Phys.org: Earth science

Record snowfall in recent years has not been enough to offset long-term drying conditions and increasing groundwater demands in the U.S. Southwest, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data.

ETH researchers are using radar to scan the snow and ice on the Jungfraujoch. Sometimes, scaling an icy peak is the only way for scientists to fully understand satellite data.

In the final decades of the 20th century, stratospheric ozone depletion—often called, not quite accurately, the ozone hole—was a widespread concern. Halocarbons, including chlorofluorocarbons used as coolants in refrigerators and aerosol spray cans, were linked, beginning in the mid-1970s, to a severely thinning ozone layer. However, global efforts to reduce halocarbon use have since led to a slow but steady recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer.

As the world struggles to decarbonize, it's becoming increasingly clear we'll need to both rapidly reduce emissions and actively remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report considered 230 pathways to keep global warming below 1.5°C. All require CO2 removal.

Detecting marine debris from space is now a reality, according to a new study led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the University of Cadiz recently published in the journal Nature Communications.

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter have shone fresh light on the causes of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2—which saw severe global warming and ocean acidification across the Earth around 94 million years ago. The study is published in Nature Communications.

In recent weeks, a deadly tornado ripped through North Texas and severe thunderstorms knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of area residents and brought flash flooding and hail.

Parts of Northern California will see a higher risk for wildfires this weekend as dry, hot and windy weather sweeps the region.

A major earthquake 2,500 years ago caused one of the largest rivers on Earth to abruptly change course, according to a new study. The previously undocumented quake rerouted the main channel of the Ganges River in what is now densely populated Bangladesh, which remains vulnerable to big quakes. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

While 2023 is noted for breaking global temperature records (State of the Global Climate 2023), the year also brought an unexpected twist with extreme cold events in Antarctica. A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences reveals the surprising and severe cold spells that struck the continent in late winter (July and August).

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over a section of Italy's heel in the southern part of the boot-shaped peninsula.

Barrier islands dot the landscape along Virginia's Eastern Shore, protecting the coastline from direct impacts of storms and sea-level rise. Made of sand, they are created and changed by environmental factors. But with climate change and human development, these natural processes can be disrupted.

NOAA is forecasting an above-average summer "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico covering approximately 5,827 square miles—an area roughly the size of Connecticut. The dead zone, or hypoxic area, is an area of low oxygen that can kill fish and other marine life. It occurs every summer and is primarily a result of excess nutrient pollution from human activities in cities and farm areas throughout the Mississippi-Atchafalaya watershed. The average dead zone measurement is 5,205 square miles over the 37-year period of record.

Protecting and effectively managing oceans and seabeds is crucial in the fight against climate change.

NASA's Terra satellite captured floating fragments of sea ice as ocean currents carried them south along Greenland's east coast on June 4, 2024.

The important role of the Southern Ocean in global biological processes and the carbon cycle has been confirmed anew by a study published in Science that, for the first time based on field evidence, reveals the underappreciated role of inorganic zinc (Zn) particles in these cycles.

The U.S. Pacific Northwest experienced an unprecedented heat wave in summer 2021, with many locations in the region breaking all-time maximum temperature records by more than 9 °F (5 °C). Although weather models had forecasted the warmer-than-average conditions that summer, the extreme temperatures caught the climate science community by surprise. In the past year, so have catastrophic, deadly floods in such places as Libya and China and record-breaking wildfires in Canada.

The buried China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline (CRCOP), with its oil temperature above 0°C, interacts with the permafrost environment in a complex way, causing permafrost degradation, frost geohazards, and various environmental problems along its route.

The radiative climate and environmental effects of cirrus clouds is an international cutting-edge field of scientific research in the atmospheric sciences. Understanding how the characteristics of cirrus clouds over the ocean evolve is critical for comprehending the dynamics of climate change. In this respect, due to their unique regional characteristics, the cirrus clouds over the South China Sea (SCS) hold particularly significant scientific and practical value.

Video footage of Iceland's 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption is providing researchers from the University of Cambridge with rare, up-close observations of volcanic ash clouds—information that could help better forecast how far explosive eruptions disperse their hazardous ash particles.