https://phys.org/earth-news/environment en-us The latest news on the environment, environmental issues, earth science and space exploration. Loss of forest cover is associated with more frequent extreme flooding, as well as more frequent floods of any size, according to new UBC research. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-clearcut-frequent-extreme.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 02 Aug 2023 12:40:45 EDT news610198841 In California, thousands of miles of fiber optic cables crisscross the state, providing people with internet. But these underground cables can also have a surprising secondary function: they can sense and measure earthquakes. In a new study at Caltech, scientists report using a section of fiber optic cable to measure intricate details of a magnitude 6 earthquake, pinpointing the time and location of four individual asperities, the "stuck" areas of the fault, that led to the rupture. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-fiber-optic-cables-characterize-earthquakes.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 02 Aug 2023 11:23:15 EDT news610194191 The first-ever study to look at drivers of both marine heatwaves and cold spells in the shallow nearshore along the California Current—coordinated by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary—found that certain environmental conditions and the state of the ocean can lead to an enhanced risk for ocean temperature extremes. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nearshore-california-marine-heatwaves-cold.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:24:49 EDT news610190683 Greenland's ice sheet has been melting at an accelerated rate over recent decades, which may have resulted in a 1.4 mm/year rise in sea level. It has three glaciers with a floating tongue (floating ice attached to a glacier emerging into the sea) remaining, with Nioghalvfjerdsbrae (located at 79 degrees latitude north so colloquially termed 79NG) being the focus of a new study reported in The Cryosphere regarding the effects of climate change on its decline. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-greenland-largest-glacial-ice-declined.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:20:02 EDT news610182555 Carbon dioxide levels in Earth's atmosphere—and, consequently, ocean temperatures—are rising. How high and how fast ocean temperatures can rise can be learned from temperature measurements of ancient oceans. At the same time, energy exploration also relies on knowing the thermal history of oil and gas source rocks, which is often difficult to determine. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-quest-accurately-ancient-ocean-temperatures.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 01 Aug 2023 16:04:04 EDT news610124642 A new study from UC San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography researcher emeritus Peter Bromirski uses nearly a century of data to show that the average heights of winter waves along the California coast have increased as climate change has heated up the planet. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-california-winter-climate-century.html Environment Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:22:04 EDT news610114920 Nearly six years have passed since Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico. The historic storm, one of the deadliest in U.S. history, significantly damaged more than 80% of the island's electrical power system, leading to massive disruptions of essential services for months. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-climate-scientists-hurricane-maria-social.html Environment Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:34:06 EDT news610112043 A patch of ocean in the North Atlantic is stubbornly cooling while much of the planet warms. This anomaly—dubbed the "cold blob"—has been linked to changes in ocean circulation, but a new study found changes in large-scale atmospheric patterns may play an equally important role, according to an international research team led by Penn State. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-north-atlantic-oscillation-contributes-cold.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:12:04 EDT news610110721 Removing ozone pollution across India could boost food welfare benefits by more than four billion dollars a year through avoidance of wheat yield losses of approximately 14%, according to the results of a pioneering international study. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-ozone-pollution-india-boost-food.html Environment Tue, 01 Aug 2023 11:36:03 EDT news610108561 The Amazon River is the largest river in the world. It discharges about one fifth of global freshwater runoff, resulting in a freshwater plume rich in nutrients and trace elements entering the Atlantic Ocean. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-rio-par-contribute-high-metal.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 31 Jul 2023 11:42:36 EDT news610022553 In past ice ages, the intensity of summer insolation affected the emergence of warm and cold periods and played an important role in triggering abrupt climate changes, a study by climate researchers, geoscientists, and environmental physicists suggests. Using stalagmites in the European Alps, they were able to demonstrate that warm phases appeared primarily when the summer insolation reached maxima in the Northern Hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-insolation-affected-ice-age-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:45:03 EDT news610019101 On the heels of a new record high in the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic reached its hottest-ever level this week, several weeks earlier than its usual annual peak, according to preliminary data released Friday by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-atlantic-ocean-temperature-high-agency.html Environment Sat, 29 Jul 2023 03:03:06 EDT news609818511 World Heritage Sites across the world are facing unprecedented challenges from climate change. Australia has 20 sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List, from convict sites like the Port Arthur Historic site in Tasmania to natural and cultural heritage sites like Kakadu National Park. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-world-heritage-sites-unprecedented-climate.html Environment Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:12:33 EDT news609757949 The Colorado River Basin provides freshwater to more than 40 million people within the semi-arid southwestern United States, including major cities such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles. However, between 2000 and 2021 the basin experienced a megadrought (a severe drought lasting multiple decades), which researchers have suggested likely would not have occurred if it were not for anthropogenic climate change. In particular, during 2020 and 2021, the river basin recorded the driest 20-month period since 1895 and the lowest river flow since 1906. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-colorado-river-basin-megadrought-massive.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 28 Jul 2023 09:30:01 EDT news609674061 Saharan dust has made headlines in recent years for traveling across the globe, turning our skies picturesque hues of orange while coating our cities in thin layers of wind-blown dust. This has implications for our infrastructure (for example, reducing solar energy production) and global activities (such as impacting visibility for flights), as well as human health (notably causing respiratory issues) and the natural environment (increasing cloud formation, but reducing temperatures as solar radiation is reflected back out to space). https://phys.org/news/2023-07-sahara-remote-european-resorts.html Environment Fri, 28 Jul 2023 09:14:08 EDT news609754437 The world's forests, grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems have played a substantial role in offsetting human carbon emissions—a capability that UC Berkeley researchers say would be threatened by continued global change. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-terrestrial-ecosystems-significantly-offset-human.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:53:03 EDT news609677581 As sea levels rise and flooding becomes more frequent, many countries are considering a controversial strategy: relocation of communities. A Stanford analysis of planned relocations around the world, published July 27 in Nature Climate Change, reveals a blueprint for positive outcomes from an approach often considered a measure of last resort. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-communities-minimal.html Environment Thu, 27 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609672883 Earth's oceans are a complex system of interconnected transport highways for heat, nutrients and the transfer of carbon dioxide between the atmosphere and sea. Meridional overturning circulation is the process by which these key components move from the tropics poleward to the subtropics. Research has found that an increase in this circulation pattern can be beneficial as it results in the ocean storing more heat and therefore draws down global temperature. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-corals-reveal-year-history-pacific.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 27 Jul 2023 09:30:01 EDT news609587556 The University of Virginia has collaborated on new research indicating that for parts of the world suffering severe heat and drought, including portions of the United States, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere may offer little relief. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-carbon-capture-drought-prone-regions.html Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 15:08:03 EDT news609602882 A new study by Simon Fraser University researchers shows that efforts to reduce methane emissions are needed immediately if we are to meet global climate change goals. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-delaying-methane-mitigation-breaching-paris.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 15:02:03 EDT news609602521 The development of a high precision record of atmospheric radiocarbon shifts beyond 14,000 calendar years BP—obtained through combined studies (e.g., dendrochronology, radiocarbon dating and comparisons with other radionuclide records)—represents a crucial improvement within the widely applied radiocarbon dating method, allowing more accurate dating of sub-fossil samples and hence, establishing the chronology of past environmental and climate changes during glacial times. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-radiocarbon-dating-earth-environmental-glacial.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 11:56:40 EDT news609591396 Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the Earth's most consequential interannual climate fluctuation. Alternating irregularly between warm El Niño and cold La Niña phases, it brings shifts in ocean surface temperature and disrupts wind and rainfall patterns across the tropics. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-global-multiyear-la-nia-events.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 11:47:03 EDT news609590821 Europe still faces numerous challenges in reducing air pollution. A new study by an international team of researchers identified the reduction of ammonia emissions as a cost-effective measure to reduce concentrations of fine particulate matter concentrations in the atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ammonia-reduction-prioritized-europe-air.html Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 11:04:04 EDT news609588242 A Biden administration program designed to address environmental inequalities, including reducing the air quality gap between white communities and communities of color, may not succeed. That's due, in part, to the administration's decision not to include racial demographics in a new tool that will be used to evaluate proposed regulations or policies, finds a new study published online July 20 in the journal Science. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-racial-gap-air-quality-persist.html Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:26:13 EDT news609585970 Allen Hunt, Ph.D., professor of physics at Wright State University, published a new co-authored paper, "Predicting Streamflow Elasticity Based on Percolation Theory and Ecological Optimality," in the journal AGU Advances. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-physicist-reveals-hydrology.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 10:14:04 EDT news609585242 Cyprus' beaches are at risk due to climate change as increased sea levels and wave action erode the sandy shores. This has prompted a dire warning from researchers at the University of the Aegean, Greece, that up to 72% of the island's beaches could disappear by 2100. Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean, with a coastline spanning 740 km. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-cyprus-beaches-due-climate.html Earth Sciences Environment Wed, 26 Jul 2023 09:58:16 EDT news609584290 Yellowstone's Steamboat Geyser has had decades-long dry spells brought on by a history of droughts, a new study finds. With global temperatures on the rise, the American West is projected to become drier. Sustained drought in this region could slow down, and possibly halt, Yellowstone National Park's famous geyser eruptions, the researchers say. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-petrified-trees-reveal-yellowstone-geyser.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 25 Jul 2023 15:50:03 EDT news609519001 Important ocean currents that redistribute heat, cold and precipitation between the tropics and the northernmost parts of the Atlantic region will shut down around the year 2060 if current greenhouse gas emissions persist. This is the conclusion based on new calculations from the University of Copenhagen that contradict the latest report from the IPCC. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-gloomy-climate-scientists-collapse-atlantic.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 25 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609494395 The southern end of the San Andreas Fault that runs directly below the Salton Sea in Southern California currently poses the largest seismic hazard in the state, but the area hasn't experienced a major earthquake in more than 300 years. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-qa-drying-salton-sea-staved.html Earth Sciences Environment Tue, 25 Jul 2023 10:03:48 EDT news609498224 Since de-icing with road salt began in the 1930s, the salinity of lakes across much of the US has been steadily increasing, posing a potential threat to aquatic life and drinking water supplies. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-road-salt-pollution-lakes-stabilize.html Environment Tue, 25 Jul 2023 10:00:02 EDT news609494953