Phys.org: Earth science

As climate change drives more frequent and severe wildfires across boreal forests in Alaska and northwestern Canada, scientists are asking a critical question: Will these ecosystems continue to store carbon or become a growing source of carbon emissions?

Sometimes to truly study something up close, you have to take a step back. That's what Andrea Donnellan does. An expert in Earth sciences and seismology, she gets much of her data from a bird's-eye view, studying the planet's surface from the air and space, using the data to make discoveries and deepen understanding about earthquakes and other geological processes.

The Indonesian Throughflow carries both warm water and fresh water from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean. As the only low-latitude current that connects the two bodies of water, it plays a key role in ocean circulation and sea surface temperature worldwide.

How much fresh water is in the United States? It's a tough question, since most of the water is underground, accessible at varying depths. In previous decades, it's been answered indirectly from data on rainfall and evaporation. Knowing how much groundwater is available at specific locations is critical to meeting the challenges of water scarcity and contamination.

The storing of the very first heritage cores in Antarctica marks a pivotal moment for the Ice Memory project launched in 2015 by CNRS, IRD, the University of Grenoble-Alpes (France), CNR, Ca' Foscari University of Venice (Italy) and the Paul Scherrer Institute (Switzerland).

In the icy reaches of the Svalbard archipelago, a quiet revolution in marine restoration is underway. Researchers are building a digital twin of the region—an interactive, data-rich simulation designed to help researchers and restoration teams understand how climate change is affecting Arctic coastlines and how its impacts might be reduced.

A study published in Nature shows that many of the world's major river deltas are sinking faster than sea levels are rising, potentially affecting hundreds of millions of people in these regions.

Scientists on Wednesday sealed ancient chunks of glacial ice in a first-of-its-kind sanctuary in Antarctica in the hope of preserving these fast-disappearing records of Earth's past climate for centuries to come.

Lightning has captured people's fascination for millennia. It's embedded in mythology, religion and popular culture. Think of Thor in Norse mythology or Indra in Hinduism.

Devastated by widespread fires, Victoria has declared a state of disaster. More than 500 structures have reportedly been destroyed and 1,000 agricultural properties have been affected. Tragically, there has also been one fatality.

The number of wildland fires burning in the Arctic is on the rise, according to NASA researchers. Moreover, these blazes are burning larger, hotter, and longer than they did in previous decades.

New research from Adelaide University suggests the power of the ancient Tethys Ocean might have shaped Central Asia's topography during the Cretaceous period.

Europe and western North America will experience more frequent and severe crop droughts as Earth warms, even in places where yearly rainfall increases.

Dr. Rowan Martindale, a paleoecologist and geobiologist at the University of Texas at Austin, was walking through the Dadès Valley in the Central High Atlas Mountains of Morocco when she saw something that literally stopped her in her tracks.

Underground environments like soil and aquifers teem with microbial life. These tiny microbes play a big role in cycling nutrients and breaking down or transforming pollutants. However, scientists still struggle to reliably model how microbes grow and decay.

As marine-terminating glaciers melt, the resulting freshwater is released at the seafloor, which mixes with salty seawater and influences circulation patterns. As the oceans warm, it's growing increasingly important to study this process.

An international team of scientists has uncovered evidence glaciers in the Southern and Northern hemispheres were synchronous during the last ice age.

During training cruises and regattas, sailors collect valuable data for climate research at sea. A study appearing in Science Advances showed that this data can help improve estimates of the marine carbon sink.

Research from Monash University reveals the climate history behind Asia's summer monsoon—Earth's most influential climate system. In a new study published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, an international team of researchers led by Monash University has uncovered the pivotal role of the Tibetan Plateau's uplift in shaping Asia's iconic summer monsoon.

Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica on October 28, 2025, as a category 5 storm, bringing sustained winds of 295 kilometers (185 miles) per hour and leaving a broad path of destruction on the island. The storm displaced tens of thousands of people, damaged or destroyed more than 100,000 structures, inflicted costly damage on farmland, and left the nation's forests brown and battered.