Category: Earth
Water erosion is the most active process controlling soil formation and evolution, which can affect the redistribution of carbon between terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric ecosystems. Erosion-induced organic carbon dynamic process should not be missing in terrestrial carbon cycle simulations.
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Did climate chaos cultivate or constrain 2023’s greenery?
In the ongoing quest to track the progression of climate change, scientists frequently examine the state of our planet’s vegetation—forests, grasslands, agricultural lands, and beyond.
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Managing meandering waterways in a changing world
Just as water moves through a river, rivers themselves move across the landscape. They carve valleys and canyons, create floodplains and deltas, and transport sediment from the uplands to the ocean.
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A better way to predict Arctic riverbank erosion
Arctic riverbanks are typically resilient, thanks to the power of permafrost. This permanently frozen soil locks in sediment, leading to low erosion rates. But as Arctic river water warms due to climate change, some researchers worry that riverbanks in the region will thaw and crumble. This, in turn, could cause problems, including the release of stored soil carbon and damage to infrastructure near rivers.
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Warming Arctic reduces dust levels in parts of the planet, study finds
Climate change is a global phenomenon, but its impacts are felt at a very local level. Take, for example, dust. Dust can have a huge impact on local air quality, food security, energy supply and public health. Yet, little is known about how global climate change is impacting dust levels.
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These photos show how a warmer climate is damaging Earth’s waters
Photographer Diane Tuft has documented how global warming is affecting bodies of water around the world
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Lakes worldwide are facing a slew of health issues that may become chronic
Like humans, lakes are living systems that can suffer from a number of health issues, including circulatory and respiratory problems, infections, nutritional imbalances, and heat-related illnesses. Without treatment, these conditions can become chronic, harming lake ecosystems and those who depend on them. More than 12% of the world’s human population, for instance, lives within 3 kilometers of a lake.
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Estimating emissions potential of decommissioned gas wells from shale samples
Extracting natural gas from shale formations can provide an abundant, lower-carbon footprint fossil fuel, but also creates concerns over increased methane emissions. A team led by Penn State researchers has developed a new tool that can estimate the emission potential of shale wells after they are no longer active.
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Study shows it’s not too late to save the West Antarctic Ice Sheet
New research has found a “missing piece of the puzzle” of West Antarctic Ice Sheet melt, revealing that the collapse of the ice sheet in the Ross Sea region can be prevented—if we keep to a low-emissions pathway.
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A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of disaster risk due to linkage of residual coal pillars and rock strata
A large number of coal pillars were left behind during the mining of multi-coal seams. These pillars, when unstable, pose significant risks during both production and well closure stages in coal mines. Their failure can exert intense dynamic pressure on lower coal seams, resulting in substantial deformation and damage to support structures and mining tunnels.
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World’s oases threatened by desertification, even as humans expand them
Oases are important habitats and water sources for dryland regions, sustaining 10% of the world’s population despite taking up about 1.5% of land area. But in many places, climate change and anthropogenic activities threaten oases’ fragile existence. New research shows how the world’s oases have grown and shrunk over the past 25 years as water availability patterns have changed and desertification encroaches on these wet refuges.
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Record-breaking heat and humidity predicted for tropics this summer
A new statistical analysis of the interaction between El Niño and rising global temperatures due to climate change concludes that the approaching summer in the tropics has nearly a 7 in 10 chance of breaking records for temperature and humidity.
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Research showcases Indigenous stewardship’s role in forest ecosystem resilience
Oregon State University researchers have teamed with the Karuk Tribe to create a novel computer simulation model that showcases Indigenous fire stewardship’s role in forest ecosystem health.
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A million years without a megaslide: Study goes deep into the Gulf of Alaska to investigate why
Earthquakes, volcanic activity, and sediment flux can trigger underwater landslides known as submarine slides, which can translate to tsunamis on the surface. Megaslides are extreme versions of these underwater events.
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Extreme heat in 2023 linked to drastic slump in growth of marine life
Last year’s marine heatwaves saw an unprecedented decline in the growth of phytoplankton and algae, which many animals in the oceans depend on for food
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Weather and climate extremes in 2023 impacting the globe with emerging features
Globally, last year was the warmest for thousands of years, with a globally averaged temperature of at least 1.45°C greater than pre-industrial times. The year also saw an unprecedented string of extreme weather and climate events in many parts of the world, including heat waves, torrential rainfall, transitions from drought to floods, wildfires, and sandstorms.
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New geological map reveals secrets of Greenland’s icy interior
A team of international scientists involving the Durham University Geography department has unveiled a new map of the geological provinces hidden beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet.
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Anthropocene activities dramatically alter deep underground fluid flux, researchers find
Much of Earth’s water is hidden hundreds of meters beneath our feet, among soil particles and deep within rock pores and fractures.
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The Aral Sea has made Central Asia significantly dustier, according to study
The drying up of the Aral Sea has made Central Asia 7% dustier in the last 30 years. Between 1984 and 2015, dust emissions from the growing desert almost doubled from 14 to 27 million tons. This is the result of a study by the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) and the Free University of Berlin.
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Ice age climate analysis reduces worst-case warming expected from rising CO₂
As carbon dioxide accumulates in the atmosphere, the Earth will get hotter. But exactly how much warming will result from a certain increase in CO2 is under study. The relationship between CO2 and warming, known as climate sensitivity, determines what future we should expect as CO2 levels continue to climb.
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CO₂ worsens wildfires by helping plants grow, model experiments show
By fueling the growth of plants that become kindling, carbon dioxide is driving an increase in the severity and frequency of wildfires, according to a UC Riverside study.
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Fires pose growing worldwide threat to wildland-urban interface
Fires that blaze through the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are becoming more common around the globe, a trend that is likely to continue for at least the next two decades, new research finds.
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Researchers reveal oceanic black carbon sink effect driven by seawater microdroplets
Pyrogenic carbon is widely produced during the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels on land. About one-third of pyrogenic carbon is exported to the ocean by rivers, and thereinto, the refractory fraction becomes the source of oceanic black carbon that can provide a long-term sink for atmospheric CO2.
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Yellowstone Lake ice cover unchanged despite warming climate
The length of time that Yellowstone Lake is covered by ice each year has not changed in the past century, despite warming temperatures in the region, according to new research led by University of Wyoming scientists.
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Researchers shine light on rapid changes in Arctic and boreal ecosystems
Arctic and boreal latitudes are warming faster than any other region on Earth. In three new studies, Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine report how the ecosystems in these regions are changing.
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Hidden threat: Global underground infrastructure vulnerable to sea-level rise
As sea levels rise, coastal groundwater is lifted closer to the ground surface while also becoming saltier and more corrosive. A recent study by Earth scientists at the University of Hawai’i (UH) at Mānoa has compiled research from experts worldwide showing that in cities where there are complex networks of buried and partially buried infrastructure, interaction with this shallower and saltier groundwater exacerbates corrosion and failure of critical systems such as sewer lines, roadways, and building foundations.
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Geoscientists are using telecom ‘dark fibres’ to map Earth’s innards
The networks of fibre optic cables that criss-cross the planet could be used to better understand what’s happening inside it
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New radar analysis method can improve winter river safety
University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers have developed a way to use radar to detect open water zones and other changes in Alaska’s frozen rivers in the early winter. The approach can be automated to provide current hazard maps and is applicable across the Arctic and sub-Arctic.
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Northern permafrost region emits more greenhouse gases than it captures, study finds
Permafrost underlies about 14 million square kilometers of land in and around the Arctic. The top 3 meters contain an estimated 1 trillion metric tons of carbon and 55 billion metric tons of nitrogen. Historically, the northern permafrost region has been a sink for carbon, as frozen soils inhibit microbial decomposition. But rising temperatures contribute to thawing permafrost and enhance the biogeochemical activities that exacerbate climate change by releasing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O).
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Deadly upwellings of cold water pose threat to migratory sharks
Climate change is making extreme cold upwellings more common in certain regions of the world, and these events can be catastrophic for animals such as bull sharks
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Giant rogue waves: Southern Ocean expedition reveals wind as key cause
A University of Melbourne expedition to the southernmost waters encircling Antarctica has discovered that wind drives the formation of colossal rogue waves, and that these unpredictable waves occur more frequently than scientists had previously thought—providing critical information to inform future rogue wave prediction models.
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Pyrite may contain valuable lithium, a key element for green energy
There’s a reason airlines won’t let you put your laptop in your checked luggage; the lithium-ion battery poses a serious fire hazard. But why? Lithium is incredibly reactive. For instance, pure lithium violently interacts with seemingly innocuous water, releasing heat and forming highly flammable hydrogen. This reactivity, however, is exactly why lithium makes a great material for batteries, and why it is a critical mineral for the green energy transition. Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles. Plus, they can store energy produced by renewable resources like solar and wind.
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Q&A: El Niño drought leaves Zimbabwe’s Lake Kariba only 13% full—a disaster for people and wildlife
Water levels at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe have dropped dramatically because of the latest El Niño drought. The country’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has declared a national disaster.
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Despite what you might hear, weather prediction is getting better, not worse
Australia’s weather bureau copped harsh criticism after El Niño failed to deliver a much-vaunted dry summer in eastern Australia. Parts of northern Queensland in the path of Tropical Cyclone Jasper had a record wet December and areas of central Victoria had a record wet January. Overall, the summer was 19% wetter than average for Australia as a whole.
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As climate change progresses, new rainfall patterns may affect plants worldwide
April showers are increasingly becoming deluges due to climate change, and May flowers will never be the same. And it’s not just April; the warming of the planet is causing a year-round, worldwide trend toward more intense but less frequent rainfalls, a dynamic that will increasingly impact plants worldwide, according to a University of Maryland-led study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
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Oceanographers uncover the vital role of mixing down of oxygen in sustaining deep sea health
New research led by oceanographers from the School of Ocean Sciences at Bangor University has shown for the first time the important role of the ‘mixing down’ of oxygen in maintaining healthy conditions in the deep waters around the UK and elsewhere.
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Unraveling the song of ice and fire across the American landscape with machine learning
In the rugged terrain of the western United States, where wildfires rage unchecked, a surprising connection emerges with the tumultuous skies of the central US. A recent study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences explores the intriguing relationship between wildfires in the West and hailstorms in the Central US.
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The Southern Ocean has the cleanest air on Earth—scientists have just discovered why
The Southern Ocean is renowned for having the cleanest air on Earth. But the precise reasons why have remained a mystery, until now.
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Why is Australia’s east coast getting so much rain? An atmospheric scientist explains
Headlines declaring a “Black Nor’easter” appeared this week as New South Wales and Queensland copped heavy rain—and residents have been warned to brace for more.
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Researchers envision sci-fi worlds involving changes to atmospheric water cycle
Human activity is changing the way water flows between the Earth and atmosphere in complex ways and with likely long-lasting consequences that are hard to picture.
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Pacific rock samples offer glimpse of active Earth 2.5 billion years ago
In Earth science, small details can help explain massive events. Rita Parai, an assistant professor of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, uses precision equipment to measure trace levels of noble gases in rocks, samples that can provide key insights into planetary evolution.
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Africa’s carbon sink capacity is shrinking
The population of Africa, the second-largest continent in the world, currently sits at about 1.4 billion, but is set to exceed 2 billion by 2040. This means greater swaths of land than ever before are being used for agriculture, and livestock numbers are increasing. A new estimate of Africa’s greenhouse gas budget between 2010 and 2019 quantifies just how much these changes in land use have affected Africa’s role in the global carbon cycle. The research is published in the journal Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
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How Taiwan managed to keep its death toll so low during the 7.4-magnitude earthquake
A 7.4 magnitude earthquake has rocked the east coast of Taiwan—the largest the island nation has seen in more than 25 years.
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Climate engineering carries serious national security risks—countries facing extreme heat may try it anyway
The historic Paris climate agreement started a mantra from developing countries: “1.5 to stay alive.” It refers to the international aim to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.8 Fahrenheit) compared with preindustrial times. But the world will likely pass that threshold within a decade, and global warming is showing little sign of slowing.
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The Anthropocene epoch that isn’t—what the decision not to label a new geological epoch means for Earth’s future
For almost 15 years, scientists have debated whether the Anthropocene should be an official geological epoch marking the profound influence of humans on the planet. Then in March, an international panel of scientists formally rejected the proposal for a new Anthropocene epoch.
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Unlocking Arctic mysteries: How melting ice shapes our climate
Recent decades have witnessed rapid changes in the Arctic climate, with warming rates surpassing global averages by three to four times. This puzzling “Warm Arctic, Cold Eurasia” climate phenomenon has profound implications, sparking scientific curiosity into its underlying mechanisms.
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Researchers find the link between human activity and shifting weather patterns in western North America
Western North America seems to be experiencing more extreme weather events more frequently. From scorching droughts to torrential floods, the climate is changing rapidly, with no signs of slowing down. From 2011 to 2015, California and neighboring states experienced extended periods of drought, while 2017 saw heavy rains trigger catastrophic floods.
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Ancient ocean oxygenation timeline revealed
Dr. Uri Ryb and Dr. Michal Ben-Israel from the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University, along with their collaborators, have made an important discovery in Earth sciences. Their study, published in Nature Communications, introduces a new approach to reconstruct the rise of oxygen in ancient marine environments using U and Pb measurements in dolomite rocks spanning the last 1.2 billion years.
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New electrochemical technology could de-acidify the oceans—and even remove carbon dioxide in the process
In the effort to combat the catastrophic impacts of global warming, we must accelerate carbon emissions reduction efforts and rapidly scale strategies to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and the oceans. The technologies for reducing our carbon emissions are mature; those for removing carbon from the environment are not, and need robust support from governments and the private sector.
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Study underscores uncertain costs of iron fertilization
As society grapples with the intensifying consequences of climate change, decision-makers are increasingly looking to carbon dioxide removal as a necessary complement to emission reductions. One of the strategies that has received the most attention is the idea of fertilizing parts of the ocean with iron to stimulate phytoplankton growth.
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