Phys.org: Earth science

The concept of deadly mass extinctions wreaking destruction upon Earth's ecosystems millions of years ago is something that has fascinated the public and scientists alike for decades.

Wild weather has been roiling North America for the past few months, thanks in part to a strong El Niño that sent temperatures surging in 2023. The climate phenomenon fed atmospheric rivers drenching the West Coast and contributed to summer's extreme heat in the South and Midwest and fall's wet storms across the East.

Earlier this year, the UK's weather and climate service, the Met Office, announced average global temperatures in 2023 were 1.46°C above pre-industrial levels. This made it the hottest year on record, 0.17°C higher than the previous record in 2016.

Global temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C warming and may pass 2°C later this decade, according to a world-first study I led. The worrying findings, based on temperature records contained in sea sponge skeletons, suggest global climate change has progressed much further than previously thought.

An abrupt shutdown of Atlantic Ocean currents that could put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze is looking a bit more likely and closer than before as a new complex computer simulation finds a "cliff-like" tipping point looming in the future.

A research team has picked a side in the "Snowball Earth" debate over the possible cause of planet-wide deep freeze events that occurred in the distant past. According to their new study, these so-called "Snowball" Earth periods, in which the planet's surface was covered in ice for thousands or even millions of years, could have been triggered abruptly by large asteroids that slammed into the Earth.

The devastating drought in the Amazon River Basin that reported in October has continued into Northern Hemisphere winter, which is the heart of the wet season in the southern part of the basin. The drought is cutting off rural and riverside communities from food supplies, markets for their crops, and health services; causing electricity blackouts due to hydropower disruptions; and forcing water rationing in some urban areas.

Madagascar is home to more than 11,000 plant species, 80% of which are found nowhere else on Earth. A recent study by the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL and ETH Zurich has put forward a new hypothesis for the underlying cause of Madagascar's rich plant biodiversity, which has been regarded as an unsolved mystery of natural history.

A team of geologists affiliated with several institutions in France, working with a pair of colleagues from Albania, has measured the largest natural flow of hydrogen ever in an Albanian chromium mine. In their study, reported in the journal Science, the group measured hydrogen gas bubbling up through liquid pools in the mine.

A river of magma flowed underneath an Icelandic fishing village late last year at a rate never before recorded, scientists said Thursday, as the region suffered yet another dramatic eruption.

Pollutants from burning fossil fuels have been found embedded in corals, for the first time, offering scientists a potential new tool to track the history of pollution, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

In a recent study published in Geophysical Research Letters, researchers unveil a poleward shift of tropical cyclone (TC) genesis on a global scale as a result of climate change. Led by Dr. Xi Cao from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, the research team collaborated with experts from institutions including the University of Tokyo, Zhejiang University, Yunnan University, the National Climate Center, and the University of New South Wales.

Since the Green Revolution in the 1960s, intensive agricultural production practices have laid the foundation for food security. However, these measures are also accompanied by significant resource input and environmental impacts. Meeting the increasing food demand in a sustainable manner becomes a global challenge.

In a study published in the journal Science China Earth Sciences, a research team conducted joint observations of ecosystem oxygen production and carbon sinks and near-surface atmospheric oxygen concentrations on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and meteorological elements at Beijing Fangshan Station from 2018 to 2020.

Between 1990 and 2005, the national average urban fractional vegetation cover (FVC) decreased from 0.38 to 0.35 due to the increase in floor area ratio and impervious surface in urban areas. The decline is particularly pronounced in megacities, small, medium and small cities.

In today's world, plastics are used extensively due to their favorable properties and affordable costs. The widespread use of these non-biodegradable materials, however, makes them a waste management nuisance and global environmental concern. It is estimated that by 2050, approximately 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste will be dumped into landfills.

Soil moisture can determine how quickly a wildfire spreads, how fast a hill turns into a mudslide, and perhaps most importantly, how productive our food systems are. As temperatures rise due to human-caused climate change, some researchers are concerned that soils will dry. However, between 2011 to 2020, soil moisture increased across 57% of the United States during summer, the warmest time of year.

Soil moisture intricately influences climate and hydrological systems by modulating water and energy exchange processes. Accurate predictions of soil moisture are not only instrumental in drought monitoring but are crucial for effective water resource management.

Ghana's urban population has more than tripled in the past three decades, from 4 million to nearly 14 million people. Competition for land in cities has increased among various land uses. These trends have led to encroachment in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands.

During ice ages, dry, frozen terrain extended over much of northern Europe, Asia and North America. Many plants and animals retreated from these desolate, harsh landscapes and sought refuge in pockets of more hospitable territory.