https://phys.org/earth-news/earth-sciences/ en-us The latest news on earth sciences and the environment Low-level clouds over Earth's oceans play a prominent role in keeping our planet cool by reflecting sunlight away from the surface. But their response to climate change has been hard to model. Now, researchers at Caltech and Google have uncovered important insights into how clouds might respond to warming sea-surface temperatures and rising CO2 levels using a large dataset of simulations developed by the group. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cloud-loss-amplifies-global-simulations.html Earth Sciences Mon, 27 Jul 2026 13:00:01 EDT news704370962 The most severe droughts in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean arose when multiple natural climate cycles coincided, according to a new study from Stockholm University published in Science Advances. The findings shed new light on the climate conditions surrounding the Late Bronze Age collapse and may help improve understanding of future drought risks in a warming world. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-unraveling-climate-collapse-bronze-age.html Earth Sciences Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:00:06 EDT news704023561 Many people are familiar with fossilized wood as a decorative item from a museum shop. However, the fact that it can preserve the geological history of entire regions spanning millions of years is a new discovery. A research team led by geologist Dr. Steffen Trümper from the University of Münster has now demonstrated for the first time that fossilized wood is a natural archive from which the geological history of an entire region over hundreds of millions of years can be deduced. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-fossilized-wood-reveals-million-years.html Earth Sciences Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:00:06 EDT news704103389 Millions of people living on tropical islands could face a future of increasingly dangerous heat as climate change drives longer and more intense periods of humid conditions. While rising temperatures are often discussed as the main consequence of climate change, humidity plays a crucial role in determining how much heat the human body can tolerate. When the air is already full of moisture, sweat evaporates less effectively, making it harder for people to cool down. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-small-tropical-islands-dangerous-humid.html Earth Sciences Fri, 24 Jul 2026 07:20:01 EDT news704017856 A new study led by Japanese researchers from Tohoku University and the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) reveals that some of the minerals most essential for green technologies may have a significant negative impact on biodiversity. Using remote sensing and machine learning, the scientists produced an unprecedented global map of mined commodities. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-global-reveals-uneven-toll-forests.html Earth Sciences Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news704036827 If the Colorado River Basin is the lifeblood of the American Southwest, keeping the region's agricultural, ecological and economic systems thriving, Colorado's West Slope River basins could be considered the heart. Together, they contribute about 70% of the water delivered to Lake Powell, the second-largest reservoir in the nation. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-colorado-basins-lake-powell-major.html Earth Sciences Thu, 23 Jul 2026 17:00:08 EDT news704033521 Anyone who has boiled a pot of water understands that it takes both time and energy to raise the temperature, so it may come as a surprise to learn that scientists have long treated marine heat waves (MHWs) as isolated events. New research led by William & Mary's VIMS & Batten School is challenging that narrative by providing a framework to characterize an ecosystem's cumulative heat exposure from MHWs and the extended periods of warm water that precede and follow them. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-longer-hotter-reality-marine-reveals.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 19:20:04 EDT news703949342 The seafloor plays an important ecological and societal role. Understanding the processes that shape this environment will help guide conservation policy and decision-making about underwater infrastructure and geohazards. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-qa-technology-seafloor.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:40:01 EDT news703943237 New research from the University of St Andrews has found that metal production carbon footprints could be more than 10 times higher than previously estimated, with serious implications for the ambition to reach net zero. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-carbon-footprint-metal-production-higher.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:40:05 EDT news703940101 About 90% of the Aral Sea has dried up. The exposed sediments have already released enormous amounts of carbon dioxide (748 megatons) since 1960. However, through restoration, the lake could once again become a carbon sink. This is shown by a study by the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), published in Science, in which the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) participated. Hydrological restoration of the desiccated sediments would prevent emissions equivalent to Spain's total emissions over three years—namely, around 605 megatons, according to the research team's calculations. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-reflooding-aral-sea-massive-emissions.html Earth Sciences Wed, 22 Jul 2026 08:40:03 EDT news703928283 Sustained supershear earthquake ruptures produce distinct ground-motion characteristics compared with subshear earthquakes, according to a study published in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, with potential implications for current building codes and ground-motion models. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-simulations-distinct-ground-motion-signatures.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:40:01 EDT news703864742 A team of Virginia Tech geoscientists has found a new way to examine the widespread effects of dams on river temperatures: using Landsat thermal infrared imagery to gather data on rivers across the United States. By using satellite imagery instead of site-specific, on-the-ground measurements, researchers can draw from a much larger pool of data. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-satellite-imagery-captures-impact-large.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 16:10:02 EDT news703866361 In much of Asia, the effects of climate change are felt through an increased frequency of extreme weather events, especially water-related ones. Droughts are becoming more common in mainland Southeast Asia, while periods with unusually large amounts of rainfall are increasing in Central Asia. Rice University's Na Wang and Sylvia Dee were interested in understanding whether these two extremes were related, despite being geographically distant. The researchers' findings were recently published in Nature Geoscience. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-extreme-precipitation-central-asia-drought.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:10:01 EDT news703864572 A recent study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, combines historical satellite observations with atmospheric reanalysis data to construct a multidecade record of low-cloud cover in the hope of improving current climate models. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-cloud-mute-years.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 13:10:01 EDT news703856806 Natural hydrogen is considered a potential low-carbon energy source. But how much is generated underground—and how quickly? An international research team led by the LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics in Hannover has published the first process-based estimates for the Western Pyrenees and Northern California in Nature Communications. The calculated production rates are lower than earlier theoretical estimates. The study's new evaluation method, through the open-source tool PoNHy, allows more realistic assessments and can be applied to other regions to identify promising geological systems more precisely and evaluate their potential. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-geophysics-clarity-potential-natural-hydrogen.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:20:03 EDT news703847403 The end-Triassic mass extinction, 201 million years ago, is linked to volcanism that resulted from the break-up of Pangea and which pumped out vast amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, causing extreme global warming of 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. As a result, tree-dominated vegetation collapsed and the highly disturbed landscapes were colonized by ferns that formed savannahs across large swaths of what is now Northwest Europe. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-triassic-inferno-raged-europe-millennia.html Earth Sciences Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:20:05 EDT news703842721 New analysis shows that a "pause" in Arctic winter sea ice decline seen in the early 2020s has ended following record lows in 2025 and early 2026. The study, led by the University of Southampton in collaboration with the National Oceanography Center (NOC), adds the most recent satellite observations to sea ice coverage trends during the winter growth and peak phases of the Arctic sea ice cycle. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-arctic-winter-sea-ice-significant.html Earth Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:00:02 EDT news703748614 Africa is home to around 70% of the world's burned area—the total area of land scorched by wildfires each year—making it the planet's biggest wildfire hotspot. Yet despite this, satellite observations have revealed an unexpected trend over the past two decades: The amount of land burned across the continent has been steadily falling. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-africa-wildfire-season-shorter-scientists.html Earth Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 06:40:01 EDT news703496227 A floating research station resembling a giant aluminum igloo on Sunday set out from France to begin a long-term mission in the Arctic that will see it drift with the polar ice in one of the most hostile environments. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-igloo-france-polar-exploration-mission.html Earth Sciences Mon, 20 Jul 2026 05:20:01 EDT news703743048 A new review in Limnology and Oceanography led by scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems is pushing Earth toward an "unsafe space," with consequences that could be irreversible on human timescales. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-underwater-oxygen-loss-threatens-earth.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:20:01 EDT news703501039 Alberto Borges, oceanographer at the University of Liège, has conducted a comparative study in Belgium and Africa on the microbial oxidation of methane in rivers, a natural process in which certain bacteria consume this powerful greenhouse gas before it is released into the atmosphere. His research reveals that this biological filter, which is more active in African rivers than in Belgian rivers, remains insufficient to offset the rise in methane emissions expected because of global warming and nitrate pollution. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-river-bacteria-consume-methane-fall.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:07 EDT news703491272 An international team of researchers, including scientists from Utrecht University and the University of Maryland, has reconstructed the concentration of clumped isotopes of methane in air from the past for the first time. This provides new insights into how atmospheric methane concentrations have changed since the start of the industrial era, around 1850. For the study, the scientists used air that was roughly 40 years old, preserved in compacted snow (firn) in Greenland. The results were published in Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-air-greenland-industrialization-impact-atmospheric.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703329073 A new study led by the University of Barcelona reveals that freshwater exported from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea triggered major environmental changes across the Eastern Mediterranean. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-black-sea-reshaped-eastern-mediterranean.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Jul 2026 11:10:01 EDT news703417809 Paleontologists in China have discovered the oldest chemically verified amber ever found, dating to 385 million years ago. That's approximately 140 million years before dinosaurs roamed Earth. The previous record holder was an amber sample from the Late Carboniferous period, dating to about 320 million years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-holder-world-oldest-amber-china.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:49:37 EDT news703417753 Heavy precipitation becomes more intense with every degree Earth warms. This affects flooding. Using hourly data from 384 rivers in the Alps, researchers from the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF modeled how flooding will change by the end of the century. Their projections are significantly bleaker than earlier ones. The findings are published in the journal Science Advances. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-hourly-reveal-alpine-year-years.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:40:07 EDT news703405378 While particulate matter air pollution from human activity in transportation, households and industry is decreasing in Europe, thanks to strict regulations, another source is developing in the opposite direction: desert dust. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-europe-implications-health-solar-energy.html Earth Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:25 EDT news703229095 Wetlands have shaped human life in Europe since ancient times. These ecosystems provided essential resources and safe havens for plants and animals, and in many regions they also held spiritual and ritual significance. For millennia, wetlands covered vast parts of the European continent. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-europe-critical-wetlands-climate-action.html Earth Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 11:00:13 EDT news703229394 New Antarctic research shows the deepest layer of the Southern Ocean is shrinking faster than scientists realized, with the rate of change accelerating over the past decade. This is of worldwide significance because as it sinks and fills up to 40% of the global ocean volume, the cold, dense water known as Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) drives Earth's system of currents and regulates our climate. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-antarctic-slowdown-global-ocean-circulation.html Earth Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 10:40:08 EDT news703326057 When most people hear the phrase "ocean acidification," they think of coral reefs, shellfish or declining fisheries. Those concerns are real. But while working on our recent research, I found myself asking a different question: What if ocean acidification is telling us something much bigger than the health of marine ecosystems? https://phys.org/news/2026-07-ocean-acidification-emerging-planetary-linking.html Earth Sciences Tue, 14 Jul 2026 18:00:04 EDT news703232476 Ocean tides push upstream along coastal rivers, in some cases reaching hundreds of kilometers (hundreds of miles) inland. These inland stretches are known as tidal rivers, and they're the scene of complex interactions between the river current and tidal oscillations. When rivers flood, tidal dynamics can sometimes add to a river's height, increasing overall peak water levels and amplifying flooding. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tides-river-combine-amplify.html Earth Sciences Tue, 14 Jul 2026 17:20:03 EDT news703250317