Phys.org: Earth science

The seas have long sustained human life, but a new UC Santa Barbara study shows that rising climate and human pressures are pushing the oceans toward a dangerous threshold.

Dr. Seunghak Lee, Jaeshik Chung, and Sang Hyun Kim of the Water Resources Cycle Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) observed how oil and water interact in porous media under various conditions using a microfluidic system that allows precise observation of microscopic fluid flows.

The explosion of animal life in Earth's oceans half a billion years ago during and after the Cambrian Period is commonly attributed to a substantial and sustained rise of free oxygen (O2) in seawater. Some researchers even argue for near-modern levels of ocean oxygenation at this time.

Abiotic organic synthesis during geological processes has long drawn scientific interest, as it is believed to have laid both the material and energetic groundwork for the emergence of early life on Earth.

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the strongest interannual variability signal in Earth's climate system. The shifts between its warm and cold phases profoundly impact global extreme weather, ecosystems, and economic development. However, current climate models show large discrepancies in their future projections of ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) variability.

Cranfield University experts have developed a new method to precisely identify soil erosion hotspots along waterways, allowing for preemptive mitigation measures to be put in place that protect land and water systems.

A study by researchers at the University of Oxford, University of Leeds, and University College London has identified a new constraint on the chemistry of Earth's core, by showing how it was able to crystallize millions of years ago. The study is published in Nature Communications.

A recent study reveals how a major global climate pattern influences the African weather systems that help seed Atlantic hurricanes. The findings, published in the Journal of Climate, could lead to better seasonal forecasts of rainfall, drought, and tropical cyclone activity across the Atlantic basin.

Deep, gigantic cracks in the Earth known as gullies are tearing through African cities, swallowing up houses and streets, destroying infrastructure and displacing tens of thousands of people. Left unchecked, this new geological hazard could force millions of people to abandon their homes in the coming decades.

Billions upon billions of soot particles enter Earth's atmosphere each second, totaling about 5.8 million metric tons a year—posing a climate-warming impact previously estimated at almost one-third that of carbon dioxide.

Terrestrial ecosystems, vital for absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate climate change, rely on Earth system models (ESMs) for estimating carbon uptake—a cornerstone of climate policy, carbon budgeting and land management strategies. Yet new research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) reveals critical flaws in how these models represent a key metric of carbon absorption, raising concerns about the reliability of long-term climate projections.

University of Toledo environmental researchers trooped through the woods and wetlands of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge for a week in early June. Their mission? To outfit an approximately 16-acre site with nearly 300 sensors that will constantly monitor a slew of metrics related to the soil, water and plants, including the flow of sap through trees.

For the last century, Émile Argand's theory on the formation and geological support system of the massive Himalayan mountain range has remained the predominant explanation widely accepted among geologists. This theory states that the ongoing collision of the Indian and Asian continental plates forced the crusts of the two plates to double in thickness and that this ultra-thick crust alone holds up the region's mountains, which were formed from these colliding structures.

For the first time, a study maps safe areas that can practically be used for underground carbon storage, and estimates that using them all would only cut warming by 0.7°C. The result is almost ten times lower than previous estimates of around 6°C, which considered the total global potential for geological storage, including in risky zones, where storing carbon could trigger earthquakes and contaminate drinking water supplies. The researchers say the study shows that geological storage is a scarce, finite resource, and warn that countries must use it in a highly targeted way.

A study from researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reveals that desert soils can emit powerful greenhouse gases within minutes of being wetted—even in the absence of microbial life.

A new study led by Professor Jonghun Kam's team at POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) has uncovered a shocking forecast for Pakistan's future. Using a cutting-edge AI model, the research predicts that the country will face unprecedented "super floods" and "extreme droughts" on a periodic basis.

The world's methane emissions continue to rise steadily with no signs of slowing, as global trade contributes some 30% to the total amount of the greenhouse gas swirling around the planet, a new study reveals.

Rare rocks buried deep beneath central Australia have revealed the origins of one of the world's most promising new deposits of niobium—a metal vital for producing high-strength steel and clean energy technologies—and how it formed during the breakup of an ancient supercontinent.

A research team led by Prof. Chen Cheng from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has retrieved global aerosol and surface properties using advanced polarization data from China's GF-5(02) satellite.

Nearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the oldest and largest ever recorded is finally crumbling apart in warmer waters, and could disappear within weeks.