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. No, President Joe Biden did not engineer Hurricane Milton. No, the ice crystal contrails left behind by high-altitude aircraft are not "chemtrails" sprayed by governments to control the weather or manipulate populations. No, state-run cloud seeding did not cause the record floods in Dubai. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-artificially-dim-sun-scientists-theyre.html Environment Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:40:01 EDT news708702685 Floods, wildfires, conflicts, earthquakes, economic shocks, hurricanes or epidemics: These unexpected and often dramatic events affect people's lives and jobs, destroy crops, wipe out livestock and stored food, contaminate water, block roads, cut off communities and severely affect access to markets and food. This is a distressing picture—one expected to get much worse in the near future because of climate change and an increasingly polarized world. Yet science says no: These natural and human-made shocks do not have to lead to more hunger by default. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-countries-disasters-food-crises-analysis.html Environment Mon, 14 Sep 2026 15:00:11 EDT news708604742 Historical records of the deadliest storms and heat waves may be a poor indicator of the scale and impact future weather disasters could have, scientists at King's College London warn. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-future-catastrophic-weather-worse-history.html Environment Thu, 10 Sep 2026 18:20:01 EDT news708252174 Extreme heat has become more common—both research and lived experience document this—but when it arrives is a different question. A new study finds that, rather than occurring only during warm seasons, extreme heat events have become more frequent in the months before and after, too. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-dangerous-days-summer-regional-fall.html Earth Sciences Thu, 10 Sep 2026 11:00:12 EDT news708166866 In 1967, a solar storm nearly triggered World War III by jamming early-warning radar systems in the United States, causing U.S. leaders to think the Soviet Union was responsible. Though society averted catastrophe thanks to timely information from solar forecasters, the threat from space weather remains real. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-economic-solar-storms-pose-power.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:40:01 EDT news707994751 Resources such as sea level rise viewers, heat maps and flood prediction services are crucial tools in a changing climate. NASA Earth Observations (NASA EO) datasets provide important information on these and other natural hazards, but many communities that may benefit from these tools face barriers to accessing them. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-puerto-rico-residents-climate-tools.html Environment Mon, 31 Aug 2026 14:40:07 EDT news707398381 Europe is no stranger to powerful windstorms, but some storms capable of causing serious damage have an unusual origin. Tropical cyclones can occasionally travel north from lower latitudes and reach Europe, where they can bring damaging winds and heavy rain even after losing some of their tropical characteristics. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-uk-ireland-greatest-rare-tropical.html Earth Sciences Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:00:07 EDT news707137390 Can a city's seawall stand up to a blockbuster storm? Will a region's power grid hold against record-breaking heat? And can a town's firefighting resources contain a major wildfire? https://phys.org/news/2026-08-inches-york-city-ai-plausible.html Earth Sciences Tue, 25 Aug 2026 14:40:05 EDT news706875841 Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have found that implosions designed for inertial fusion energy (IFE) can tolerate significant imperfections before performance abruptly declines, a finding that could inform the design of fuel targets for future fusion power plants. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-fusion-reactions-survive-flaws.html Plasma Physics Mon, 24 Aug 2026 19:00:01 EDT news706803482 Under global warming, scientists have widely expected tropical cyclones (including typhoons and hurricanes) to bring more intense and frequent rainfall. The underlying physics seems intuitive: Rising temperatures allow the atmosphere to hold more moisture, which, combined with intensifying storms, should theoretically trigger more destructive downpours. However, when researchers analyze climate model projections, they encounter a puzzling phenomenon. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-atmospheric-dryness-limits-typhoon-rainfall.html Earth Sciences Mon, 24 Aug 2026 17:10:01 EDT news706807022 Extreme precipitation events are among the most damaging natural disasters and a major concern in our changing climate. In the U.S., since 1980, the most destructive events alone have caused more than 2,800 deaths and $700 billion in damages. But what is the total area of the country affected by these events each year? And how have these patterns changed over the past several decades? In a recent study in Geophysical Research Letters, led by researchers at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which is part of the Columbia Climate School, the authors discovered some unexpected trends. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-extreme-shifts-larger-frequent-storms.html Earth Sciences Thu, 20 Aug 2026 14:40:06 EDT news706446782 Before tropical cyclones can significantly strengthen, they generally must first become vertically aligned, with their rotating centers stacked through the atmosphere. New research using nearly three decades of NOAA Hurricane Hunter observations identifies four features that can help a tilted storm become aligned and more capable of intensifying. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hurricane-hunter-reveal-early-tropical.html Earth Sciences Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:20:05 EDT news705746009 Hurricane warnings are only effective if people understand them. A new study by Florida State University faculty members in the School of Communication in the College of Communication and Information and the Department of Geography in the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy examined an experimental forecast graphic developed by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) that adds inland tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings to the traditional track-forecast cone, which historically emphasized coastal impacts. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-hurricane-graphic-people-areas-doesnt.html Environment Tue, 11 Aug 2026 15:20:04 EDT news705670557 Tropical cyclones are among the most destructive natural forces on the planet, but predicting where they will go and how strong they will become is beset by challenges. Current methods are often good at tracking storm paths but struggle to anticipate changes in intensity. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-ai-cyclone-hours.html Environment Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:10:01 EDT news705585039 Stanford researchers have shown that instruments primarily used to understand earthquakes can capture key details about hurricanes, helping meteorologists better predict how storms will evolve and intensify. https://phys.org/news/2026-08-earthquake-sensors-hurricanes.html Earth Sciences Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:00:17 EDT news705225421 The rapid intensification of a hurricane ranks among the most dangerous weather events on Earth. Storms such as Hurricane Michael, which crashed ashore in the Florida Panhandle with winds of 160 mph (about 257 km/h), and Hurricane Otis, the costliest hurricane to strike Mexico's Pacific coast, caught communities unawares when they intensified at a rate that computer models failed to anticipate. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-method-flags-hurricane-rapid-intensification.html Earth Sciences Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:01 EDT news704711402 In August 2023, communities across Southern California braced for Tropical Storm Hilary—the first tropical storm to directly impact the region this century. Although the storm weakened from a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall, it still brought damaging winds, record rainfall and widespread flooding across the southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-juvenile-great-white-sharks-fled.html Plants & Animals Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:00:05 EDT news704469602 Climate change is altering the spread of waterborne diseases around the world, according to a comprehensive review published today in Nature Reviews Microbiology. The publication is the most up-to-date, comprehensive analysis examining how climate change influences waterborne diseases. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-climate-reshapes-waterborne-disease-pathogens.html Ecology Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:00:05 EDT news703427371 When the Marshall Fire tore through suburban Colorado in late 2021, residents had only hours to decide where to go. Some fled to nearby towns. Others stayed farther away for weeks or months. Now, a recent study published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications suggests those decisions were shaped not only by distance or danger but also by something more human: the pull of familiar communities and social ties. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-disaster-people-familiar.html Social Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 22:40:01 EDT news703340838 Every day, billions of people travel from their homes to work, schools, health care facilities, restaurants, public venues and other destinations. The complex patterns that shape how people move between these different locations are broadly referred to as "human mobility." https://phys.org/news/2026-07-highlights-patterns-humans.html Social Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2026 08:30:01 EDT news703319123 Scientists thought dead plant material was primarily powering the Everglades. Algae says not so fast. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-powers-everglades-tracks-algae-fuel.html Ecology Wed, 08 Jul 2026 13:10:01 EDT news702729714 Carbon sequestration, climate regulation, biodiversity support and shoreline protection: These are all benefits provided by tidal wetlands. As the climate changes, the amount of carbon captured by these vital ecosystems may be changing as well. https://phys.org/news/2026-07-satellite-reveals-tidal-wetland-productivity.html Earth Sciences Tue, 07 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news702647680 In a new perspective paper, Qin Huang of Arizona State University and colleagues propose that the worst damage from extreme weather events could be prevented through Weather Jiu-Jitsu, a theory-based approach to "nudge" weather systems away from harmful trajectories. The paper was published in PLOS Water. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-weather-jiu-jitsu-approach-avert.html Environment Wed, 24 Jun 2026 14:00:03 EDT news701422575 It's time we gave seagrass the credit it's due. This hero of a plant protects coastlines, stores vast amounts of carbon and supports ecosystems that people and wildlife depend on. But we don't often hear about it when it comes to ocean conservation. That's partly because we knew so little about it—until now. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-world-seagrass.html Environment Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:00:03 EDT news701428382 In 1938 and 1944, two major hurricanes struck Long Island, and after the initial winds subsided, the surges came back unexpectedly hours later, leading observers to wonder whether this was a tsunami. In a study appearing in Continental Shelf Research, scientists at Stevens Institute of Technology explain the phenomenon and warn that it could happen again. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-continental-shelf-seiches-triggered-york.html Earth Sciences Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:09:29 EDT news701446132 In 2011, Japan reeled from the effects of a devastating magnitude 9.0 earthquake. But unnoticed in the chaos resulting from the quake, its major aftershocks and the tsunami it caused, something strange happened. About 16 minutes after the earthquake, but before the aftershocks hit, Japan's GPS stations registered an eastward lurch—across the entire country—but unconnected to any specific quake or aftershock. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-powerful-seismic-japan-earthquake-struck.html Earth Sciences Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:20:04 EDT news701078281 Climate change could make historically rare tropical storms in Southern California produce significantly more precipitation in the next few decades, and when they strike, landslides are likely to become a bigger risk across the region, according to new research in Nature Climate Change. https://phys.org/news/2026-06-hurricane-rainfall-landslide-southern-california.html Earth Sciences Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:10:06 EDT news700328341 Hurricanes can be a devastating force—leveling trees, erasing beaches and damaging homes. But what do they do to wildlife? The answer ranges from the good to the bad to the ugly. Hurricanes sometimes help native species, but other times, they introduce and spread invasive species. Sometimes, they cause animals to evolve to survive these storms more easily, and sometimes they lead to mass migration or extinction. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-midwest-flamingos-hurricane-toads-wildlife.html Evolution Fri, 22 May 2026 09:00:01 EDT news698658241 New Penn research shows that Hurricane Ida wasn't a once-in-a-century anomaly but a preview of how climate change, urbanization, and aging infrastructure are rewriting flood risk. https://phys.org/news/2026-05-schuylkill-swallowed-city-lessons-hurricane.html Earth Sciences Fri, 01 May 2026 10:40:03 EDT news696847682 Marine heat waves are supercharging damage caused by hurricanes and tropical cyclones across the globe, a new study found. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-worsening-ocean-supercharging-hurricane.html Earth Sciences Sat, 11 Apr 2026 01:47:48 EDT news695090805