https://phys.org/earth-news/earth-sciences en-us The latest news on earth sciences and the environment Most Americans can expect wetter winters in the future due to global warming, according to a new study led by a University of Illinois Chicago scientist. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-climate-wetter-winters.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 26 Sep 2024 17:03:49 EDT news646589025 Polymetallic nodules are potato-sized formations on the ocean floor that are rich in minerals such as nickel, cobalt, and manganese. Their concentration of rare, economically important minerals has made the nodules the focus of controversial deep-sea mining enterprises. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-unexpected-role-magnetic-microbes-deep.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 15:28:03 EDT news646583282 In a new study, a team of researchers suggests that 4 billion years ago, plate tectonics likely looked closer to what we experience today than previously thought. The team published its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-billion-years-plate-tectonics-closer.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 11:53:03 EDT news646570381 The number of days per year that are simultaneously extremely hot, dry, and have a high fire risk have as much as tripled since 1970 in some parts of South America. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-drought-south-america.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 26 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news646567141 The five largest continental transform earthquakes since 2000 all originated on a branch of the main fault—and two researchers predict that the next great earthquake of this type will also get its start on a branch or splay fault. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-faults-ramps-great-continental-earthquakes.html Earth Sciences Thu, 26 Sep 2024 09:45:03 EDT news646562701 A Dartmouth-led study on ice cores from Alaska and Greenland found that air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels reaches the remote Arctic in amounts large enough to alter its fundamental atmospheric chemistry. The findings illustrate the long reach of fossil fuel emissions and provide support for the importance of clean-air rules, which the team found can reverse the effect. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ice-cores-pollution-impact-arctic.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2024 14:07:04 EDT news646492021 A new study shows that microorganisms lived deep within the fractured bedrock of Greenland 75 million years ago. The work is published in the journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-evidence-life-colonizing-deep-bedrock.html Earth Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 12:13:15 EDT news646485183 During her summer travels to her native Belgium, University of Arizona professor Valerie Trouet noticed something that turned casual curiosity into a major scientific discovery: when the sun hid behind an overcast sky and people around her put on sweaters instead of summer clothes, the weather tended to be warm and dry in Italy, Greece and the Balkans, popular summer escapes for tourists from the cooler climates of central and northern Europe. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-tree-reveal-jet-stream-extreme.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news646472258 The last ice age peaked around 20,000 years ago and was marked by extensive glaciation and dramatic climate shifts that reshaped Earth's oceans, landscapes and ecosystems. A study led by the University of Arizona suggests that Earth's last ice age may provide crucial insights into future El Niño weather events. El Niño is one of the most influential climate patterns affecting global weather. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-ice-age-clues-advanced-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news646472261 Researchers led by Ryuhei Nakamura at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) in Japan and The Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) of Tokyo Institute of Technology have discovered inorganic nanostructures surrounding deep-ocean hydrothermal vents that are strikingly similar to molecules that make life as we know it possible. These nanostructures are self-organized and act as selective ion channels, which create energy that can be harnessed in the form of electricity. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-nanostructures-deep-ocean-floor-hint.html Earth Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 10:36:24 EDT news646479381 Sophisticated analysis of tiny bubbles of ancient gas trapped in volcanic rocks, combined with new geophysical modeling, has cast new light on long-held assumptions about the deep Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-afar-mantle-plume-insight-deep.html Earth Sciences Wed, 25 Sep 2024 10:31:04 EDT news646479061 A new analysis of satellite data finds that the record surge in atmospheric methane emissions from 2020 to 2022 was driven by increased inundation and water storage in wetlands, combined with a slight decrease in atmospheric hydroxide (OH). The results have implications for efforts to decrease atmospheric methane and mitigate its impact on climate change. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-atmospheric-methane-pandemic-due-primarily.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 16:54:04 EDT news646415642 Northeast Greenland is home to the 79° N Glacier—the country's largest floating glacier tongue, but also one seriously threatened by global warming. Warm water from the Atlantic is melting it from below. However, experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute have now determined that the temperature of the water flowing into the glacier cavern declined from 2018 to 2021, even though the ocean has steadily warmed in the region over the past several decades. This could be due to temporarily changed atmospheric circulation patterns. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-atmospheric-blocking-ocean-driven-greenland.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 14:20:38 EDT news646406426 A study, published in the journal Nature Communications by an international team of climate scientists and permafrost experts shows that, according to new climate computer model simulations, global warming will accelerate permafrost thawing and as a result lead to an abrupt intensification of wildfires in the Subarctic and Arctic regions of northern Canada and Siberia. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-climate-abrupt-intensification-northern-wildfires.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news646385461 Over the next decades to centuries, will melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS)—Earth's largest ice mass—cause global sea level to rise by five meters, two meters or less? https://phys.org/news/2024-09-antarctica-contribution-sea.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:30:46 EDT news646392642 University of Adelaide researchers have developed a new theoretical model to predict the distances ocean waves can travel to break up sea ice. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-importance-climate-effect-sea-ice.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:12:04 EDT news646391522 A mysterious type of iron-rich magma entombed within extinct volcanoes is likely abundant with rare earth elements and could offer a new way to source these in-demand metals, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU) and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-extinct-volcanoes-rich-source-rare.html Earth Sciences Tue, 24 Sep 2024 10:00:01 EDT news646385101 In deep Earth, rocks take up and release water all the time, and the effects can be wide reaching. Dehydration can cause rocks to crack and trigger earthquakes, and over geologic timescales, this water cycling can influence plate tectonics and move continents. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-high-pressure-reactions-nonporous-sponges.html Earth Sciences Mon, 23 Sep 2024 11:59:49 EDT news646311583 New research published Sept. 19 in Geophysical Research Letters shows that using data collected by deep ocean robots, called Deep Argo floats, combined with historical data from research vessels has increased confidence that parts of the global deep ocean are warming at a rate of .0036 to .0072°F (.002 to .004°C) each year. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-robots-steady-deep-ocean.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:39:54 EDT news646303188 Tidal action on the underside of the Thwaites Glacier in the Antarctic will "inexorably" accelerate melting this century, according to new research by British and American scientists. The researchers warn the faster melting could destabilize the entire West Antarctic Ice sheet, leading to its eventual collapse. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-doomsday-glacier-faster-seas-world.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 23 Sep 2024 07:33:58 EDT news646295633 The Colorado River is a vital source of water in the Western United States, providing drinking water for homes and irrigation for farms in seven states, but the basin is under increasing pressure from climate change and drought. A new computational tool developed by a research team, led by Penn State scientists, may help the region adapt to a complex and uncertain future. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-tool-decision-makers-futures-colorado.html Earth Sciences Environment Sat, 21 Sep 2024 11:05:35 EDT news646135527 As one of the largest heat reservoirs in the climate system, the global ocean absorbs more than 90% of the excess energy from ongoing anthropogenic warming. In the last century, the greatest warming in the ocean has occurred in the upper 500 m, with relatively weak warming in the deep ocean, corresponding to a small ocean heat storage efficiency of ~0.1. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-reveals-large-ocean-storage-efficiency.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 20 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news645979935 A new study co-led by the Smithsonian and the University of Arizona offers the most detailed glimpse yet of how Earth's surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-earth-global-temperature-drastically-million.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 14:00:01 EDT news645954301 Ice may look safe for a game of pick-up hockey on the lake, but as a new study out of York University found, looks can be deceiving. Warming winters are not only affecting ice thickness and timing—when a lake freezes and thaws—but also quality, making it potentially unstable and unsafe. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-lake-ice-quality-degrading-planet.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:45:04 EDT news645965101 The summer of 2024 was the hottest on record and, unfortunately, this came as no surprise. Summers have been getting hotter and drier around the world, including in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to intense droughts and heat waves in North America and Europe and posing serious risks to society such as wildfires, crop failures and health hazards. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-humans-affecting-northern-hemisphere-patterns.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:21:04 EDT news645963662 Some of the most dramatic climatic events in our planet's history are "Snowball Earth" events that happened hundreds of millions of years ago, when almost the entire planet was encased in ice up to 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) thick. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-planetwide-world-snowball-earth-event.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:20:03 EDT news645960001 The Amazon, often called the "lungs of the planet," is the world's largest tropical forest, playing a crucial role in the global climate system due to its vast carbon storage. While it is typically warm and humid all year round, continued climate change poses the threat of more frequent and severe droughts and heat extremes. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-reveals-future-climate-amazon-rainforest.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:16:03 EDT news645959761 Indiana University researchers have uncovered key insights into the dangerous phenomenon of "river avulsion," offering a way to predict when and where rivers may suddenly and dramatically change course. Published in Nature, this breakthrough study sheds light on a process that has shaped human history through devastating floods and continues to threaten millions of people worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-scientists-catastrophic-river-shifts-threaten.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:37:31 EDT news645957445 The Arctic frequently experiences temperatures that support the formation of mixed-phase clouds that contain supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals. The composition of such clouds plays a crucial role in the region's energy balance and climate system. Clouds with more liquid last longer and reflect more sunlight than those with more ice crystals. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-arctic-fuel-ice-formation-clouds.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:16:28 EDT news645956179 Tropical cyclones can have severe consequences for both the marine and terrestrial environments, as well as the organisms and communities who inhabit them. In the oceans, there can be alterations in sea surface temperature that disrupt biological processes and hospitable conditions for life, the devastation of surface algae and other primary producers, which impacts complex marine food chains, as well as damaging coral reefs. Meanwhile, on land, the heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges can lead to significant damage to property and infrastructure, as well as loss of lives. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-tropical-cyclone-intensity-exacerbated-depth.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:00:02 EDT news645940414