Phys.org: Earth science

Estimates of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from volcanoes may have been significantly underestimated, according to new research by The University of Manchester.

When Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai, an underwater volcano near Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean, erupted in 2022, scientists expected that it would spew enough water vapor into the stratosphere to push global temperatures past the 1.5 C threshold set by the Paris Accords. A new UCLA-led study shows that not only did the eruption not warm the planet, but it actually reduced temperatures over the Southern Hemisphere by 0.1 C.

In a gliding avalanche, the entire snowpack slides down a suitable substratum such as grass or slabs of rock. Such avalanches are always released naturally. This requires the snow on the ground to become moist. In winter, this happens from below, when residual heat from summer is still stored in the ground.

Researchers have made a new discovery that changes our understanding of Earth's early geological history, challenging beliefs about how our continents formed and when plate tectonics began.

People along the densely populated Pacific coasts are exposed to strongly fluctuating rainfall patterns: In East Asia, heavy rain falls in summer, and flooding is already one of the climate risks in this region today. The western U.S., on the other hand, is often hit by extreme drought in summer, and the question of how much precipitation the winter will bring is fundamental to appropriate preventive measures.

Mountain snowpacks accumulate snow throughout the winter, building up stores of water that will supply communities across the American West throughout the long dry season.

An international team of geoscientists, marine geologists, climatologists, and environmental specialists has found that lingering El Niño events have increased in frequency over the past 7,000 years. In their study published in Nature Geoscience, the group analyzed oxygen isotopes trapped in Pacific Ocean corals and used the findings to create a simulation showing occurrences of El Niño events and their lengths over time.

A simulation on the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has been conducted by a PKU research team led by Nie Ji, Associate Professor of the School of Physics; and Hu Yongyun, Dean of the Institute of Ocean Research, along with a research team from National Natural Science Foundation of China.

Researchers have discovered that the underside of the North American continent is dripping away in blobs of rock—and that the remnants of a tectonic plate sinking in Earth's mantle may be the reason why.

A research group led by Associate Professor Kohei Mizobata, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, including researchers from the National Institute of Polar Research, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and the Institute of Low Temperature Science (Hokkaido University), has found that enhanced westerly winds associated with global warming will strengthen the clockwise circulations and transport heat to the ice sheet in the East Antarctic coastal area.

Rivers join downstream, flow downhill, and eventually meet an ocean or terminal lake: These are fundamental rules of how waterways and basins are supposed to work. But rules are made to be broken. In the journal Water Resources Research, Sowby and Siegel lay out nine rivers and lakes in the Americas that defy hydrologic expectations.

A study of tree rings in the Gaspesie's Sainte-Anne River area reveals that snowpacks have been declining noticeably in the region's mountains for nearly nine decades. The researchers say the phenomenon is directly linked to global warming.

New projections by the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response (ICRR) reveal a 4°C rise in global temperatures would cut world GDP by around 40% by 2100—a stark increase from previous estimates of around 11%.

A combination of water management practices has contributed to notable groundwater gains in Central Arizona despite the region dealing with long-term water stress, according to a study led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin and collaborators in Arizona and Colorado.

Landslides pose a significant threat to people and the environment worldwide. Researchers from the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), together with international partners, have developed a new framework that significantly improves landslide prediction using machine learning methods.

Recent "unprecedented" floods are not exceptional if we look further into the past, new research shows.

In the first study to consider the long-term evolution of the rivers that flow beneath glaciers, researchers have new insights into the future of Antarctica's melting ice that may change the way climate scientists predict the effects of a warming planet.

A University of Otago—Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka-led study is developing innovative methods to accurately predict how ice sheets and glaciers are deforming and moving.

Plate temperature and water release can explain the occurrence of different types of earthquakes in Guerrera, Mexico. A Kobe University simulation study has also shown that the shape of the Cocos Plate is responsible for a gap where earthquakes haven't occurred for more than a century. The results are important for accurate earthquake prediction models in the region.

A pair of marine scientists at the University of Antwerp, in Belgium, working with a colleague from the University of Otago, in New Zealand, have found that simulations they created showed that trawling and dredging impact the processes behind natural ocean alkalinity production.