Phys.org: Earth science

Over the past 50 years, geographers have embraced each new technological shift in geographic information systems (GIS)—the technology that turns location data into maps and insights about how places and people interact—first the computer boom, then the rise of the internet and data-sharing capabilities with web-based GIS, and later the emergence of smartphone data and cloud-based GIS systems.

A new study led by researchers at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory offers the clearest evidence yet that a centuries-long drought transformed life on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) beginning around the year 1550.

In recent years, as extreme weather events have occurred with increasing frequency, scientists have been searching within the chaotic atmospheric system for clues that can enhance forecasting capabilities—factors such as ENSO, sea ice, the stratospheric polar vortex, and tropical convective activity. These factors provide critical basis for weather and climate predictions across different time scales.

Arctic sea ice has declined by more than 42% since 1979, when regular satellite monitoring began. As the ice grows thinner and recedes, more water is exposed to sunlight. Ice reflects sunlight but dark water absorbs it, advancing warming and accelerating ice loss. Climate models indicate that the Arctic will see ice-free summers within the coming decades, and scientists still aren't sure what this will mean for life on Earth.

For decades, scientists have generally thought that rivers emit more carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, than they take in. But a new analysis of every river network in the contiguous United States—including underrepresented rivers in deserts and shrublands—challenges this assumption, uncovering hints that many Western waterways may be soaking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

In Arizona's Willcox Basin, just over an hour east of Tucson, fissures are tearing through the earth, wells are running dry, and strange areas are flooding when it rains. The cause is clear. As large agricultural producers pump more and more groundwater for irrigation, the water table is falling, and the land surface itself is sinking.

A research group led by Prof. Sun Xiaobing from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, investigated the impact of multiangular polarimetry on the quantification of marine aerosol remote sensing applications.

If you know what diatoms are, it's probably because of their beauty. These single-celled algae found on the ocean floor have ornate glassy shells that shine like jewels under the microscope.

Melting of the Antarctic ice sheet due to global warming has long-term, irreversible societal impacts with important implications for people around the world. Spatial patterns of sea level change from ice sheet mass loss vary in cause, and have worldwide impacts.

Tulane University researchers, collaborating with an international team of scientists, have discovered why some parts of Earth's crust remain strong while others give way, overturning long-held assumptions about how continents break apart.

An international study presents the first global assessment of blue carbon accumulated in the living parts of seagrass plants. According to the results, their leaves, rhizomes and roots store up to 40 million tons of carbon worldwide.

For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland's Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim's massive calving events don't behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.

Three new high-profile studies led by Dr. Yi Yao (Vrije Universiteit Brussel and ETH Zurich) show that while irrigation may be seen as a tool to dampen heat extremes, its benefits will come with adverse impacts.

By the beginning of June this year, approximately 38 million tons of Sargassum drifted towards the coasts of the Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and northern South America, marking a negative record. Especially during the summer months, the brown algae accumulate on beaches, decomposing and emitting a foul odor. This not only repels tourists but also threatens coastal ecosystems. In the open ocean, Sargassum seaweed floating on the surface serves as nourishment and habitat for numerous marine species.

A collaborative research team has discovered that the Southern Ocean releases substantially more carbon dioxide (CO2) during the dark austral winter than previously thought. Their new study reveals that this winter outgassing has been underestimated by up to 40%.

Techniques to reflect an additional small portion of sunlight back into space could help cool the planet if deployed globally, but they cannot address the full range of climate impacts or replace emission cuts, according to a Royal Society briefing.

We've gone to the bottom of the ocean to study how its chemistry shapes our planet's climate, even chasing lava-spewing underwater volcanoes to do it. But it turns out we may have missed something far closer to home: the water beneath our feet.

A study published in Nature Climate Change by an international team of scientists from the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea, presents new evidence that ocean turbulence and a process known as "horizontal stirring" will increase dramatically in the Arctic and Southern Oceans due to human-induced global warming and decreasing sea ice coverage.

Beneath the surface of lakes and coastal waters lies a hidden world of sediment that plays a crucial role in the health of aquatic ecosystems. "Benthic fluxes" of nitrogen and phosphorus, such as releases of these dissolved nutrients from sediments to their overlying waters, can fuel algae growth and toxic harmful algal blooms (HABs), which degrade water quality, disrupt wildlife and recreation, and reduce property values.

The United States is falling far behind China in remote sensing research, according to a comprehensive new study that tracked seven decades of academic publishing and reveals a notable reversal in global technological standing.