Phys.org: Earth science

UK winters are becoming significantly wetter mainly due to warming driven by human burning of fossil fuels releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, a Newcastle University study reveals. The research shows that for every degree of global or regional warming, winter rainfall increases by a compounding 7%, increasing the risk of flooding. And the scientists warn it is happening much faster than most global climate models predict.

Geologic reservoirs that trapped petroleum for millions of years are now being repurposed to store the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. New research is improving how we monitor this storage and verify how much CO2 these reservoirs have stored.

Scientists have long known that Earth's core is mostly made of iron, but the density is not high enough for it to be pure iron, meaning lighter elements exist in the core, as well. In particular, it's suspected to be a major reservoir of hydrogen. A new study, published in Nature Communications, supports this idea with results suggesting the core contains up to 45 oceans' worth of hydrogen. These results also challenge the idea that most of Earth's water was delivered by comets early on.

Scientists say that multiple Earth system components appear closer to destabilization than previously believed, putting the planet in increased danger of following a "hothouse" path driven by feedback loops that can amplify the consequences of global warming.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)—the statutory agency responsible for planning the Basin's water resources—has just shared the starkest news yet about the Basin's future: the Basin is almost certainly going to get hotter, drier, and more volatile in the future, with reduced river flows.

Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen, and sometimes these atoms are slightly heavier than usual. These heavier forms are called isotopes. As water evaporates or moves through the atmosphere, the amount of these isotopes changes in predictable ways. This can act as a fingerprint, allowing researchers to trace the movement of water at global scales.

Commercial shipping not only affects the Baltic Sea on the surface, but also has a significant impact on the water column and the seabed. A study by the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) and Kiel University (CAU) now shows for the first time that wake turbulence from large ships in heavily trafficked areas of the western Baltic Sea significantly alters water stratification and leads to marked sea floor erosion. The research team has therefore documented a previously underestimated human impact on shallow marine areas. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Tiny, invisible gases long thought to be irrelevant in cloud formation may actually play a major role in determining whether clouds form—and possibly whether it rains.

They're all around us: sensors and satellites, radars and drones. These tools form vast remote sensing networks that collect data on the climate, the ground, the air, and the water. This information is immensely useful for research, conservation, and disaster preparedness. But, according to an interdisciplinary group of Earth science researchers in a paper led by Casey O'Hara of UC Santa Barbara, we're only just scratching the surface of understanding just how beneficial Earth science information can be.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

From 1948 to 1953, a gold mine called Giant Mine released about 5 tons of arsenic trioxide per day into the environment around Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. Emissions declined from the 1950s until the mine closed in 2004, but the surrounding landscape remains highly contaminated with arsenic.

After major disasters, public debate often treats them as unexpected or unprecedented. This reaction is not necessarily about the absence of warnings. It reflects how societies process shock—and how authorities often explain disruption as unavoidable, rather than the result of earlier choices.

As glaciers around the world continue to shrink and disappear, they are drawing more visitors than ever, not only for their beauty but for what they have come to represent in an era of climate change. A new study co-authored by Rice University anthropologist Cymene Howe examines this phenomenon, showing how melting glaciers have become powerful destinations for tourism, sites of collective grief and symbols of political meaning even as their loss threatens the communities that depend on them.