Phys.org: Earth science

Many so-called low-carbon projects promoted by major oil and gas companies—including hydrogen, biofuels, carbon capture and storage, and carbon offsetting—operate as false solutions that not only fail to effectively reduce emissions, but also prolong the lifespan of fossil fuel infrastructures, entrench environmental injustices, and reinforce the political and economic power of the very industry responsible for the climate crisis.

The oceanic conditions that churn up the very strongest of hurricanes and typhoons are heating up in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific, fueled by warm water that extends well below the surface. Human-caused climate change may be responsible for up to 70% of the growth of storm-brewing hotspots there, according to new research.

Salt marshes, those critical habitats that protect coastal towns from flooding, store massive amounts of blue carbon, support fisheries and play a key role in ecological resilience, are struggling to survive as oceans rise due to climate change.

Across the western U.S., wildfires and the dangerous smoke that results have increased in frequency and intensity since the 1990s—that much is clear. Surprisingly less clear are the exact reasons why: While greenhouse gas-related global warming is often cited as a culprit, to what extent can this claim be quantified?

In the midst of the COVID pandemic, scientists embarked on an ambitious research expedition to the North Atlantic to investigate the inner workings of the ocean's carbon cycle. A series of storms hammered the three vessels, among the most advanced research ships in the world, while bureaucratic mayhem threatened to scrub the voyage entirely.

When Santa is done delivering presents on Christmas Eve, he must get back home to the North Pole, even if it's snowing so hard that the reindeer can't see the way.

A new study provides evidence that the ocean may have absorbed as much as 15% (0.3–0.4 Pg C yr-1) more CO2 than previously thought, requiring a re-think of future CO2 flux assessments and global climate models.

Intense storms that sweep over the Southern Ocean enable the ocean to absorb more heat from the atmosphere. New research from the University of Gothenburg shows that today's climate models underestimate how storms mix the ocean and thereby give less reliable future projections of our climate.

When it comes to global warming and greenhouse gases, methane is one of the bad guys. It's the second most important contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. However, quantifying the exact amount being released has been a matter of guesswork. But now the first-ever global map of methane leaks from industrial sites is giving us detailed information on where this greenhouse gas is escaping, how much is escaping, and how often it occurs.

A climate study led by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with an international research team, reveals that under a high-emission scenario, the Northern Hemisphere summer monsoons region will undergo extreme weather events starting in 2064. Asia and broader tropical regions will face frequent "subseasonal whiplash" events, characterized by extreme downpours and dry spells alternating every 30 to 90 days which trigger climate disruptions with catastrophic impacts on food production, water management, and clean energy systems.

The summer of 2025 brought unprecedented flash flooding across the U.S., with the central and eastern regions hit particularly hard. These storms claimed hundreds of lives across Texas, Kentucky and several other states and caused widespread destruction.

While scientists have long known that iron oxide minerals help lock away enormous amounts of carbon—sequestering it from the atmosphere—a new Northwestern University study now reveals exactly why these minerals are such powerful carbon traps.

Bermuda may well be associated with exaggerated stories of missing ships and planes, but there is another mystery about this part of the Atlantic that has been puzzling scientists for decades: Why does the island appear to float above the surrounding ocean? A new study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters could have the answer. Researchers have discovered a massive 12.4-mile (20-kilometer) thick layer of rock beneath Bermuda between Earth's crust and mantle.

A new LMU study estimates that land use changes in conjunction with climate change could lead to the loss of up to 38% of the Amazon rainforest by the end of the 21st century.

Every year during December and January, in the Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, rural communities carry out traditional burning on steep hill slopes to regenerate grass. These carefully timed burns, which take place when fuel stocks are low, are needed to support livestock and, indirectly, agriculture in the region.

Glaciers are melting worldwide. In some regions, they could even disappear completely. Looking at the number of glaciers disappearing, the Alps could reach their peak loss rate as early as 2033 to 2041. Depending on how sharply the planet warms, this period may mark a time when more glaciers vanish than ever before. Worldwide, the peak glacier loss rate will occur about ten years later and could rise from 2,000 to 4,000 glaciers lost each year.

Between 128,000 and 186,000 years ago, when ice covered the Sierra Nevada, a lake 100 miles long and 600 feet deep sat in eastern California in what is now the Mojave Desert.

A swarm of at least six earthquakes reaching up to magnitude 2.9 rattled San Ramon near San Francisco, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

A team of researchers led by the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with colleagues from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the University of Bristol, and Nanjing University, has identified the primary non-environmental factors controlling lithium-to-magnesium ratio (Li/Mg) fractionation. Their findings were recently published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Tropical storms such as typhoons, hurricanes, and cyclones are Earth's most powerful weather systems. Born over warm oceans, they travel thousands of kilometers to land, traversing waters now polluted with plastics, from coastal runoff to the vast oceanic garbage patches.