Phys.org: Earth science

With the North American fire season underway, and a record number of acres already burned nationwide, NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite's three instruments are observing vegetation precursors to fires, along with plumes of smoke and their movement. These data will help scientists piece together clues that deepen their understanding of wildfires.

New research by Brown University geologists confirms that the Aleutian Islands, the archipelago stretching from Alaska to Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, experienced a massive geological uplift between 5 million and 7 million years ago. The researchers conclude that the uplift—a rising of the Earth's crust that pushed the islands upward and transformed their topography—was driven by an ancient rotation of the Pacific tectonic plate, which subducts beneath the North American plate near the Alaska Peninsula and the North Pacific.

The eastern tropical Pacific Ocean is known for its large low-oxygen zones that are increasing in size, putting marine life at risk. New research shows that 15 million years ago, the opposite was true.

For decades, the rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin have been heavily regulated by dams and irrigation networks. As a result, the volume of water entering the ocean is about 60% smaller than 100 years ago. But nature broke through during massive floods over the summer of 2022–23, when heavy rains filled the basin's waterways.

Freshwater ecosystems worldwide have been suffering from declining oxygen levels—a trend known as deoxygenation—that threatens biodiversity, fisheries and ecosystem stability. However, a new study published in Nature Geoscience offers hope: targeted nutrient management via wastewater control can reverse this trajectory, even in the face of rapid climate warming.

As earthquakes struck from California to Venezuela to Japan, millions of people received warnings on their mobile phones, providing critical seconds to seek protection.

The two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela's northern coast, killing more than 180 people, were an event known as a "doublet."

For nearly 50 years, scientists have suspected that microscopic marine plankton play a role in cloud formation over the oceans. Now, an experiment led by the University of Helsinki suggests that it may be more important than previously thought. The findings are published in the journal Nature.

Forests and land play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide emissions, but current models and forecasts don't incorporate a surprising ecological discovery: Despite more available carbon, climate change and warmer temperatures are slowing forest growth.

To understand where Earth might be headed, it's important to know where it has been. Throughout its existence, especially over the past couple of million years, Earth has experienced periodic cold and warm intervals, known as glacial and interglacial periods.

New research led by Curtin University and QUT (Queensland University of Technology) has revealed that repeated asteroid impacts may have been the dominant force shaping early Earth, delivering vast amounts of heat into the planet's interior and delaying the formation of stable continents. The study suggests that during the Hadean—more than four billion years ago—Earth was struck far more frequently than today, with each impact injecting energy deep into the planet.

On Wednesday evening just after 6 p.m. local time, two earthquakes violently shook northern Venezuela.

Last fall, the 12 students in the Jackson School of Geosciences' GEO 347G "Climate System Modeling" class set out to understand something that hit close to home: What were the climatological factors that made the July 4, 2025, rainstorm in Central Texas so severe? What they discovered was that the storm—which caused catastrophic flooding that killed at least 139 people—very well could have been worse.

A study led by geoscientists at the University of Sydney has revealed why some ancient continental edges became fertile sites for major mineral deposits, while others with apparently similar geology did not.

Place-specific strategies for adapting to increasing temperatures are crucial to keeping remote towns and communities across northern Australia habitable, according to a recent study on the future impacts of climate change–intensified heat on people on the geographic edges of Australia.

Gold has long held a special place in Australia's history, shaping the nation's economic fortunes and driving waves of migration since the 1850s gold rushes. Today, Australia stands as one of the world's largest gold producers, with the precious metal a key driver of both regional development and national prosperity.

A new international study has found that Indigenous oral traditions, some thousands of years old, hold valuable and often overlooked insights into volcanic eruptions—offering important lessons for modern disaster preparedness. The research, published in the journal Volcanica, was led by Museums Victoria Research Institute volcanologist Dr. Heather Handley and draws on case studies from Australia, Fiji, Hawai'i, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to demonstrate how Traditional Knowledge and scientific data can be integrated to better understand volcanic history and hazards.

Climate and ocean models use a series of equations to represent complex natural processes. However, the equations used in these models are often derived from limited observations and a series of assumptions.

In the Pilbara of Western Australia, some of Earth's oldest rocks lie beneath the sky, as they have for billions of years. They are dark, weathered volcanic rocks, close to 3.5 billion years old, cut by veins and stewed by deep time.

During Norway's first match of the FIFA World Cup against Iraq on June 17, several small vibrations were recorded on the seismometer. A particularly clear signal was observed when Erling Haaland scored.