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Fossilized oysters hold key to mass extinction: Study finds event triggered by ocean pH drop

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 16:50
In the first and only reconstruction of ocean pH ever carried out, new research from the University of St Andrews and the University of Birmingham has discovered that a rapid acidification of oceans, due to a massive and sudden rise in atmospheric CO2, caused a mass extinction event 201 million years ago.

Tracing black carbon's journey to the ocean

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 15:50
Whether from a forest on fire or gasoline powering a car, organic matter rarely combusts completely: Remnants such as char and soot can persist in the environment for decades. Over time, as physical and biological processes break down the scorched leftovers, some of the carbon they contain leaches into groundwater, lakes, and rivers, eventually making its way to the ocean.

So what do the world's coastlines look like in 2025? Scientists revisit turn-of-the-century forecasts

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 13:50
At the dawn of the millennium, a group of eminent scientists began compiling a list of the threats they felt were most likely to impact the world's rocky shorelines over the coming quarter of a century.

Why speleothem δ¹⁸O records miss 100,000-year climate cycles in Southern China

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 13:39
A new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences solves a long-standing climate mystery: Why don't the records of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) in cave formations like stalagmites—known as speleothems—from central southern China reflect the well-known 100,000-year cycles of ice ages seen in other global climate records? These speleothem δ18O records have long been considered a key indicator of the strength of the Asian summer monsoon, so their failure to show these major climate shifts has puzzled scientists for decades.

'Hope isn't enough—we need action when it comes to climate change': An earth scientist's guide for the future

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 13:20
Climate change is coming… but what on Earth can we do about it? Scientist Dr. Kimberley Miner has written a guide to riding out the oncoming almighty storm.

Study finds repetitive flooding far more common across North Carolina than thought

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 13:00
A new study from UNC-Chapel Hill reveals that repetitive flooding in North Carolina is far more common and more widespread than previously recognized, with over 20,000 buildings flooding multiple times between 1996 and 2020.

Philippine scientists' warning vs. 'indirect' effect of tropical cyclones during the monsoon season

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 12:20
Tropical cyclones hundreds of kilometers away from the Philippines are often more responsible for heavy rainfall than those that hit the country directly during the annual "Habagat" or southwest monsoon season from July to September, according to new research published in Atmospheric Research.

Air pollution cuts in East Asia likely accelerated global warming

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 09:00
The cleanup of air pollution in East Asia has accelerated global warming, a new study published today (Monday, 14 July) in the journal Communications Earth and Environment has found.

Polar vortex patterns explain shifting US winter cold despite warming climate

Fri, 07/11/2025 - 18:00
Despite a warming climate, bone-chilling winter cold can grip parts of the U.S. In a study appearing in Science Advances, researchers found that two specific patterns in the polar vortex, a swirling mass of cold air high in the stratosphere, steer extreme cold to different regions of the country. One pattern drives Arctic air into the Northwest U.S., the other into the Central and Eastern areas.

Mantle's hidden role in tungsten formation upends long-held geological theories

Fri, 07/11/2025 - 13:15
Tungsten (W), a hard, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant metal, is indispensable to modern high-tech industries—from aerospace and defense to computing. While its global distribution is uneven, most tungsten deposits share defining geological traits: close ties to highly evolved, volatile-rich granites; formation from melted sedimentary rocks (anatexis) in tungsten-rich granitoids; and occurrence in back-arc or intraplate zones rather than convergent tectonic margins. These features have long supported theories of a purely crustal origin for tungsten mineralization.

Mysterious reed-covered mounds reveal vast underground water network in Great Salt Lake

Fri, 07/11/2025 - 10:11
As Great Salt Lake's levels continue to sag, yet another strange phenomenon has surfaced, offering Utah scientists more opportunities to plumb the vast saline lake's secrets.

Rivers choose their path based on erosion, a discovery that could transform flood planning and restoration

Fri, 07/11/2025 - 09:10
Rivers are Earth's arteries. Water, sediment and nutrients self-organize into diverse, dynamic channels as they journey from the mountains to the sea. Some rivers carve out a single pathway, while others divide into multiple interwoven threads. These channel patterns shape flood risks, erosion hazards and ecosystem services for more than three billion people who live along river corridors worldwide.

Newly discovered ancient river landscapes may control ice flow in East Antarctica

Fri, 07/11/2025 - 09:00
The remains of landscapes thought to have formed when ancient rivers flowed across East Antarctica have been discovered—and could help predictions of future loss from the ice sheet.

Sediments exposed by glacier melt begin emitting greenhouse gases over time

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 18:10
A new study conducted by geologists from the University of Florida and the University of Maryland reveals that, as land is exposed by melting glaciers, chemical reactions in the newly uncovered glacial sediments initially suppress greenhouse gas emissions.

Satellite mapping reveals tropical tree cover losses underestimated by 17%, highlighting gaps in global tracking

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 16:00
A new study published in Nature Communications has found that 17.31% of tropical tree cover—an area spanning 395.9 million hectares (Mha)—has been consistently overlooked by global forest monitoring systems, exposing significant gaps in efforts to track deforestation and ecological degradation.

Summer floods of July 2021 exposed Meuse river's vulnerability

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 15:50
Four years ago, summer floods in Limburg—in the south of the Netherlands—drastically altered the riverbed of the Meuse, making accurate high-water forecasts even more difficult than usual. "This shows just how vulnerable and unpredictable the Meuse really is," says researcher Hermjan Barneveld.

Real-time system reveals hidden urban air pollution risks

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 15:19
A new real-time monitoring system captures minute-by-minute changes in toxic metals resulting from traffic pollution. Research indicates that non-exhaust sources, including brake wear, significantly contribute to urban health risks.

Measuring how—and where—Antarctic ice is cracking with new data tool

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 15:17
A total collapse of the roughly 80-mile-wide Thwaites Glacier, the widest in the world, would trigger changes that could lead to 11 feet of sea-level rise, according to scientists who study Antarctica. To better predict fractures that could lead to such a collapse—and to better understand the processes driving changes in Antarctic ice shelves—a team led by researchers at Penn State developed a new method to evaluate cracks that destabilize ice shelves and accelerate those losses.

BLOBS on the move: Deep Earth structures may explain giant volcanic explosions

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 15:07
Colossal volcanic eruptions like the kind that may have obliterated the dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago are caused by mantle plumes that rise from shifting underground mountains deep within the Earth's mantle, new research led by University of Wollongong (UOW) geophysicists and statistical scientists has revealed.

Health experts' 8 recommendations for the UN Plastics Treaty

Thu, 07/10/2025 - 08:27
A leading expert in the health impacts of plastic pollution and microplastics is calling on the UN to end the use of toxic chemicals in all plastics, cap and reduce plastic production and argues against a treaty focused on waste management and recycling, as part of an international Plastics Treaty.

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