Phys.org: Earth science

In the 1997 action film "Dante's Peak," Pierce Brosnan plays the role of a volcanologist sent to investigate seismic activity beneath a long-dormant volcano.

A new study delivers a stark warning that Central Asia has overshot its environmental safety limits concerning land footprint and biosphere integrity. The study, led by Prof. Duan Weili from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provides a comprehensive sustainability assessment and identifies Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as priority areas for environmental management.

In their paper published in Science of the Total Environment, researchers from IIASA and Lviv Polytechnic National University in Ukraine presented a novel approach to measure and understand human pressure on planet Earth. The researchers explored how carbon emissions can be translated into measures of "stress" and "strain" to derive new insights into how the planet is changing.

A powerful heat wave has been gripping large parts of southern Europe and North Africa, pushing air temperatures beyond seasonal norms and triggering widespread health and wildfire alerts. Among the hardest-hit countries are Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, and Algeria.

New research has, for the first time, tracked ice shelf, sea ice and ocean swell wave conditions over multiple years in the lead-up to three large-scale iceberg "calving" events in Antarctica, revealing common patterns.

A patch of the Atlantic Ocean just south of Greenland is cooling while much of the world warms. The origin of this "cold blob" has been linked to weakening ocean currents that help regulate global climate—called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). A team of scientists led by Penn State has found a weakening AMOC impacts not just the ocean but also the atmosphere, and that these two factors may contribute equally to the cold anomaly.

Eastern Australia is one of the most fire-prone regions in the world, with bushfires responsible for the deaths of about 800 people and millions of animals since about 1850.

For years, sand nourishment has been an important way to protect the Dutch coast against erosion and rising sea levels. But we know surprisingly little about one type of nourishment, shoreface nourishment. A recent scientific review article published in Earth-Science Reviews by the University of Twente maps out existing knowledge in this area and underlines the need for further research.

Scientists have discovered that changes in climate and water levels are reducing the ability of some ecosystems in the Everglades to sequester carbon, while the environmental shifts are enhancing the potential for carbon uptake by scrub mangroves.

As glaciers retreat due to a rise in global temperatures, one study shows that detailed 3D elevation models could drastically improve predictions about how they react to Earth's warming climate.

Researchers have discovered a dramatic and unexpected shift in the Southern Ocean, with surface water salinity rising and sea ice in steep decline.

They're in the headlines every week—critical minerals like lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and the rare earth elements essential for high-technology and national security applications.

When the island of Santorini was rattled by thousands of small earthquakes earlier this year, many people were left mystified about the source of the tremors.

Hurricane Helene lasted only a few days in September 2024, but it altered the landscape of the Southeastern U.S. in profound ways that will affect the hazards local residents face far into the future.

A new study has revealed that small but mighty zooplankton—including copepods, krill, and salps—are key players in the Southern Ocean's ability to absorb and store carbon.

Parts of New Orleans and its surrounding wetlands are gradually sinking, and while most of the city remains stable, a new study from Tulane University researchers suggests that sections of the region's $15 billion post-Katrina flood protection system may need regular upgrades to outpace long-term land subsidence.

A new study challenges recent claims about dramatic "greening" in Antarctica and how this conflicts with decades of field-based ecological knowledge. The new opinion article, "Is Antarctica Greening?" published in Global Change Biology, responds directly to recent high-profile studies that asserted unprecedented ecological transformations based on remote sensing data.

A global study has revealed that mineral-associated organic matter (MAOM) serves as the most stable long-term reservoir of carbon across diverse ecosystems, providing new insights into how carbon moves and stabilizes in soils.

NOAA and its research partners are forecasting a mild to moderate harmful algal bloom (HAB) in western Lake Erie this summer. This year's bloom is expected to measure 3 on the HAB severity index, with a potential range of 2–4.

When an extreme weather event occurs, the probability or risk of other events can often increase, leading to what researchers call "cascading" hazards.