https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. After years of little snow across the Chicago area, recent record-breaking snowfall and below-freezing temperatures might seem to contradict scientific reports of winters getting warmer. But climate change is still transforming how locals experience the changing seasons, including this fall, one of the top 10 warmest recorded in Illinois. https://phys.org/news/2025-12-snowy-cold-winter-fall-illinois.html Earth Sciences Mon, 08 Dec 2025 18:50:02 EST news684405751 Humans have always had a close connection with Lake Ontario. For centuries, this Great Lake has been a backbone of the region's economy—relied upon for trade, food and industry. But a warming climate could dramatically change this relationship. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-climate-threatening-lake-ontario-lessons.html Environment Wed, 19 Feb 2025 13:00:07 EST news659192392 The sea ice in the Arctic was the second lowest on record for January last month, according to a US analysis released Tuesday, with areas around Greenland seeing temperatures well above average. https://phys.org/news/2025-02-arctic-sea-ice-lowest-january.html Environment Tue, 04 Feb 2025 12:55:01 EST news657896054 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 Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:16:28 EDT news645956179 The few glaciers in Africa have long since become an important indicator of how rapidly and severely climate change is changing our planet. The ice on the high summits of the continent is rapidly disappearing, and Africa may lose its white peaks by the middle of our century. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-africa-ice-tropical-fields-climate.html Earth Sciences Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:45:14 EST news627749111 Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have concluded that the methane uptake in dry landscapes exceeds methane emissions from wet areas across the ice-free part of Greenland. The results of the new study contribute important knowledge to climate models. The researchers are now investigating whether the same finding applies to other polar regions. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-greenland-absorbs-methane-emits.html Earth Sciences Wed, 31 Jan 2024 09:30:20 EST news625915603 The thunder of icebergs crashing into the turquoise sea of eastern Greenland is the sound of one of the planet's most important ecosystems teetering on the edge of collapse. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-greenland-inuit-falling-thin-ice.html Environment Wed, 04 Oct 2023 04:30:02 EDT news615611684 Glacier loss is a pressing concern worldwide, with ice melt impacting freshwater supplies, sea-level rise and ocean circulation. Often, global glacier models are employed to better understand the extent of this threat, such as a recent model that shows widespread deglaciation in mid-latitudes by 2100. However, with this model and others, there are uncertainties regarding any linear relationship between temperature and glacier loss, particularly in regions like Iceland that experience temperature extremes deviating from the global average. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-statistical-glacier-loss-accurate.html Environment Thu, 28 Sep 2023 14:00:01 EDT news615128125 Earth's climate is changing rapidly. In some areas, escalating temperatures are increasing the frequency and likelihood of wildfires and drought. In others, they are making downpours and storms more intense or accelerating the pace of glacial melting. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-climate-trigger-earthquakes-volcanic-eruptions.html Earth Sciences Wed, 09 Aug 2023 10:50:02 EDT news610796717 In recent years, the warming rate of the Arctic has been two to four times that of the global average, which has had a significant impact on climate change in the Northern Hemisphere. However, the physical mechanisms of Arctic sea ice changes remain unclear. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-arctic-sea-ice-spatiotemporal-scales.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Jul 2023 14:29:03 EDT news609082141 Europe is heating up fast. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-europe-fast-continents-climate.html Environment Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:53:30 EDT news607006405 The Arctic's climate is warming at least four times faster than the global average, causing irrevocable changes to this vast landscape and precarious ecosystem—from the anticipated extinction of polar bears to the appearance of killer whales in ever-greater numbers. A new study suggests the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free in summer as soon as the 2030s—around a decade earlier than previously predicted. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-arctic-crime-scene-microbes-catastrophe.html Ecology Mon, 26 Jun 2023 12:26:08 EDT news607001162 The Arctic, once again at the forefront of climate change, is experiencing disproportionately higher temperature increases compared to the rest of the planet, triggering a series of cascading effects known as Arctic amplification. https://phys.org/news/2023-05-satellites-crucial-insights-arctic-amplification.html Earth Sciences Wed, 24 May 2023 13:42:36 EDT news604154545 Sea ice in Antarctica shrank to the smallest area on record in February for the second year in a row, continuing a decade-long decline, the European Union's climate monitoring service said Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2023-03-antarctic-sea-ice.html Environment Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:59:36 EST news597495541 Data stored in ice cores dating back 55 years bring new insight into atmospheric levels of a molecule that can significantly affect weather and climate. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-anti-greenhouse-gas-dimethyl-sulfide-arctic.html Earth Sciences Tue, 31 Jan 2023 08:44:03 EST news594377041 The runaway collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet—which would trigger catastrophic sea level rise—is not "inevitable", scientists said Monday following research that tracked the region's recent response to climate change. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-runaway-antarctic-ice-sheet-collapse.html Environment Sun, 22 Jan 2023 11:00:01 EST news593088751 An international team of climate scientists has found evidence suggesting that deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is influencing weather in Tibet, more than 15,000 kilometers away. In their paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers describe possible long-range impacts of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. Valerie Livina, with the U.K.'s National Physical Laboratory, has published a News & Views piece in the same journal issue outlining the Hopf bifurcation theory and how it relates to climate tipping points and the work done by the team on this new effort. https://phys.org/news/2023-01-amazon-rainforest-deforestation-weather-tibet.html Earth Sciences Fri, 06 Jan 2023 10:30:01 EST news592222570 While the world focuses on limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius over the preindustrial average, increasing meltwater from ice sheets presents an existential threat to the viability of island and coastal nations throughout the world. https://phys.org/news/2022-12-paris-agreement-temperature-worsen-climate.html Earth Sciences Tue, 13 Dec 2022 16:42:30 EST news590172146 Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past three decades, showing the fastest rise of any continent on earth, the UN said Wednesday. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-europe-temperature-global-average.html Environment Wed, 02 Nov 2022 10:55:28 EDT news586605325 The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet over the last 40 years, according to research published Thursday that suggests climate models are underestimating the rate of polar heating. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-arctic-faster-rest-earth.html Earth Sciences Thu, 11 Aug 2022 11:27:35 EDT news579436049 Jumping from rock to rock to rock over a creek formed off Austria's Jamtal glacier, scientist Andrea Fischer worries that precious scientific data will be irreversibly lost as the snow and ice melt faster than ever. https://phys.org/news/2022-08-austrian-scientists-reveal-glaciers-secrets.html Environment Sun, 07 Aug 2022 05:35:02 EDT news579069297 The invasion of a remote Russian village by dozens of ravenous polar bears three years ago captured headlines around the world, with images of groups of animals gorging on rubbish in an open garbage dump. https://phys.org/news/2022-07-human-food-threat-polar.html Ecology Wed, 20 Jul 2022 10:40:54 EDT news577532449 Sea ice around Antarctica shrank to the smallest extent on record in February, five years after the previous record low, researchers said Tuesday, suggesting Earth's frozen continent may be less impervious to climate change than thought. https://phys.org/news/2022-04-antarctic-sea-ice-extent-shift.html Earth Sciences Tue, 19 Apr 2022 11:23:30 EDT news569586202 Record-breaking heatwaves hit both Antarctica and the Arctic simultaneously this week, with temperatures reaching 47℃ and 30℃ higher than normal. https://phys.org/news/2022-03-simultaneous-record-smashing-heatwaves-antarctica-arctic.html Environment Tue, 22 Mar 2022 07:10:25 EDT news567151821 Greenland's immense ice sheet has lost enough ice in the past 20 years to submerge the entire United States in half a metre of water, according to data released this week by Danish researchers. https://phys.org/news/2022-02-greenland-ice-cap-years.html Environment Tue, 01 Feb 2022 14:00:03 EST news562945521 Rain fell at the highest point on Greenland's ice sheet—possibly for the first time—in an event Danish scientists on Monday said was most likely driven by climate change. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-greenland-ice-sheet-climate.html Environment Mon, 23 Aug 2021 13:06:39 EDT news548942797 After three years of writing and two weeks of virtual negotiations to approve the final wording, the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that changes are happening in Earth's climate across every continent and every ocean. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-seas-glaciers-irreversible.html Environment Mon, 09 Aug 2021 06:54:23 EDT news547710860 The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's first major scientific assessment since 2014, released Monday, shows unequivocally that global warming is unfolding more quickly than feared and that humanity is almost entirely to blame. https://phys.org/news/2021-08-good-news-key-ipcc-climate.html Environment Mon, 09 Aug 2021 04:46:43 EDT news547703198 In recent weeks, catastrophic floods overwhelmed towns in Germany and the Netherlands, inundated subway tunnels in China, swept through northwestern Africa and triggered deadly landslides in India and Japan. Heat and drought fanned wildfires in the North American West and Siberia, contributed to water shortages in Iran, and worsened famines in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. https://phys.org/news/2021-07-small-climate-devastating-local-consequencesit.html Environment Tue, 27 Jul 2021 12:09:10 EDT news546606546 A huge ice block has broken off from western Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg in the world and earning the name A-76. https://phys.org/news/2021-05-world-largest-iceberg-antarctica-european.html Environment Thu, 20 May 2021 06:18:15 EDT news540710293