https://phys.org/earth-news/earth-sciences en-us The latest news on earth sciences and the environment The carbon stored globally by plants is shorter-lived and more vulnerable to climate change than previously thought, according to a new study. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-carbon-shorter-periods-thought.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 20 Jun 2024 14:00:02 EDT news638092682 Microfossil analysis allows us to map the subsurface and understand past geological times. In research labs all over the world, geologists spend countless hours looking through the microscope identifying and counting microfossils extracted from sedimentary rock below the seabed. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-algorithm-microfossils.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:17:02 EDT news638104620 A team of Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists plan to use artificial intelligence modeling to forecast, and better understand, a growing threat to water caused by toxic algal blooms. Fueled by climate change and rising water temperatures, these harmful algal blooms, or HABs, have grown in intensity and frequency. They have now been reported in all 50 U.S. states. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-toxic-blue-green-tides.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 20 Jun 2024 12:15:48 EDT news638104544 Communications companies such as Starlink plan to launch tens of thousands of satellites into orbit around Earth over the next decade or so. The growing swarm is already causing problems for astronomers, but recent research has raised another question: What happens when they start to come down? https://phys.org/news/2024-06-defunct-satellites-atmosphere-ozone-layer.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 20 Jun 2024 11:21:04 EDT news638101261 Our planet was born around 4.5 billion years ago. To understand this mind-bendingly long history, we need to study rocks and the minerals they are made of. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-groundbreaking-discovery-remnants-earth-primordial.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Jun 2024 10:47:55 EDT news638099270 At approximately 4:10 p.m. on January 1, 2024, the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan was hit by a large earthquake with a moment magnitude (Mw) of 7.5. This earthquake, known as the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, registered a maximum seismic intensity of 7 on the Japanese scale and caused widespread damage, including numerous casualties. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-noto-peninsula-earthquake-quiet-rupture.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 20 Jun 2024 09:41:00 EDT news638095259 In the late 2000s, Scott Saleska noticed something strange going on in the Amazon rainforest. In 2005, a massive drought struck the region. Two years later, Saleska—a University of Arizona professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology—published surprising research that used satellite images to find that the drought resulted in more green growth in large swaths of the Amazon. On the other hand, field researchers saw plants turn brown and some die in response to the drought. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-drought-amazon-vulnerable-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:00:01 EDT news637947509 Researchers at the University of Southampton have conducted the most detailed spatial analysis to date of storm surges along the coast of the UK and Ireland. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-storm-surges-future.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 19 Jun 2024 10:41:07 EDT news638012463 The Sun Corridor in Arizona in the semi-arid Southwestern U.S. is a land of seeming unlimited growth that is constantly colliding with physical constraints. It is mountainous but also home to a large valley that includes one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-arizona-winter-precipitation.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 19 Jun 2024 09:00:01 EDT news638005155 Roughly one in four U.S. households have soil exceeding the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's lead screening levels of 200 parts per million (ppm), halved from the previous level of 400 ppm, a new study found. For households with exposure from multiple sources, the EPA lowered the guidance to 100 ppm; nearly 40% of households exceed that level, the study also found. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-residential-yards-exceeds-epa-soil.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 18 Jun 2024 16:37:40 EDT news637947458 The endeavor to keep tabs on and curb air pollution has been stymied by the enigmatic nature of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). This atmospheric strip is a hotbed for pollutants. Yet, its mercurial dance through time and across geographies presents a formidable scientific puzzle. Given these hurdles, an in-depth dissection of the thermal contrast (TC) that delineates this layer is imperative. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-reveals-planetary-boundary-layer-satellites.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 18 Jun 2024 15:17:13 EDT news637942629 Forecasters can use images in social media to better communicate weather related hazards of hurricanes, according to a pair of new studies. The findings are published in the journals Natural Hazards Review and Weather, Climate, and Society https://phys.org/news/2024-06-tweets-scientists-insight-effective-hurricane.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 18 Jun 2024 12:28:05 EDT news637932482 Europe experienced its coldest winter in 600 years during 1739–1740, ~4 °C cooler than the present average, also coinciding with negative temperature anomalies across North America and Eurasia. Indeed, for northern midlatitudes (35–70 °N) as a whole, it may have been the coldest season in the last 300 years. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-year-coldest-central-europe-years.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 18 Jun 2024 06:40:01 EDT news637846554 A new UC Riverside study shows soot from large wildfires in California traps sunlight, making days warmer and drier than they ought to be. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-large-wildfires-weather-favors.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 18 Jun 2024 06:29:55 EDT news637910981 In coal-rock formations, many micro-fractures exist, and the expansion of these micro-fractures is the internal catalyst for the macroscopic destruction of coal-rock. Moreover, the occurrence state of gas changes with the expansion of micro-fractures. In engineering practice, most coal-rock mass needs cyclic operation in the blasting excavation or mechanical drilling, and the dynamic load of coal-rock mass is cyclic impact load. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-reveal-cyclic-dynamic-disturbance-coal.html Earth Sciences Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:56:03 EDT news637862162 Nano and microplastics are a well-known menace, found practically everywhere in nature, including soil, oceans, drinking water, air, and even the human body. Studies show that soils in particular hold a significant portion of N/MPs. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-method-nanomicroplastic-soil-spectroscopy.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 16:26:03 EDT news637860362 Abrupt shifts within complex systems such as the Earth's climate system are extremely hard to predict. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) have now succeeded in developing a new method to anticipate such tipping points in advance. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-green-sahara-collapse.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:59:40 EDT news637858777 With ESA's Arctic Weather Satellite due to launch in a few weeks, the satellite is now at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California being readied for its big day. Once in orbit, this new mission will show how short-term weather forecasts in the Arctic and beyond could be improved. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-team-esa-arctic-weather-satellite.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:54:15 EDT news637858452 Record snowfall in recent years has not been enough to offset long-term drying conditions and increasing groundwater demands in the U.S. Southwest, according to a new analysis of NASA satellite data. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-satellites-didnt-offset-southwestern-groundwater.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 15:15:04 EDT news637856101 ETH researchers are using radar to scan the snow and ice on the Jungfraujoch. Sometimes, scaling an icy peak is the only way for scientists to fully understand satellite data. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-team-radar-glaciers.html Earth Sciences Mon, 17 Jun 2024 13:10:01 EDT news637845950 In the final decades of the 20th century, stratospheric ozone depletion—often called, not quite accurately, the ozone hole—was a widespread concern. Halocarbons, including chlorofluorocarbons used as coolants in refrigerators and aerosol spray cans, were linked, beginning in the mid-1970s, to a severely thinning ozone layer. However, global efforts to reduce halocarbon use have since led to a slow but steady recovery of the stratospheric ozone layer. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-spillover-tropospheric-ozone-affecting-stratospheric.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:27:24 EDT news637846028 As the world struggles to decarbonize, it's becoming increasingly clear we'll need to both rapidly reduce emissions and actively remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report considered 230 pathways to keep global warming below 1.5°C. All require CO2 removal. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-marine-technologies-appetite-ocean-tiniest.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 12:19:47 EDT news637845582 Detecting marine debris from space is now a reality, according to a new study led by the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) and the University of Cadiz recently published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-proof-concept-satellites-marine-debris.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:57:04 EDT news637844221 A team of researchers from the University of Exeter have shone fresh light on the causes of Oceanic Anoxic Event 2—which saw severe global warming and ocean acidification across the Earth around 94 million years ago. The study is published in Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-scientists-significant-climate-catastrophes.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:27:53 EDT news637838871 In recent weeks, a deadly tornado ripped through North Texas and severe thunderstorms knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of area residents and brought flash flooding and hail. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-north-texas-storms-worsen-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 10:20:02 EDT news637835186 Parts of Northern California will see a higher risk for wildfires this weekend as dry, hot and windy weather sweeps the region. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-wildfire-northern-california-red-flag.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 17 Jun 2024 09:30:01 EDT news637835310 A major earthquake 2,500 years ago caused one of the largest rivers on Earth to abruptly change course, according to a new study. The previously undocumented quake rerouted the main channel of the Ganges River in what is now densely populated Bangladesh, which remains vulnerable to big quakes. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-earthquake-ganges.html Earth Sciences Mon, 17 Jun 2024 05:00:01 EDT news637572398 While 2023 is noted for breaking global temperature records (State of the Global Climate 2023), the year also brought an unexpected twist with extreme cold events in Antarctica. A new study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences reveals the surprising and severe cold spells that struck the continent in late winter (July and August). https://phys.org/news/2024-06-antarctic-cold-shatter-global-late.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 14 Jun 2024 14:10:07 EDT news637593001 The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over a section of Italy's heel in the southern part of the boot-shaped peninsula. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-earth-space-heel-italy.html Earth Sciences Fri, 14 Jun 2024 13:49:02 EDT news637591741 Barrier islands dot the landscape along Virginia's Eastern Shore, protecting the coastline from direct impacts of storms and sea-level rise. Made of sand, they are created and changed by environmental factors. But with climate change and human development, these natural processes can be disrupted. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-qa-barrier-islands-dunes-coastlines.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 14 Jun 2024 13:01:42 EDT news637588899