Phys.org: Earth science

A part of the Atlantic Ocean, just south of Greenland and Iceland, has been cooling off while the rest of the world gets hotter. This enigmatic patch is often referred to as the "cold blob" and scientists have been trying to figure out the mechanisms behind its cooling. While some studies have blamed increased heat loss at the sea surface, others suggest weaker currents are bringing less heat to the area. Now, a new study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, provides additional support for the latter—now using reanalysis data based on direct weather observations instead of just modeling.

Thousands of small earthquakes, detected for the first time by a machine-learning process, reveal the distinct, razor-sharp edge of the Yakutat microplate as it subducts beneath the North American plate.

The plumbing systems of volcanoes are vast and complex. But they aren't consistent, even in the same volcano. A Cornell-led collaboration found very different mechanisms behind two historic eruptions of Mount Etna in Italy. Understanding these dynamics—combined with the techniques that revealed them—can help geologists assess the risk of future eruptions.

Large volcanic eruptions may have played a bigger role in triggering historical famines across China than previously understood, according to a new study that traced links between eruptions, climate disruption, and food shortages over more than four centuries.

The ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system has been rapidly expanding since its launch in 2021. Now, researchers at University of Washington affiliated Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) have finished all planned installations, bringing the two-state total to 569 seismic monitoring stations spread across Washington and Oregon.

Freshwater from melting Antarctic glaciers may be influencing the Southern Ocean in ways scientists have largely overlooked. New research, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that glacial meltwater is not confined to the ocean's surface, as previously assumed, but can also be detected much deeper in coastal waters along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.

Storm Dave, which swept across northern Europe over the Easter weekend, is an example of what new research from the University of Gothenburg has revealed. Spring storms forming over the North Atlantic have become more common than they were 80 years ago, and this is due to climate change.

A new study led by Professor Mark Trimmer of Queen Mary University of London, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, explains how increases in natural methane emissions will be maximized under future climate warming.

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) have, for the first time, been able to record a debris flow over a distance of two kilometers at the Illgraben (VS). The study reveals where and how waves form within the flow and what happens when they pass over check dams.

Mangrove forests, once considered one of the world's most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research from Tulane University that finds decades of losses largely offset by regrowth and expansion.

Ozone pollution has worsened in much of the continental United States over the past decade, fueled by wildfires and the long-distance transport of unhealthy air, according to a new study titled "Fires reverse progress toward ozone air quality standards in the U.S.," led by University of Iowa researchers and published in the journal Science.

Arctic communities are increasingly exposed to dangerous weather events due to climate change and rely on accurate weather forecasts. However, conditions in the lower atmosphere remain poorly observed in the Arctic because monitoring systems are expensive and difficult to deploy.

For the first time, mighty ocean waves generated in the Southern Ocean have been accurately measured all the way to the tiny ripples they form on the shores of Alaska. Professor Ian Young, from the University of Melbourne's Department of Infrastructure Engineering, is lead author on a landmark study that analyzed data from 300 drifting ocean buoys to gain a detailed understanding of how storms in Antarctica drive waves all around the globe.

Deep below the Tyrrhenian Sea offshore Italy, scientists drilled into what they thought would be dark mantle rock—and found pieces of granite that seemingly had no business being there. Those unexpected intrusions turned out to offer a rare glimpse of how a massive fault rapidly pulled deep Earth rocks toward the surface during the opening of a young ocean basin.

Earth is divided into two halves: the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Both reflect equal amounts of sunlight (albedo) even though they have different landmasses and weather patterns, especially cloud distribution. Why this is so is an ongoing mystery waiting to be solved.

You may have heard the rumors of a "monster El Niño." It's not the first time we've heard forecasts like this in Australia, but this time, they aren't coming out of nowhere. Early signs in the Pacific have been building for months and forecasts now point to a high likelihood of a moderate to strong El Niño developing in 2026.

An international team of scientists has discovered that plants are not responding to global warming in the way researchers long assumed. Scientists have expected that ecosystems would keep pace with warming by raising the temperature at which photosynthesis works best.

El Niño is a recurring climate event with impacts across the globe. It has three phases: one cold (known as La Niña), one neutral, and one warm (El Niño).

Off the southern coast of Japan, the Philippine Sea Plate lies underneath the Japanese mainland. The locked tectonic plates threaten to unleash a catastrophic megathrust earthquake, likely within the next few decades. Given the potential devastation a large quake could evoke, constant developments in predictive technology must be sought. However, predicting the unpredictable movement of the seafloor requires innovative thought.

The Hadley circulation, a key atmospheric conveyor belt transporting heat and moisture from the tropics to the subtropics, directly influences subtropical aridity, the positions of tropical rainfall belts, and extreme weather risks. However, climate models have long shown inconsistencies in simulating its upper-level intensity (UP-HCI), undermining the reliability of future projections.