Phys.org: Earth science

Permafrost, ground frozen for at least two years underlying the cold Arctic and alpine regions of the Northern Hemisphere, covers about 17% of the global land surface and stores an estimated one-third of the world's soil organic carbon.

A research team led by Prof. Wu Qingbai from the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has identified important non-temperature environmental factors contributing to permafrost degradation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The 2,175-mile system of interconnected, man-made canals crisscrossing Florida, from Orlando to the Keys, has a particularly important role when a hurricane happens to be pinwheeling toward the peninsula: Flood control.

One of the biggest obstacles on the road to a low-carbon energy future is caused by the rare-earth element lithium, a critical component for the batteries that can store the abundant and sustainable energy from renewable sources.

Throughout the planet, there are only a handful of known tektite strewn fields, which are large swaths of land where natural glass (tektite) was strewn about after forming from terrestrial material and being ejected from a meteorite impact. The tektite glass can be ejected extremely long distances, placing strewn fields far from their origins.

Scientists may be a step closer to solving the mystery of Siberia's giant exploding craters. First spotted in the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas of Western Siberia in 2012, these massive holes, known as giant gas emission craters (GECs) can be up to 164 feet deep. They seem to appear randomly in the permafrost and are formed when powerful explosions blast soil and ice hundreds of feet into the air.

With CO2 emissions continuing unabated, an increasing number of policymakers, scientists and environmentalists are considering geoengineering to avert a climate catastrophe. Such interventions could influence everything from rainfall to global food supplies, making the stakes enormous.

On 16 September, the world marks the international day for the preservation of the ozone layer—a day of action initiated by the United Nations. This year's theme is "from science to global action"—a reference to the fact that scientific findings have underpinned successful political action to protect the ozone layer for decades.

The Ordovician Period stands as a critical chapter in Earth's geological history, with carbon isotope records serving as both a key tool for stratigraphic correlation and a vital archive to unravel the coevolution of ancient climates and biospheres. For decades, however, prior research has largely focused on carbonate carbon isotope (δ13Ccarb) data, leaving organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg) records significantly understudied.

A new study led by the U.S. Forest Service, with Chapman University as a key senior collaborator, published in Nature Communications, suggests Earth's own tropical soils may contribute to climate change as global warming continues, releasing vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO₂) as they warm and potentially accelerating a dangerous feedback loop.

The ground-shaking that an earthquake generates is only a fraction of the total energy that a quake releases. A quake can also generate a flash of heat, along with a domino-like fracturing of underground rocks. But exactly how much energy goes into each of these three processes is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to measure in the field.

How did humans become human? Understanding when, where and in what environmental conditions our early ancestors lived is central to solving the puzzle of human evolution.

Rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels are known to raise temperatures in Earth's atmosphere. But slow feedback processes, including heat storage in the ocean and changes in the carbon cycle, mean that sometimes, such temperature changes don't manifest right away; it can take decades, or even millennia, for Earth to reach equilibrium.

A pioneering study led by researchers from the Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR) and the Marine and Environmental Sciences Center (MARE) identifies seaweed forests on the northern coast of Portugal as strategic allies in carbon capture and storage.

Warm water flowing into fjords and beneath ice shelves will continue to be a prime cause of glacial melting as global temperatures rise. This melting will, in turn, contribute to sea level rise and increasing inundation of coastal areas.

Rising temperatures of the world's oceans threaten to accelerate the melting and splintering of glaciers—thereby potentially increasing the number of icebergs and, with it, the need to better understand more about their movement and impact. Through a series of experiments, a team of scientists has pinpointed some of the factors that cause icebergs to capsize, offering insights into how climate change may affect Earth's waters.

Dinosaurs had such an immense impact on Earth that their sudden extinction led to wide-scale changes in landscapes—including the shape of rivers—and these changes are reflected in the geologic record, according to a University of Michigan study.

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami off Russia in late July tested an experimental detection system that had deployed a critical component just the day before.

On July 28, 170 researchers sent a letter to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Congress after NSF's 2026 budget request included plans to end its lease of a U.S. research vessel in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica.

Climate change is driving more frequent and more intense wildfires around the world, including in the United States. These huge blazes cause a range of problems that affect health, the environment, property and the economy. However, a new study reveals a surprising paradox: the heat from wildfires in the western U.S. may actually improve air quality in the eastern part of the country.