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The latest news on earth sciences and the environment
Updated: 1 day 16 hours ago

Global 'precipitation whiplashes' between droughts and floods could intensify by 2028, study warns

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 16:41
A recent study by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) reveals a looming climate crisis: the world could face heightened risks of "precipitation whiplashes"—violent swings between extreme droughts and floods—as early as 2028.

How marine biomass has changed over the past 500 million years

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 15:00
In a first-of-its-kind study, Stanford researchers have measured how the abundance of ocean life has changed over the past half-billion years of Earth's history.

How restoring river catchments can minimize drought and flood risks

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 14:50
As Britain's first heat wave of 2025 hits with temperatures climbing above 30°C, Yorkshire has joined the northwest in official drought status.

Gone with the glaciers: Researchers track unprecedented ice loss

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 13:20
A study published in Geophysical Research Letters reveals that glaciers in western Canada, the United States, and Switzerland lost around 12% of their ice between 2021 and 2024.

When rain, snow and soil align: The triple threat behind 2024's deadly central Asian floods

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 13:19
The past year of 2024 was characterized by repeated runs of extreme rainfall and floods worldwide. Among these, one of the most devastating events was the Central Asian flood in the spring of 2024.

Scientists detect deep Earth pulses beneath Africa

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 09:00
Research led by Earth scientists at the University of Southampton has uncovered evidence of rhythmic surges of molten mantle rock rising from deep within the Earth beneath Africa. These pulses are gradually tearing the continent apart and forming a new ocean.

Detailed analysis of the benefits and trade-offs of urban street trees in Las Vegas

Wed, 06/25/2025 - 08:54
Earth is hotter than it has been in 125,000 years, scientists say, and Las Vegas continues to break temperature records. The extreme heat claimed more than 500 lives in southern Nevada last year alone, and scientists and city officials are clamoring for solutions.

Boulder's winds aren't what they used to be

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 20:10
Peak wind gusts in Boulder and possibly other locations along the Front Range don't pack the same punch they used to, according to a new analysis led by scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR).

A century of seasonal forecast improvement for Western Pacific Subtropical High driven by Indo-Pacific ocean

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 19:32
The Western Pacific Subtropical High (WPSH) functions like Earth's atmospheric traffic controller, directing summer monsoon flows that regulate rainfall and temperatures across East Asia. When this high-pressure system misbehaves, the consequences can be dramatic—from the devastating Yangtze River floods of 1931 and 1998, to 2020's endless rainy season, and the record-shattering 2022 heat waves that baked the Yangtze basin.

Rock on: How crushed stone could help fight climate change

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 09:25
From sugar plantations in Brazil to tea estates in India, crushed rock is being sprinkled across large stretches of farmland globally in a novel bid to combat climate change.

Modeling study finds early signs of widespread coastal marsh decline

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 19:00
Researchers have revealed the declining health of coastal marshes several years before visible signs of decline, providing an early warning and an opportunity to protect an ecosystem that serves as the first line of defense against coastal flooding.

Massive burps of carbon dioxide triggered widespread ocean anoxia 300 million years ago, sediment cores suggest

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 19:00
New research from the University of California, Davis, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Texas A&M University reveals that massive emissions, or burps, of carbon dioxide from natural Earth systems led to significant decreases in ocean oxygen concentrations some 300 million years ago.

How marine microalgae cause buoyant microplastics to sink

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 15:17
The Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOST) has revealed that marine microalgae are responsible for ocean aggregates of buoyant microplastics (MPs), increasing the density of MP aggregates and causing them to sink.

Freak wind gusts made worse by climate change threaten airline passenger safety

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 15:09
Unexpected severe turbulence injured crew and passengers on a Qantas Boeing 737 during descent at Brisbane on May 4, 2024. The subsequent Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation suggested the severity of the turbulence caught the captain by surprise.

Global warming is changing cloud patterns. That means more global warming

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 15:05
At any given time, about two-thirds of Earth's surface is covered by clouds. Overall, they make the planet much cooler than it would be without them.

Understudied current in Barents Sea may play key role in Arctic winter ice loss

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 14:59
In the last few decades, Arctic sea ice has receded ever further, including increasingly in winter when the extent of sea ice is at its most prominent. One of the main drivers of this development is thought to be the warming of Atlantic water that flows from Europe's Norwegian Sea into the Arctic Ocean, passing through the Barents Sea and the Fram Strait in the process.

What ancient ice sheets can tell us about future sea level rise

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 13:48
When visiting Godrevy beach on the north Cornish coast, most people look out to sea at the lighthouse, surfers and seals rather than the cliffs behind. But these cliffs hold a history of past climate and sea levels that is incredibly valuable to scientists like me, who are trying to determine how quickly sea level is going to rise in the future.

Wildfires threaten water quality for up to eight years after they burn, study shows

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 13:10
Years after wildfires burn forests and watersheds, the contaminants left behind continue to poison rivers and streams across the Western U.S.—much longer than scientists estimated.

How archaeology can offer a blueprint for adapting to climate change

Sun, 06/22/2025 - 15:50
How does climate change affect the way humans organize themselves? How has it shaped the course of human evolution? An international team of scientists, including scientists from the Université de Montréal, think the key to answering those questions is to pay more attention to the archaeological record.

Strange Atlantic cold spot linked to century-long slowdown of major ocean current

Sat, 06/21/2025 - 10:30
For more than a century, a patch of cold water south of Greenland has resisted the Atlantic Ocean's overall warming, fueling debate among scientists. A new study identifies the cause as the long-term weakening of a major ocean circulation system.

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