https://phys.org/earth-news/ en-us Earth science research, climate change, and global warming. The latest news and updates from Phys.org A recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth sheds new light on the formation of the East Coast of the United States—a "passive margin," in geologic terms—during the breakup of the supercontinent Pangea and the opening of the Atlantic Ocean around 230 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-illuminates-formation-east-coast-supercontinent.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 01 Dec 2023 12:09:07 EST news620654941 Simultaneous episodes of extreme heat and drought—typical of a moderate warming scenario predicted for the end of the 21st century—could occur earlier and repeatedly in Europe, reports a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-century-extreme-drought-conditions-europe.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 01 Dec 2023 08:04:02 EST news620640240 Writing in the journal Nature ahead of COP28, a team of Met Office scientists has emphasized that—surprisingly—there is currently no formally agreed way of defining the current level of global warming relevant to the Paris Agreement. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-consensus-global-15c-scientists.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 01 Dec 2023 07:02:26 EST news620636541 Commonly associated with longer days and slower paces, this summer's record-smashing heat in Arizona demonstrated a concerning future for the planet's warmest season. From power outages endangering entire neighborhoods and heat-related deaths rising among some of the state's most vulnerable populations, the city of Phoenix found itself in national headlines. As national attention grew, one question became clear: How does anyone live there? https://phys.org/news/2023-11-explores-future-limits-survival-livability.html Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 17:38:03 EST news620588281 While the impacts of climate change vary across the globe, most scientists agree that, overall, a warming environment is increasing both the frequency and intensity of severe weather events such as tornados and intense thunderstorms. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-climate-atmospheric-instability-years.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:29:04 EST news620584141 A team of scientists found that carbon dioxide becomes a more potent greenhouse gas as more is released into the atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-carbon-dioxide-potent-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:18:04 EST news620583482 Over the past decades, environmental scientists and engineers have been trying to devise effective solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. This has led to the creation of various energy models, frameworks that can be used to investigate emission mitigation scenarios in the hope of meeting the goals outlined by the Paris Agreement. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-fingerprints-energy-exploring-emission-mitigation.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:50:01 EST news620560643 MIT geologists have found that a clay mineral on the seafloor, called smectite, has a surprisingly powerful ability to sequester carbon over millions of years. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-mineral-plate-tectonics-global-cooling.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620557085 Melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, extreme heat waves: the consequences of climate change are more visible than ever, and the scientific community has confirmed that humans are responsible. Yet studies show that a third of the population still doubts or disputes these facts. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-climate-disinformation-persistent.html Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620557089 Coral reefs, among the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth, are under threat due to the changing climate. In a new study, an international research team found that if reefs were to disappear entirely, it may take millions of years—even after environmental conditions improve—for them to recover. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reefs-recovered-slowly-broader-ecosystem.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 10:19:35 EST news620561973 Man-made global warming exacerbated an incident of extreme flooding and heat in eastern China in 2020, according to a study released Wednesday, which highlighted the need to prepare for increasingly intense episodes of such weather in the country. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-climate-worsened-chinese-extreme-event.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 30 Nov 2023 03:12:45 EST news620536361 Nineteen million years ago, during a time known as the early Miocene, massive ice sheets in Antarctica rapidly and repeatedly grew and receded. The Miocene is widely considered a potential analog for Earth's climate in the coming century, should humanity remain on its current carbon emissions trajectory. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-antarctica-ancient-ice-sheets-foreshadow.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 29 Nov 2023 13:05:04 EST news620485501 The Cascade Volcanic Arc stretches from Northern California to southern British Columbia and contains more than a dozen volcanoes. The U.S. Geological Survey classifies 11 of them, including Mount Baker and Mount Hood, as "very high threat," meaning they pose significant hazards to people and infrastructure. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-high-threat-volcanoes-severely-understudied.html Earth Sciences Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:40:48 EST news620483975 The costs of environmental pollution caused by plastics in cigarette butts and packaging amount to an estimated US $26 billion every year or US $186 billion every 10 years—adjusted for inflation—in waste management and marine ecosystem damage worldwide, finds a data analysis published online in the journal Tobacco Control. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-plastic-pollution-cigarette-butts-billionyear.html Environment Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:28:07 EST news620483284 The record storm surge in October 2023 caused severe damage to the German Baltic coast. Effective adaptation scenarios to rising sea levels are, therefore, becoming increasingly urgent. In two recent studies, researchers at Kiel University have modeled both the flooding extent along the Baltic Sea coastal areas and, for the first time, two possible upgrades for current dike lines in high resolution. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-storm-surges-baltic-sea-coast.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 29 Nov 2023 12:05:05 EST news620481901 A Griffith-led study has assessed whether basic human water needs can be met without exceeding safe and just Earth system boundaries (ESBs) for surface and groundwater (blue water), defined to protect people and planet. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-explores-basic-human-met-surface.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 29 Nov 2023 09:45:04 EST news620473501 Scientists are warning that apparently stable glaciers in the Antarctic can "switch very rapidly" and lose large quantities of ice as a result of warmer oceans. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-track-rapid-retreat-antarctic.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 28 Nov 2023 11:00:01 EST news620388960 A new international study has tested the extent to which global water models agree with one another and with observational data. Using a new evaluation approach, the research team, which includes IIASA researchers, can show in which climate regions the models agree and where they differ. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-quality-global.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:13:44 EST news620388822 A recent study reveals the profound impact of pollution on cloud behavioוr. This newfound understanding illuminates the intricate ways in which pollution alters our climate. Such research marks a significant advance in comprehending the influence of pollution on our weather and broader climate dynamics. Emphasizing the need to factor in both localized cloud formations and overarching climate patterns, it underscores the criticality of considering all scales in studying the effects of pollution on our climate. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reveals-pollution-affects-clouds-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 28 Nov 2023 10:12:03 EST news620388721 An international team of marine biogeochemist and atmospheric scientists have made a rare discovery in the almost uncharted atmosphere of the South Pacific Ocean. They found that nocturnal nanoparticle bursts that contain nitrogenous compounds originate when marine micro-organisms apparently shield themselves from UV radiation. These particles help form clouds over the ocean, which reduces warming of the climate. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-marine-biota-birth-atmospheric-particles.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 28 Nov 2023 09:14:03 EST news620385241 State-of-the-art climate models drastically underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming, according to a study published Monday that signals a future of more frequent catastrophic floods unless humanity curbs greenhouse emissions. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-extreme-rainfall-exponentially-global.html Environment Mon, 27 Nov 2023 14:01:29 EST news620316084 At irregular intervals, a momentous weather phenomenon called El Niño (Spanish for "Christ Child") occurs in the Pacific. The warm surface water initially driven by the trade winds towards the coasts of Indonesia and eastern Australia then sloshes back eastwards, which can have devastating consequences. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-method-early-el-nio-events.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 27 Nov 2023 13:56:28 EST news620315786 What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the traditional narrative that a meteorite alone delivered the final blow to the ancient giants. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-meteorite-clues-demise-dinosaurs.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 27 Nov 2023 12:42:43 EST news620311360 Scientists have made a surprising discovery that sheds new light on the role that oceanic deoxygenation (anoxia) played in one of the most devastating extinction events in Earth's history. Their finding has implications for current-day ecosystems—and serves as a warning that marine environments are likely more fragile than apparent. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-deoxygenation-similar-today-played-major.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 27 Nov 2023 11:54:04 EST news620308441 Methane is the second-most abundant greenhouse gas in Earth's atmosphere, and its emissions have been rapidly—and mysteriously—rising since 2007. Though pervasive, the origin of the colorless compound is tricky to trace, complicating efforts to curb gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and warm the planet. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-scientists-fingerprint-methane-track-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 27 Nov 2023 11:21:04 EST news620306461 Growing calls for the world to come to grips with the many ways that global warming affects human health have prompted the first day dedicated to the issue at crunch UN climate talks starting next week. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-disease-air-pollution-climate-impacts.html Environment Sun, 26 Nov 2023 13:44:27 EST news620228609 Carbon storage has been a key focus in recent years to draw down natural and anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide and help the fight against global warming, and particularly focuses on terrestrial forests and soils, as well as wetland mangroves and seagrasses. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-reservoir-carbon-storage-ocean-sediments.html Earth Sciences Environment Sun, 26 Nov 2023 09:00:01 EST news619696544 A multi-institutional team of Earth scientists, meteorologists, geologists and volcanologists has developed a new theory to explain the nature of volcanic fountaining. In their project, reported in the journal Nature Communications, the group studied the 2021 eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland, which produced what some have described as spectacular examples of volcanic fountaining. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-theory-nature-volcanic-fountaining.html Earth Sciences Sat, 25 Nov 2023 09:30:01 EST news619436321 It is possible for corruption to lead to better environmental efficiency and improved economy in developing countries, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-corruption-environmental-efficiency-economy-countries.html Environment Fri, 24 Nov 2023 13:32:00 EST news620055114 University of Oxford researchers, in partnership with Trillium Technologies' NIO.space, have developed a tool to automatically detect methane plumes on Earth from orbit using machine learning with hyperspectral data. This could help identify excessive "super emitters" of methane and enable more effective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-ai-methane-plumes-space-powerful.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 24 Nov 2023 12:00:48 EST news620049645