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China's emissions policies are helping climate change but also creating a new problem

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 02/10/2026 - 12:50

China's sweeping efforts to clean up its air have delivered one of the biggest public health success stories of recent decades. Since the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan was launched in 2013, coal-fired power plants have been fitted with scrubbers, heavy industry has been modernized and pollution standards tightened, leading to an over 50% reduction in atmospheric particulate matter.

Half of the world's coral reefs suffered major bleaching during the 2014–2017 global heat wave, estimates suggest

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 02/10/2026 - 10:00

Benefits to society from coral reefs, including fisheries, tourism, coastal protection, pharmaceutical discovery and more, are estimated at about $9.8 trillion per year. For the first time, an international team led by Smithsonian researchers estimated the extent of coral bleaching worldwide during a global marine heat wave, finding that half of the world's reefs experienced significant damage. Another heat wave began in 2023 and is ongoing.

Record low sea levels in the Baltic Sea could reshape sea's physical conditions

Phys.org: Earth science - Tue, 02/10/2026 - 01:00

Since the beginning of January, an unusually long period of easterly winds has caused the average water level in the Baltic Sea to fall to a historic low. Measurements at the Swedish Landsort-Norra gauge show values that are the lowest since records began in 1886. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) are currently monitoring this development very closely, as it represents a rare oceanographic situation that could lead to a large inflow of saltwater from the North Sea into the Baltic Sea. An inflow of this kind could significantly affect the physical and chemical conditions in the deep basins of the central Baltic Sea.

Avalanche winter 1951: Forest emerges as most-effective protection following disasters in Alps

Phys.org: Earth science - Mon, 02/09/2026 - 23:00

In terms of area, forest is the most important means of avalanche protection. It is also the most cost-effective and is naturally renewable. This insight hit home after the winter of 1951, when over 1,000 avalanches caused immense damage. The SLF began researching how protection forests could be sustainably developed.

Glaciers in retreat: Uncovering tourism's contradictions

Phys.org: Earth science - Mon, 02/09/2026 - 22:00

As glaciers around the world melt at unprecedented rates, tourism in these icy landscapes is booming, adding pressure to vulnerable regions and disrupting delicate ecosystems. A collective effort, led by UNIL and published in Nature Climate Change, points to ways of balancing tourism with conservation, awareness, and social equity.

Discovering new connections between Great Lakes' winter storms and global climate patterns

Phys.org: Earth science - Mon, 02/09/2026 - 21:14

About a year ago, researchers at the University of Michigan found that the extratropical cyclones that are the biggest drivers of winter weather in the Great Lakes region are warming and trending northward. That means, outside of the northern reaches of the region, residents can expect that their winters will be warmer and wetter on average.

A piece of Africa in Europe? New insights into plate tectonics of the Balkans

Phys.org: Earth science - Mon, 02/09/2026 - 20:40

Around the Balkan Peninsula, the African plate is sinking beneath the European plate. A piece of deeply submerged African crust resurfaced 40 million years ago far away from the sinking zone. How this phenomenon of so-called vertical extrusion can be explained and whether the Rhodope mountain range in southern Bulgaria was formed in this way is a matter of scientific debate. Dr. Iskander Muldashev and Professor Thorsten Nagel from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg have now shown how this process works in a recent publication in the journal Geology. The formation of the Rhodopes was only 40 million years ago—the mountain range is therefore 30–50 million years younger than previously assumed.

Satellite observations put stratospheric methane loss higher than models predicted

Phys.org: Earth science - Mon, 02/09/2026 - 20:07

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas with strong heat-trapping capabilities. Although there is less methane in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, the foremost greenhouse gas, researchers attribute 30% of modern global warming to methane. Observations show that methane levels have increased over time, but the factors driving changes in the rate of accumulation remain unclear.