Phys.org: Earth science

A new analysis of a fatal landslide that occurred on 13 February 2024 at the Çöpler Gold Mine in Turkey reveals that the site of the landslide had been slowly moving for at least four years prior to the failure.

A new study of the 28 most populous U.S. cities finds that all are sinking to one degree or another. The cities include not just those on the coasts, where relative sea level is a concern, but many in the interior. Furthermore, using newly granular data, the study finds that some cities are sinking at different rates in different spots, or sinking in some places and rising in others, potentially introducing stresses that could affect buildings and other infrastructure.

A glacier in Antarctica is committing "ice piracy"—stealing ice from a neighbor—in a phenomenon that has never been observed in such a short timeframe, say scientists.

It had been dormant for 800 years, but in March 2021, the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland came to life. While the eruption was ongoing, large-scale field experiments were conducted to build defensive earthen barriers aimed at slowing down the molten lava flow.

A new study from the University of Helsinki has provided a compelling new explanation for the devastating droughts that took place in North America thousands of years ago. This period, known as the Holocene, covers the time of a generally warm climate following the last ice age. These exceptionally long-lasting droughts had drastic impacts on forest dieback and ecosystem transformations; understanding their causes is essential to improving societal resilience to future climate variations.

Heriot-Watt scientists have discovered giant underwater mud waves buried deep below the Atlantic Ocean, 400 kilometers off the coast of Guinea-Bissau in west Africa.

In a study published today in Science Advances, researchers from the Ocean Discovery League reveal that only a minuscule fraction of the deep seafloor has been imaged. Despite covering 66% of Earth's surface, the deep ocean remains largely unexplored.

Across the globe, monsoon rainfall switches on in spring and off in autumn. Until now, this seasonal pattern was primarily understood as an immediate response to changes in solar radiation.

In a sweeping new study of more than 13,000 urban areas worldwide, researchers have mapped air pollution levels and carbon dioxide emissions, providing comprehensive global analysis of urban environmental quality.

The ocean plays a large role in cycling carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Determining how much carbon is locked away in the ocean is critical to understanding Earth's changing climate. However, measuring and monitoring oceanographic processes on a massive scale poses a challenge to scientists.

In shallow coastal waters around the world, mud and other fine-grained sediments such as clay and silt form critical blue carbon sinks. Offshore infrastructure such as wind turbines and oil platforms, as well as fishing practices such as bottom trawling, can have major effects on the seafloor. So knowing the locations of these mud-rich sedimentary deposits is key to making coastal management decisions.

When does "anomalous weather" become "a new climate"? The moment that variations in a specific climate variable turn into the new normal is termed Time of Emergence (ToE). Scientists from the University of Groningen and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) have developed a method to predict the time of emergence in various Arctic regions, based on warming, wetting, and sea ice melting.

Summers are getting hotter and drier in the Eurasian landmass due to an atmospheric circulation pattern further aggravated by anthropogenic factors. The recent tandem heat-wave-drought events in the region stretching from Eastern Europe to East Asia are unprecedented, as confirmed by a new study that analyzed tree-ring data going back 300 years and climate models.

Up to 250,000 deaths from poor air quality could be prevented annually in central and western Europe by 2050 if greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced, say researchers.

Coastal waters around the world are increasingly losing oxygen, with dramatic consequences for both ecosystems and the people who depend on them. The Baltic Sea is a well-known example: with the consequences of spreading hypoxic or anoxic zones evident in fish kills, the decline of spawning grounds and toxic blue-green algae blooms. So why not introduce oxygen into the sea where it is most urgently needed?

Growing communities and extensive agriculture throughout the Western United States rely on meltwater that spills out of snow-capped mountains every spring. The models for predicting the amount of this streamflow available each year have long assumed that a small fraction of snowmelt each year enters shallow soil, with the remainder rapidly exiting in rivers and creeks.

As the new Biomass satellite settles into life in orbit following its launch on April 29, ESA has released its most extensive satellite-based maps of above-ground forest carbon to date. Spanning nearly two decades, the dataset offers the clearest global picture yet of how forest carbon stocks have changed over time.

The National Hurricane Center's forecasts in 2024 were its most accurate on record, from its one-day forecasts, as tropical cyclones neared the coast, to its forecasts five days into the future, when storms were only beginning to come together.

Communities on small islands are on the front lines of worsening flood risks—not just from severe storms but from persistent tidal flooding events. Scientists estimate that within 15 years, high-tide flood events could triple for two thirds of communities along the East and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

Have you ever thought about what would happen if all life in the ocean disappeared? A recent study explores this extreme scenario to understand how ocean biology shapes the past, present, and future climate.