Phys.org: Earth science

An international study by marine scientists based in Singapore has revealed that sea-level rise in the Indian Ocean began accelerating far earlier than previously thought, with corals providing an unbroken natural record of ocean change stretching back to the early 20th century.

The murky world at the bottom of the oceans is now a little clearer, thanks to a new study that tracks the evolution of marine sediment layers across hundreds of millions of years.

A recent study is shedding light on the factors that contributed to the significant wildfires in Manitoba in May 2025. The research explores how unusual weather patterns and stressed vegetation combined to create an ideal environment for disaster.

From lifelong farmers to backyard gardeners, most plant-lovers know that adding organic matter to a field, vegetable plot or flowerpot increases the soil's moisture. Now, for the first time, Northwestern University scientists have uncovered the molecular mechanisms that enable organic matter to boost soil's ability to retain water—even in desert-like conditions. The study is published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

Anomalies in temperature and salinity that originate in the midlatitude North Atlantic can affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the Nordic Seas up to a decade later. A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment shows that the anomalies that travel northward with the Atlantic Water are an important part of the system, and actively modulate both the inflow of warm water into the Nordic Seas and the overflow of dense water back into the deep Atlantic.

Lakes have long been viewed as sources of carbon dioxide emissions, but new research suggests they may actually act as carbon sinks. A study led by Uppsala University reveals that lake shorelines store more carbon than previously believed, highlighting the need to include these littoral zones in calculations of the continental carbon balance.

Rare earth elements thread invisibly through daily life, quietly powering everything from laptops to smartphones to cars. "They're essential ingredients for our modern lives," said Virginia Tech mining expert Aaron Noble.

Imagine running a business for over a century without knowing what's in your warehouse. That's essentially what many African countries are doing with their mineral wealth. Governments across the continent still have very little knowledge of what lies beneath their soil.

The picturesque tufa towers on the shores of Mono Lake, formed over centuries by underwater springs and left high and dry as Los Angeles diverted water from nearby creeks, have long been a symbol of the saline lake. Visitors who stroll beside the lapping water take photos of the craggy calcium carbonate formations as flocks of migratory birds soar overhead.

An iconic Argentinian glacier, long thought one of the few on Earth to be relatively stable, is now undergoing its "most substantial retreat in the past century," according to new research.

Our ability to predict extreme weather from thunderstorms, like the recent catastrophic flash floods in Texas, is unsettlingly poor, even in the hours leading up to the event. Improvements in understanding, detecting and predicting extreme thunderstorms—and increasing community resilience to them—are badly needed.

In the wake of a wildfire, there's often an assumption that burned landscapes will be more susceptible to landslides. But new research from the University of Oregon suggests it's not always that simple.

Tropical cyclones, commonly known as typhoons or hurricanes, can form in clusters and impact coastal regions back-to-back. For example, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria hit the U.S. sequentially within one month in 2017. The Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to provide adequate support to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico when Maria struck because most rescue resources and specialized disaster staffers were deployed for the responses to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Towering walls of water traveling at the speed of a jetliner, with coastal communities from Japan and Hawaii to South America and the U.S. West Coast in their path.

Subduction, a crucial geological process on Earth, may have begun hundreds of millions of years earlier than traditionally believed.

Glaciers carved the deep valleys of Banff, eroded Ontario to deposit the fertile soils of the Prairies, and continue to change Earth's surface. But how fast do glaciers sculpt the landscape?

The SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) satellite captured the tsunami spawned by an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, 11:25 a.m. local time. The satellite, a joint effort between NASA and the French space agency CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), recorded the tsunami about 70 minutes after the earthquake struck.

On New Year's Day 1995, a monstrous 80-foot wave in the North Sea slammed into the Draupner oil platform. The wall of water crumpled steel railings and flung heavy equipment across the deck—but its biggest impact was what it left behind: hard data. It was the first time a rogue wave had ever been measured in the open ocean.

The Colorado River is in trouble: Not as much water flows into the river as people are entitled to take out of it. A new idea might change that, but complicated political and practical negotiations stand in the way.

Natural weathering processes are removing CO2 from the air in a wide range of environments across continents and oceans. Until recently, these "CO2 vacuum cleaners" were often studied separately, without properly examining their complex interactions.