the polar vortex, a swirling mass of cold air high in the stratosphere, steer extreme cold to different regions of the country. One pattern drives Arctic air into the Northwest U.S., the other into the Central and Eastern areas.