Phys.org: Earth science

The ocean is saturated with microplastics. While we know the location of the great garbage patches, where plastic particles may accumulate below the ocean surface remains unknown. The vastness of the ocean means particle sampling data are sparse, but modeling how particles aggregate in 3D fluid flows can help determine where to look.

Wildfires pose a significant threat across the southwestern United States, due to the region's unique topography and weather conditions. Accurately identifying locations at the highest risk of a severe wildfire is critical for implementing preventive measures.

Dozens of bushfires raged over the weekend as far afield as the mid-north coast of New South Wales and Tasmania's east coast. A NSW firefighter tragically lost his life, 16 homes burned down in the NSW town of Koolewong and four in Bulahdelah, and another 19 burned down in Tasmania's Dolphin Sands.

After years of little snow across the Chicago area, recent record-breaking snowfall and below-freezing temperatures might seem to contradict scientific reports of winters getting warmer. But climate change is still transforming how locals experience the changing seasons, including this fall, one of the top 10 warmest recorded in Illinois.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Ottawa provides a series of highly detailed 3D models of the Earth's temperature beneath Greenland and northeastern Canada, providing insights into the region's geological history and the response of the ice sheet to past and future climate change.

In the coming decades, climate change is likely to lead to a loss of sea ice in and an influx of warmer water to the Arctic Ocean, affecting the ocean's vertical circulation. Brown and colleagues recently investigated the forces that drive the Arctic Ocean's vertical circulation to gain insight into how the circulation might change in the future.

Rising greenhouse gas emissions could see the size of extreme floods in the Central Himalayas increase by between as much as 73% and 84% by the end of this century.

A robotic float has measured the temperature and salinity from parts of the ocean never sampled before—underneath massive floating ice shelves in East Antarctica.

If you ever find yourself on Macquarie Island—a narrow, wind-lashed ridge halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica—the first thing you'll notice is the wildlife. Elephant seals sprawl across dark beaches. King penguins march up mossy slopes. Albatrosses circle over vast, treeless uplands.

How much the planet warms with each ton of carbon dioxide remains one of the most important questions in climate science, but there is uncertainty in predicting it. This uncertainty hinders governments, businesses and communities from setting clear emission-reduction targets and preparing for the impacts of climate change.