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A new paper published in Biological Reviews has revealed the potential of desert ecosystems in the global fight against climate change. The review, led by Prof. Zeng Fanjiang from the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, synthesizes evidence showing that deserts can function as vital carbon sinks through innovative management and technology.

Key 'fingerprint' reveals slowdown of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 17:51

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), an ocean current system that transports heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic, plays a vital role in regulating the global climate. Most climate models project a decline in AMOC strength under anthropogenic greenhouse gas warming. However, it remains unclear whether the AMOC has slowed over the past century, and if so, when this slowdown began.

AI is powering the search for America's critical minerals

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 16:33

They power green energy, enhance defense systems, and drive the future of microelectronics. Known as critical minerals, elements like lithium, cobalt, and nickel are vital to national security and innovation. Yet the U.S. faces a growing challenge: securing stable, domestic supplies for critical minerals. Today, the nation remains heavily reliant on imports, often from geopolitically unstable or adversarial regions.

Researchers track massive ice loss from Berry Glacier in West Antarctica

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 16:30

Berry Glacier, a tributary of the Getz Ice Shelf in West Antarctica, has deteriorated dramatically in the past three decades, according to researchers in the Department of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine.

How climate change increased the risk of earthquakes in East Africa

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 16:03

Climate change is accelerating continental rifting, the geological process where landmasses slowly pull apart. According to a new study published in the journal Scientific Reports, the East African Rift System (EARS) became more tectonically active after its major lakes shrank due to a drier climate 4,000 to 6,000 years ago. This could have caused more frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

What is low-carbon supply chain finance?

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 14:34

Dr. Peter Shi from Macquarie Business School explains how low-carbon supply chain finance helps businesses reduce emissions, unlock green funding and build resilient, profitable networks amid global climate challenges.

How continents peel from below to trigger oceanic volcanoes

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 10:00

Earth scientists have discovered how continents are slowly peeled from beneath, fueling volcanic activity in an unexpected place: the oceans.

Global fatal landslides in August 2025

EOS - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 07:12

In August 2025, I recorded 104 fatal landslides leading to 2,365 fatalities, a record total number of landslides for August.

Loyal readers will know that each year, August is one of the two peak months for fatal landslides. In 2025, I recorded 104 fatal landslides leading to 2,365 fatalities (but please see below as I have severe doubts about the latter number).

This is an unusually high level of loss both in terms of the number of fatalities and the number of events.

This is the monthly total number of landslides for 2025 to the end of August:-

The number of fatal landslides to the end of August 2025 by month.

Loyal readers will also be aware that I like to use pentads (five day blocks) for inter-annual comparisons. This is the 2025 plot to pentad 49 (2 September 2025):-

The number of fatal landslides to 2 September 2025, displayed in pentads. For comparison, the long term mean (2004 to 2016) from Froude and Petley (2018) and the exceptional year of 2024 are also shown.

The graph demonstrates that to the end of August, 2025 was running a very long way above the long term mean number of landslides, and indeed was close to the absolutely exceptional number recorded in 2024.

The number of fatal landslides in August 2025 was dominated by events in South Asia, and in particular in India. That will need further analysis in due course. In terms of fatalities, the total was driven by the 31 August 2025 landslide at Tarasin in Sudan, which is reported to have killed 1,573 people. However, as I noted in a blog post, I have severe doubts about this total. At this stage, I do not have a reliable alternative total, so I have included the number as reported locally.

In terms of the number of fatal landslides, 2025 had the highest August total in my dataset. The previous highest total was 78 in 2018.

August 2025 was the third warmest August globally in the instrumental record, but it was cooler than both 2023 and 2024. In this case, it appears that the rainfall pattern from the summer monsoon in South Asia has had a major impact.

Reference

Froude M.J. and Petley D.N. 2018. Global fatal landslide occurrence from 2004 to 2016. Natural Hazards and Earth System Science 18, 2161-2181. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-18-2161-2018

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Cloud droplet microphysics challenges accuracy of current climate models

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 00:10

The way clusters of differently sized water droplet populations are distributed within clouds affects larger-scale cloud properties, such as how light is scattered and how quickly precipitation forms. Studying and simulating cloud droplet microphysical structure is difficult. But recent field observations have provided crucial, centimeter-scale data on cloud droplet size distributions in stratocumulus clouds, giving researchers an opportunity to better match their models to reality.

Frequency-dependent seismic reflection and transmission of layered cracked porous media

Geophysical Journal International - Tue, 11/11/2025 - 00:00

SummarySeismic reflection and transmission provide essential insights into the composition of reservoir solids and fluids. Reservoir media often consist of layered structures that contain solids, fluids, pores, and cracks. In such complex layered media, the stable and accurate modeling of seismic wave propagation is crucial for effective reservoir evaluation using seismic waves. By solving the cracked porous medium wave equation for layered structures using the propagator matrix method, we calculate the frequency-dependent oblique incident P-SV and SH wave reflection and transmission for the layered poroelastic media containing cracks. This approach accounts for the combined effects of impedance contrast and crack squirt flow on wave reflection and transmission. The newly developed model includes interlayer fluid flow, crack squirt flow, and global fluid flow. Among these mechanisms, interlayer fluid flow and crack squirt flow can both be prominent in the seismic frequency band. Then, the model was applied to simulate seismic reflection and transmission in cracked interlayer and interface geological structures. The results show that the pore-crack squirt flow mechanism plays a significant role in determining seismic reflection and transmission. Increased crack density and gas saturation significantly enhance P-wave reflection and generate seismic reflection bright spots, while for the S-wave reflection, the effect is largely controlled by crack density, and, when crack density is high, is moderately affected by fluid saturation. This fluid sensitivity results from the crack squirt flow mechanism, which is absent from the classical Biot-Gassmann theory. In all known limiting cases, the model predictions agree with those from the Biot-Gassmann theory.