{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Earth Sciences News - Earth and Environmental Sciences","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/earth-news\/earth-sciences\/","language":"en-us","description":"The latest news on earth sciences and the environment","item":[{"title":"Mount Etna eruptions reveal carbon dioxide and water can trigger separate explosive paths","description":"The plumbing systems of volcanoes are vast and complex. But they aren't consistent, even in the same volcano. A Cornell-led collaboration found very different mechanisms behind two historic eruptions of Mount Etna in Italy. Understanding these dynamics\u2014combined with the techniques that revealed them\u2014can help geologists assess the risk of future eruptions.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-mount-etna-eruptions-reveal-carbon.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 14:00:06 EDT","guid":"news699624667"},{"title":"Volcanic eruptions linked to rising famine risk across China's history","description":"Large volcanic eruptions may have played a bigger role in triggering historical famines across China than previously understood, according to a new study that traced links between eruptions, climate disruption, and food shortages over more than four centuries.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-volcanic-eruptions-linked-famine-china.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:20:01 EDT","guid":"news699624109"},{"title":"Hidden meltwater found deep in Antarctic coastal waters reveals stronger climate impacts","description":"Freshwater from melting Antarctic glaciers may be influencing the Southern Ocean in ways scientists have largely overlooked. New research, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that glacial meltwater is not confined to the ocean's surface, as previously assumed, but can also be detected much deeper in coastal waters along the Western Antarctic Peninsula.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-hidden-meltwater-deep-antarctic-coastal.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 08:00:06 EDT","guid":"news699710011"},{"title":"North Atlantic spring storms have grown more common since 1940, analysis reveals","description":"Storm Dave, which swept across northern Europe over the Easter weekend, is an example of what new research from the University of Gothenburg has revealed. Spring storms forming over the North Atlantic have become more common than they were 80 years ago, and this is due to climate change.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-north-atlantic-storms-grown-common.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 05:17:34 EDT","guid":"news699855408"},{"title":"Warming boosts natural methane emissions as microbes fail to keep pace","description":"A new study led by Professor Mark Trimmer of Queen Mary University of London, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, explains how increases in natural methane emissions will be maximized under future climate warming.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-boosts-natural-methane-emissions-microbes.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 05:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699785462"},{"title":"Global mangrove forests rebound, offering hopeful sign for climate and coastal resilience","description":"Mangrove forests, once considered one of the world's most threatened coastal ecosystems, are showing signs of recovery worldwide, according to new research from Tulane University that finds decades of losses largely offset by regrowth and expansion.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-global-mangrove-forests-rebound-climate.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:00:06 EDT","guid":"news699695101"},{"title":"Wildfires reverse decade of ozone cleanup in the United States, study reveals","description":"Ozone pollution has worsened in much of the continental United States over the past decade, fueled by wildfires and the long-distance transport of unhealthy air, according to a new study titled \"Fires reverse progress toward ozone air quality standards in the U.S.,\" led by University of Iowa researchers and published in the journal Science.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-wildfires-reverse-decade-ozone-cleanup.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699782161"},{"title":"On-demand Arctic observations with low-cost balloon systems could sharpen local storm forecasts","description":"Arctic communities are increasingly exposed to dangerous weather events due to climate change and rely on accurate weather forecasts. However, conditions in the lower atmosphere remain poorly observed in the Arctic because monitoring systems are expensive and difficult to deploy.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-demand-arctic-balloon-sharpen-local.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:40:06 EDT","guid":"news699792062"},{"title":"Buoys track ocean waves across 14,000 km, from storms in Antarctica to ripples in Alaska","description":"For the first time, mighty ocean waves generated in the Southern Ocean have been accurately measured all the way to the tiny ripples they form on the shores of Alaska. Professor Ian Young, from the University of Melbourne's Department of Infrastructure Engineering, is lead author on a landmark study that analyzed data from 300 drifting ocean buoys to gain a detailed understanding of how storms in Antarctica drive waves all around the globe.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-buoys-track-ocean-km-storms.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:05 EDT","guid":"news699790321"},{"title":"'Out-of-place' rocks reveal how a young ocean formed","description":"Deep below the Tyrrhenian Sea offshore Italy, scientists drilled into what they thought would be dark mantle rock\u2014and found pieces of granite that seemingly had no business being there. Those unexpected intrusions turned out to offer a rare glimpse of how a massive fault rapidly pulled deep Earth rocks toward the surface during the opening of a young ocean basin.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-reveal-young-ocean.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:20:04 EDT","guid":"news699787381"},{"title":"Understanding Earth's hidden east-west symmetry could improve climate models","description":"Earth is divided into two halves: the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Both reflect equal amounts of sunlight (albedo) even though they have different landmasses and weather patterns, especially cloud distribution. Why this is so is an ongoing mystery waiting to be solved.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-earth-hidden-east-west-symmetry.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:06 EDT","guid":"news699787932"},{"title":"Japan's new seafloor record could sharpen megathrust earthquake warnings in Nankai Trough","description":"Off the southern coast of Japan, the Philippine Sea Plate lies underneath the Japanese mainland. The locked tectonic plates threaten to unleash a catastrophic megathrust earthquake, likely within the next few decades. Given the potential devastation a large quake could evoke, constant developments in predictive technology must be sought. However, predicting the unpredictable movement of the seafloor requires innovative thought.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-japan-seafloor-sharpen-megathrust-earthquake.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:00:06 EDT","guid":"news699715141"},{"title":"Arctic river deltas face rising climate pressure while holding vast frozen carbon reserves","description":"Many rivers flow into the Arctic Ocean north of the Arctic Circle\u2014including the Lena in Siberia and the Mackenzie River in Canada. The deltas of these large and small rivers store large amounts of carbon, which is bound there in frozen soils and sediments. Climate change, however, is destabilizing the deltas from the ocean and land side and also from the air.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-arctic-river-deltas-climate-pressure.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:10:01 EDT","guid":"news699720242"},{"title":"Warming unlocks ancient carbon in Tibetan permafrost, triggering climate tipping point","description":"A new study in Nature Communications  finds a critical climate tipping point in Tibetan permafrost ecosystems. Warming of 2\u20134 degrees Celsius triggers a self-reinforcing cycle of carbon release that could significantly accelerate climate change, according to the work.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-ancient-carbon-tibetan-permafrost-triggering.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:20:04 EDT","guid":"news699718093"},{"title":"SWOT satellite gets clearer ocean data after fix for hidden underwater wave interference","description":"Florida State University research published in Science Advances demonstrates a new framework for predicting the motion of kilometer-scale underwater waves that complicate satellite readings of the ocean.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-swot-satellite-clearer-ocean-hidden.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:00:11 EDT","guid":"news699703741"},{"title":"Deep-Earth seismic anomalies may be explained by newly discovered manganese compound","description":"Scientists know that manganese, in its various oxide forms, plays a significant role in Earth's geochemical cycles. However, the exact forms of manganese, their abundance and the mechanisms behind these cycles that occur in Earth's deep, high-pressure interior are not well understood. But, a recent study, published in Physical Review B, reports on a newly discovered manganese rich compound that might help shed light on manganese's behavior in Earth's interior and explain why seismic waves slow down in certain regions.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-deep-earth-seismic-anomalies-newly.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:10:02 EDT","guid":"news699706812"},{"title":"Rising seas could eventually 'drown' mangroves and release carbon","description":"Mangroves could store less carbon\u2014and even begin releasing it\u2014as sea levels rise, suggests new research in Earth's Future. Mangroves are made up of salt-tolerant plants that grow in coastal areas. They cover less than 1% of Earth's surface but store about 15% of all ocean carbon, most of it in their soils. This ability to store carbon makes them important in efforts to limit climate change. Previous research has suggested rising seas could increase carbon storage in mangroves, but the new study challenges this.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-seas-eventually-mangroves-carbon.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699551281"},{"title":"Canadian forest fires are losing their climate cooling power, says study","description":"Diminishing periods of snow cover in northern forests, shortened by climate change, are poised to disrupt a delicate balance in some of the planet's most climate-sensitive regions\u2014according to new research from McMaster University, VU Amsterdam, and the Woodwell Climate Research Center.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-canadian-forest-climate-cooling-power.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:20:03 EDT","guid":"news699625202"},{"title":"Antarctic 'sky rivers' deliver up to 90% of snowfall, 3D algorithm suggests","description":"Atmospheric rivers act like \"rivers in the sky,\" shuttling intense bands of warm, heavy moisture from lower to higher latitudes. When an atmospheric river encounters cold air or mountainous terrain, the moisture it carries condenses and falls as heavy rain or snow. In Antarctica, the arrival of an atmospheric river can help build surface ice mass. Much of Antarctica is very dry; an atmospheric river can bring the moisture needed to potentially offset some ice loss.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-antarctic-sky-rivers-snowfall-3d.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:20:03 EDT","guid":"news699622368"},{"title":"Amazon rainforest emits new stress-defense molecules during El Ni\u00f1o drought","description":"The Amazon rainforest responded to the most severe drought ever recorded in the basin with an unexpected defense mechanism. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, found that during and after the intense 2023\u20132024 El Ni\u00f1o cycle, the most intense drought ever recorded in the region, vegetation significantly changed its chemical emissions to cope with environmental stress. The study was published in Communications Earth & Environment.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-amazon-rainforest-emits-stress-defense.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:30:02 EDT","guid":"news699633241"},{"title":"Extreme weather is making Antarctic research harder, but new technology is providing some answers","description":"When you think of Antarctica, you might imagine a stark, otherworldly continent of endless, white ice, with the only sound being the wind punctuated by the crack of a glacier calving in the distance.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-extreme-weather-antarctic-harder-technology.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:40:05 EDT","guid":"news699618121"},{"title":"Plate tectonics shaped the Cradle of Civilization by merging two ancient rivers, study suggests","description":"The Euphrates River is the longest river in Western Asia and runs through the eastern side of the Fertile Crescent. Flowing over 1,700 miles from Turkey through Syria and Iraq, the river played a crucial role in sustaining the region known as the \"Cradle of Civilization.\" Yet, researchers aren't sure about the river's origins or how tectonic activity might have shaped its evolution. A new study, published in Nature Geoscience, suggests that two ancient rivers, diverted by shifting plate tectonics, merged to form this vital river.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-plate-tectonics-cradle-civilization-merging.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:20:11 EDT","guid":"news699624742"},{"title":"Why the Arctic's rivers are rusting now and where toxic orange water could spread next","description":"Scientists have identified the two biggest reasons that once-pristine rivers across the Arctic are growing cloudy with toxic orange iron particles that smother insects and suffocate fish.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-arctic-rivers-rusting-toxic-orange.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 14:20:10 EDT","guid":"news699617941"},{"title":"Atacama Desert's extreme aridity initiated 20 million years earlier than previously thought, study finds","description":"A collaborative study with the University of Cologne, recently published in Nature Communications, provides compelling evidence that the extreme aridity in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert began over 40 million years ago\u2014significantly earlier than previously assumed. The findings require a reconsideration of how deserts form and offer a new perspective on the long-term evolution of Earth's most extreme environments. Researchers from SUERC Centre for the Isotope Sciences are co-authors of a study which casts new light on the history of Earth's driest region, the Atacama Desert in Chile.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-atacama-extreme-aridity-million-years.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:00:06 EDT","guid":"news699615121"},{"title":"Cold-grown plankton shells sharpen Arctic climate reconstructions","description":"Researchers at iC3 have found a way to improve records of past high latitude ocean change using tiny plankton shells called foraminifera. By growing these foraminifera under controlled cold-water conditions, the team has extended a key temperature tool into the range most relevant for subpolar and polar oceans.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-cold-grown-plankton-shells-sharpen.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 16:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699544741"},{"title":"Atlantic 'cold blob' may be reshaping Indian monsoon, steering rain northwest","description":"The Indian monsoon has shifted over the past quarter century. Northwest India now receives substantially more rain than it once did, while a lack of rain sends the Indo-Gangetic Plain toward drought.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-atlantic-cold-blob-reshaping-indian.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:40:03 EDT","guid":"news699535921"},{"title":"Space station dust maps slash climate uncertainty over iron-rich particles","description":"New research from a team of scientists led by Cornell is transforming how researchers understand one of the atmosphere's most abundant and least understood constituents: mineral dust.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-space-station-slash-climate-uncertainty.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 14:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699535321"},{"title":"Atmospheric wave theory falls short in explaining rising extreme weather, study suggests","description":"Across much of the northern hemisphere, extreme weather events like heat waves and heavy precipitation have increased in frequency and severity over the last several decades. A new study from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) shows that one proposed partial explanation, so-called \"quasiresonant amplification of quasistationary Rossby waves,\" may not be capable of explaining any of this increase in severe weather events.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-atmospheric-theory-falls-short-extreme.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:40:01 EDT","guid":"news699528542"},{"title":"Ancient oceans began suffocating millions of years before Triassic mass extinction, geologists discover","description":"One of the most devastating extinctions in Earth's history is best known for what didn't die\u2014dinosaurs. But the end-Triassic extinction 201 million years ago wiped out roughly 60% of Earth's species, and scientists are still piecing together how it unfolded.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-ancient-oceans-began-suffocating-millions.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 09:20:04 EDT","guid":"news699523261"},{"title":"Record wildfire losses rocked 2025 even as global burned area neared all-time lows","description":"A new analysis of global wildfire activity in 2025 reveals the world experienced some of the most destructive and deadly fire events in recent history, despite the second lowest area burned since 2002. It highlights a continued trend toward fires becoming increasingly extreme, costly, and disastrous\u2014both economically and in lives lost.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-05-wildfire-losses-global-area-neared.html","category":"Earth Sciences","pubDate":"Sun, 31 May 2026 19:10:01 EDT","guid":"news699278221"}]}}