Phys.org: Earth science

Knowing where to turn for help in the wake of a wildfire can feel overwhelming. With wildfires affecting an increasing number of communities throughout Arizona, residents need clear guidance and actionable steps to recover.

Emissions and atmospheric concentrations of methane continue to increase, making it the second most important human-influenced greenhouse gas in terms of climate forcing after carbon dioxide. In fact, methane concentrations have risen faster over the past five-year period than in any period since record-keeping began, and yet research suggests that reducing methane emissions may be cheaper than carbon dioxide mitigation for a comparable climate benefit.

Stifling heat and sticky air often make summertime in the city uncomfortable. Due to the heat island effect, urban areas are significantly warmer than nearby rural areas, even at night. This, combined with more frequent extreme weather events caused by climate change, often render the city an unpleasant environment in the summer.

The retreat of the planet's glaciers is one of the most visible and dramatic indicators of the far-reaching impact of climate change on the world's ecosystems.

An international research team studying fossilized oyster shells has revealed substantial annual temperature variation in sea water during the Early Cretaceous. The finding overturns the assumption that Earth's greenhouse periods are marked by universally warmer and uniformly stable temperatures.

Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) strategies use a wide range of techniques to capture CO2 from the air and store it durably, offering a frontier solution for counteracting the increasing levels of the greenhouse gas in our environment. Increasing the alkalinity of wastewater by treating it with alkaline minerals can substantially boost the CO2 sequestration abilities, finds a study appearing in Science Advances.

A "blocking" weather system lingering high above the UK has produced one of the driest, warmest and brightest starts to spring on record.

Sphalerite is a very cool mineral. It is a beautiful, complex and diverse zinc sulfide (ZnS) mineral that also hosts a treasure trove of other critical elements. These include manganese, cadmium, mercury, indium, thallium, gallium, germanium, antimony, tin, lead, silver and cobalt.

Researchers at the University of Miami are providing improved insights into how extreme heat should be defined and addressed. The findings were published in an article titled "Where heat does not come in waves: A framework for understanding and managing chronic heat" in the journal Environmental Research: Climate.

In the modern world, a reliable supply of hydrogen gas is vital for the function of society. Fertilizer produced from hydrogen contributes to the food supply of half the global population, and hydrogen is also a key energy component in many roadmaps to a carbon-neutral future, essential if we are to prevent the worst predictions of climate change.

A new study led by the University of Southampton and research institutes in France has uncovered the mystery of how mini sand dunes form on beaches and in deserts.

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to have a significant impact on climate across the Pacific, including Hawai'i, and adjacent continents. However, new research led by University of Hawai'i at Mānoa atmospheric scientists revealed that the Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM), another climate pattern that operates in the eastern Pacific Ocean, plays a major role in the variability of rainfall in Hawai'i.

Have you ever imagined what Antarctica looks like beneath its thick blanket of ice? Hidden below are rugged mountains, valleys, hills and plains.

Forecasters are confident it's a particularly bad water year for the Colorado River, worrying some about a likely return to record low levels in reservoirs that are reminiscent of 2022.

Hidden beneath the Antarctic ice lies a system of lakes and watercourses. A research team, including ETH researchers, has for the first time directly observed the subglacial streams of West Antarctica. Their study, published in Nature Geoscience, shows how individual flood events influence the melting of the ice.

Human emissions of greenhouse gases have caused rapid global warming. This has made high-impact, heat extreme events around the globe more and more intense over the past 70 years. Heat extremes, such as heat waves, can cause severe damage to infrastructure by damaging bridges and railways. They also harm ecosystems, and can lead to loss of life.

A new study has dug deep into the past of the coastal dunes of an iconic Queensland location in a bid to better understand how microscopic processes in the soil support some of the most biodiverse landscapes on Earth.

A team of researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine has developed a new strategy for identifying hazardous pollutants in soil, even ones that have never been isolated or studied in a lab.

In the quiet Vasse district of WA, the evening of 27 August 1883 must have felt like something out of a mystery novel.

One chilly morning this past December, nine women awoke to the sight of a glacier looming before them, glowing orange in the rising sun. These scientists had spent their lives studying the cryosphere—the frozen part of Earth—but most had never encountered it in person.