Phys.org: Earth science

Microplastics and nanoplastics are not only polluting our oceans, rivers and fields, but also our forests, according to geoscientists at TU Darmstadt. Their research is published in Communications Earth & Environment.

Far beneath the waves, down in the depths of the Japan Trench—seven kilometers below sea level—lie hidden clues about some of the most powerful earthquakes and tsunamis on Earth.

What do the rumblings of Iceland's volcanoes have in common with the now peaceful volcanic islands off Scotland's western coast and the spectacular basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland?

The atmosphere will become more turbulent in future decades as climate change makes the air less stable.

The uplift and outward growth of Asia's three great plateaus is a major driver of changes in the Asian landscape and biodiversity, according to a new study led by Prof. Wang Wei from the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IBCAS).

As the United States passes a tipping point in water security, new research reveals that millions of Americans now face a growing crisis in accessing clean, affordable water.

Volcanic eruptions can have dramatic consequences. But how can we anticipate this phenomenon, which unfolds up to tens of kilometers beneath the surface?

A new study has revealed that tiny organisms called snow algae are significantly contributing to the surface melting on Antarctic ice shelves. The discovery could have far-reaching implications for global sea level rise.

The Southern Ocean plays an important role in global climate and carbon cycling. Understanding carbon export in this region is critical for modeling Earth's changing climate and evaluating potential ocean-based climate interventions.

The Northwest can expect a widespread increase in days with cloud-to-ground lightning in the years to come, along with heightened wildfire risk, according to projections made with a unique machine-learning approach developed at Washington State University.

Wind alone does not account for all hurricane-related fatalities. Storm surge and rainfall do as well. Yet the current warning system—the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale—measures a storm's strength solely by wind speed.

What leads to lower atmospheric CO2 during ice ages is a question that has puzzled scientists for decades, and it is one that UConn Department of Marine Sciences Ph.D. student Monica Garity and co-authors are working to understand. By looking at patterns of carbon storage in the deep ocean, the researchers shed new light on this decades-old question. Their results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Environmental scientists are increasingly using enormous artificial intelligence models to make predictions about changes in weather and climate, but a new study by MIT researchers shows that bigger models are not always better.

New research has revealed New Zealand is on track for a major spike in extreme heat, with heat waves that currently hit once a decade potentially striking every other summer.

Cities are particularly vulnerable to heat stress because paved and densely built-up areas tend to store heat. More frequent and intense heat waves are a growing challenge for public health and urban infrastructure.

Volcanoes that blast gases high into the atmosphere not only change global temperatures but also influence flooding in unusual ways, Princeton researchers have found.

Some 390 million years ago in the ancient ocean, marine animals began colonizing depths previously uninhabited. New research indicates this underwater migration occurred in response to a permanent increase in deep-ocean oxygen, driven by the above-ground spread of woody plants—precursors to Earth's first forests.

Throughout the first half of 2020, average monthly temperatures in Siberia reached 6°C above the norm. The situation climaxed on 20 June, when the temperature in the town of Verkhoyansk climbed to 38°C (100.4°F), the highest temperature ever recorded north of the Arctic Circle. With the extreme heat came wildfires, insect outbreaks, and thawing permafrost.

A new international study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters reveals that the boundaries between geological epochs and periods, even though randomly distributed, follow a hidden, hierarchical pattern. Co-authored by Prof. Andrej Spiridonov from Vilnius University (VU) Faculty of Chemistry and Geosciences, the research shows that these time boundaries cluster in a way that reflects Earth's system's deepest fluctuations. This finding could reshape how we understand our planet's past and its possible futures.

So-called "100-year weather events" now seem almost commonplace as floods, storms and fires continue to set new standards for largest, strongest and most destructive. But to categorize weather as a true 100-year event, there must be just a 1% chance of it occurring in any given year. The trouble is that researchers don't always know whether the weather aligns with the current climate or defies the odds.