https://phys.org/earth-news/ en-us Earth science research, climate change, and global warming. The latest news and updates from Phys.org Urban parks are often seen as natural refuges from summer heat, but new Concordia research shows that, depending on the time of day, the way trees are arranged within parks can influence whether those spaces cool people down or trap heat. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-affects-cooling-differently-day-night.html Environment Fri, 17 Apr 2026 20:40:02 EDT news695625355 The seismic crisis that gripped the Greek island of Santorini and its neighbors in 2025 contained more than 60,000 earthquakes, according to a unique machine learning study that identified the earthquakes as they occurred between December 2024 and June 2025. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-machine-earthquakes-santorini-sequence.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:00:01 EDT news695638645 The latest official stocktake of the state of New Zealand's freshwater carries many of the headline messages we have come to expect. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-sight-groundwater-contamination-nz-reveals.html Environment Fri, 17 Apr 2026 16:20:04 EDT news695630582 Indonesia experiences massive forest fires as the dry season approaches. They are a major environmental challenge because they damage forests and other land, endanger lives, and disrupt local economies. Using sharp, high-resolution imagery from Sentinel-2 satellites, capable of spotting details as small as 20 meters, a recent study built the first fully automated system to map burned areas across Indonesia every month in fine detail. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-indonesia-crisis-focus-high-resolution.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:30:01 EDT news695563633 If there is a magnitude 8 or 9 megathrust earthquake off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, data from ocean bottom seismometers (OBS) could improve earthquake detection times calculated by the ShakeAlert system. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ocean-bottom-seismometers-earthquake-pacific.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:00:01 EDT news695645161 On the evening of July 6, 2025, a glacier lake outburst flood (GLOF) surged through the village of Hassanabad in Pakistan's Hunza Valley, destroying houses and irrigation systems. Triggered by the rapid melting of the Shisper Glacier, the flash flood forced villagers to evacuate and also damaged the local water supply system. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-office-recovery-advances-relief-efforts.html Environment Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:40:05 EDT news695640421 In what is possibly another sign of climate change, mosquitoes have landed in Iceland for the first time. For many years, the island was the only Arctic country that could claim to be mosquito-free. But that all changed in 2025, when three Culiseta annulata specimens were discovered in a garden in Kjós, just north of the capital Reykjavík. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-mosquitoes-iceland-arctic.html Environment Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:20:01 EDT news695638195 Geologists have solved the mystery of the disappearance from the geological record, millions of years ago, of one of North America's most important waterways: the Colorado River. A paper published in Science shows that the river flowed into an upstream lake over the course of a few million years, then likely flowed for the first time into the Grand Canyon. The moment marked the Colorado River's transition to a continental-scale river as it made its way down to the Gulf of California. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-colorado-river-geological-million-years.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:03 EDT news695637782 Blistering temperatures rising to 40°C and above will now be branded "cruelly hot" or "kokusho-bi" in Japan, the weather agency said Friday, as heat wave days become increasingly frequent in the region. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-cruelly-hot-japan-term-days.html Environment Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:40:02 EDT news695636367 Originally deployed to record re-entry signals of the OSIRIS-REx return capsule, a T-shaped fiber optic cable draped across the ground at a Nevada airfield also captured unique aspects of a Cessna 172's speed and maneuvering. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-surface-draped-fiber-captured-plane.html Earth Sciences Fri, 17 Apr 2026 07:20:02 EDT news695619661 Seismicity decreases with depth because elevated confining pressure prevents frictional sliding of faults. However, seismicity tends to increase with depth in the mantle transition zone (depths of 410−600km). It has been believed that pressure-induced phase transitions of olivine in the "cold" subducted slabs is the cause of high seismicity in the mantle transition zone. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-deep-earthquakes-triggered-olivine-poirierite.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:40:03 EDT news695552983 The East Asian Subtropical Westerly Jet (EASWJ) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) are two pivotal components of the East Asian monsoon system, shaping the precipitation distribution and climate over East Asia. Whether the co-evolutionary EASWJ–EASM relationship remains consistent under different climatic backgrounds has been a key question in both modern and paleoclimate research. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-interannual-evolutionary-reveal-east-asia.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 21:20:01 EDT news695577841 Bottom fishing can release CO₂ from the seabed, but the consequences for the climate are not straightforward. New research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that disturbing the seabed sets in motion multiple processes with contrasting effects. The overall climate impact of bottom fishing is the result of these processes and depends strongly on where fishing takes place and on whether carbon is released that would otherwise have remained stored in the seabed for long periods. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-climate-impact-bottom-fishing-seabed.html Environment Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:00:01 EDT news695575621 A new study shows that a specific type of silicone, the so-called methylsiloxanes, is widely present in the atmosphere across diverse environments. Also, concentrations appear to be much higher than expected. According to the researchers, this raises concerns about their potential—yet poorly understood—effects on human health and the climate. Methylsiloxanes are commonly used in industry, transportation, cosmetics, and household products. The study was supervised by Utrecht University and the University of Groningen, and the results are published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-newly-pollutant-widely-atmosphere.html Environment Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:30:01 EDT news695576521 Relocating the city of Venice is among four potential options—including movable barriers, ring dikes and closing the Venetian Lagoon—that could help it adapt to future sea-level rise over the next 200 years, according to a new study. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-relocating-venice-options-explored-city.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:00:01 EDT news695570401 Glaciers can reveal vast archives of information about Earth's environmental past, but deciphering the origins of the matter within them can be a challenge. Now, using a novel technique that enables researchers to directly analyze millions of individual particles at once, a new study has revealed that specks of dust trapped in Antarctic ice likely originated from a common source during the last Ice Age, between about 120,000 and 11,500 years ago. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-technique-drills-ice-core.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:30:03 EDT news695567693 The underground laboratory in Nevada where the U.S. conducts nuclear subcritical experiments is riddled with faults. Researchers have not confirmed whether any of these faults are active and could rupture during an earthquake, according to a presentation by members of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board delivered at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-extensive-faults-beneath-nevada-nuclear.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:20:02 EDT news695569082 Researchers at University of Tsukuba have developed a method to differentiate the topography of medieval mountain castles from that of natural ridges using airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data. This method is expected to be useful for detecting historically modified terrain, such as archaeological sites in mountainous regions, as well as for assessing the extent of topographic modifications and estimating the potential risk of landslides on modified slopes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-lidar-medieval-castle-terrain-flags.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:00:01 EDT news695561161 The recovery of the ozone layer in Earth's stratosphere could be delayed by several years, according to an international study led by Swiss research institution Empa which included contributions from University of Bristol researchers. The cause is persistent emissions of so-called feedstock chemicals, which are still permitted as raw materials in industry. These ozone-depleting substances have so far been excluded from international agreements because, according to the current study, their emissions and use have been significantly underestimated. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-industrial-chemical-leaks-ozone-layer.html Environment Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:20:14 EDT news695567701 When 240 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., starting in mid-January 2026 and running through mid-March, it was estimated to be the largest sewage spill in U.S. history. But it wasn't the first, nor will it be the last. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-washington-dc-milliongallon-sewage-symptom.html Environment Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:20:10 EDT news695560742 Where once there was ice, only rock remains. One of the glaciers in a chain of snow-capped mountains in the Colombian Andes has vanished due to high temperatures driven by climate change. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-global-colombian-glacier.html Environment Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:50:27 EDT news695573386 Magnetic rocks with iron oxide concentrations act as natural chroniclers of Earth's past continental movements. Using small samples of rocks, scientists can isolate magnetic grains that were frozen in orientation as the rock solidified. The magnetization of these grains acts as a miniature compass needle, pointing toward ancient magnetic poles. This same principle applies to extraterrestrial samples, such as meteorites and lunar rocks, which preserve evidence of the early solar nebula's evolution. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-ancient-stone-compass-needles.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:20:03 EDT news695562781 Massive blooms of Sargassum seaweed that have inundated coastlines across the Atlantic since 2011 likely originate off the coast of West Africa—forming years before they are visible and overturning long-standing assumptions about where these events begin. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-massive-atlantic-sargassum-blooms-west.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:00:04 EDT news695562483 A new look at the Juan de Fuca tectonic plate beneath the coast of northern Oregon suggests this subducting slab is shallower than previously thought, with impacts on potential peak ground shaking during a Cascadia megathrust earthquake. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-hidden-oregon-basin-shallower-slab.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:40:04 EDT news695561641 Scientists from UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Centro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación in Mexico have developed a tool that identifies mangrove patches facing the greatest risk of degradation. The tool, called the Mangrove Threat Index and described in a study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, aims to provide an empirical argument for conservation before vulnerable ecosystems are lost rather than after, said the researchers. The index yields a single number that local planners and communities can use to prioritize specific mangrove patches for protection. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-metric-mangroves.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:20:03 EDT news695558942 A microscopic green pigment can provide major insights into how severe tropical cyclones called typhoons impact water flow and ecosystems. Called chlorophyll a, the pigment is responsible for absorbing light and initiating the photosynthesis process for algae, other plants and some bacteria. The amount of chlorophyll a in a body of water acts as a proxy measurement for the organisms that feed on it, with sharp increases or decreases indicating a disrupted ecosystem. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-microscopic-green-pigment-insights-successive.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:00:05 EDT news695557023 Powerful cyclones can push seawater miles inland, threatening densely populated communities and critical infrastructure built along coastal areas. A combination of exposure and complexity makes the Bay of Bengal in Southeast Asia a powerful test case for scientists seeking to better understand how tides, storm surge, river flows and sea level rise interact to drive extreme coastal flooding. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-simulations-generate-thousands-cyclone-scenarios.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 13:00:04 EDT news695557540 As future shifts in climate lead to more rain and less snow in the western United States, new research finds that water will move faster through a landscape, likely leading to negative impacts on summer water levels and water quality. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-warmer-winters-drought-threaten-western.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:40:04 EDT news695557473 The Atlantic current system, or more formally the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), is more likely to weaken than previously thought. That's the conclusion of a new study published in the journal Science Advances, which used more refined modeling techniques to get a clearer picture of the future. If these new projections are correct, the consequences could be severe, particularly for Europe and Africa. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-atlantic-current-weakening-faster.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:40:05 EDT news695552250 A new study by University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researchers revealed that Waikīkī is facing a fundamental shift in flood hazards as sea levels rise—transitioning from a flooding that is driven primarily by rainfall to events increasingly dominated by tidal processes. https://phys.org/news/2026-04-waikk-escalating-threat-sewage-contaminated.html Earth Sciences Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:40:01 EDT news695549821