A research team led by Professor Dong-Yeun Koh of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with Professor T. Alan Hatton's group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), developed an electrochemical dissolved ocean …
More than a year after the Palisades and Eaton fires, many residents are still asking: Is my yard contaminated? What about the beach? And what should I do if there is contamination?
After tropical cyclones, communities are often left in upheaval. Those that had few resources to begin with tend to be especially vulnerable to external stresses, and people often experience homelessness, health problems and other forms of insecurity as a res…
Researchers find that soil aging of polyethylene microplastics has only a limited effect on their interactions with organic contaminants. Scientists have long worried that aging microplastics in soil could become increasingly effective at interacting with org…
For most of the year, the Barnes Ice Cap in the Canadian Arctic lies quiet under a blanket of snow. By summer, that snow melts back, and the ice cap transforms in texture, its bare ice dotted with turquoise ponds and its surface threaded with meltwater channe…
If you're in an urban area with strong winds, chances are you are breathing in more than a little dust. You could be exposed to metals from cars, construction sites or pesticides used decades ago.
Artificial light at night (ALAN) can cause plants to open their buds and sprout leaves earlier in the spring. ALAN can also cause trees to delay changing the color of their leaves in the fall. These changes can ripple through ecosystems, affecting pollinators…
Wildfires supercharged by drought and intense heat tore through the northwestern U.S. city of Spokane, forcing the evacuation of 65,000 people and reducing hundreds of buildings to cinders as firefighters raced Monday to contain the flames.
Three lions at a Tokyo zoo have died from suspected heatstroke, and others are under treatment, a spokeswoman said Tuesday, with the big cats struggling with high humidity.
The processes that capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it on the seabed are crucial for climate balance. However, assessing these mechanisms is often complicated because it requires measurements ranging from the surface to the deep ocean.
Why is recycling waste or switching off the lights sometimes perceived as more effective for the climate than giving up air travel? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) surveyed nearly 3,000 people and identified key psychological mechanisms underlyin…
More than 100 shallow lakes stretching over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) along the Atlantic coast of southern Brazil and Uruguay could become one of the world's most important natural laboratories for understanding how climate change and human activities resh…
Salty water flowing through Antarctica's Blood Falls contains a distinct community of marine-specific microorganisms, providing evidence that the brine system beneath the glacier has a marine origin, according to a paper published in Nature Geoscience. The fi…
It is six months since the main road into the village of Torcross, in South Devon, collapsed after a series of storms caused extensive damage to the community's sea defenses. Residents are still coming to terms with the devastation and isolation caused by the…
El Niño continues to intensify steadily and is expected to dominate global climate patterns in the August to October 2026 season, increasing the likelihood of above-normal temperatures across much of the world and driving significant shifts in rainfall patter…
Cyanobacterial blooms, like the ones that occur in Lake Geneva, are rapid, dense growths of photosynthetic bacteria in fresh and marine waters that can threaten the health of swimmers and their pets.
When a hurricane roars toward land, forecasters try to predict how high sea levels will rise to help coastal communities prepare for the worst impacts.
Scientific reports, political directives and national plans follow one after another, urging regions to adapt to new climate realities. Yet one question remains: How do adaptation initiatives among local communities and businesses actually unfold on the groun…
If you build a house in the United States today, there's a good chance you'll be living under the dictates of a neighborhood homeowners association—roughly two out of every three new homes are in an HOA, as are a third of existing homes.
Earth's oceans repeatedly lost oxygen and produced metal deposits during the planet's deepest ice ages. An international team of researchers analyzed manganese and other chemical signatures preserved in more than 27,000 ancient seafloor samples collected from…
For decades, scientists have asserted that the leakage of warm, salty Indian Ocean water south of South Africa into the Atlantic is a major contributor to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a component of the global ocean conveyor system.
There's something almost comic about the modern British summer ritual: As soon as the mercury climbs, we head to the nearest park, sit cross-legged on scorched grass and hunch over a flimsy foil tray to sear sausages over an open flame.
People might be more inclined to keep their community clean if they believe it benefits them personally, according to new research from the University of Georgia published in Environment and Behavior. The study found that focusing on how volunteering can bene…
Local knowledge, improved evacuation preparedness and resilient mobile phone-based communication channels can supplement early warning systems to reduce loss of life during glacial lake outburst floods.
Along the three coasts of the contiguous United States, a silent race unfolds. Fueled by climate change, sea levels rise faster than at any time in recent geologic history. Meanwhile, coastal wetlands cling to a slim lead, lifted on newly accumulated sediment…
South Korea registered its highest temperature since records began more than a century ago on Sunday, as authorities warned people to "immediately" stop all outdoor activities in affected areas.
The small mountain streams that feed many of the West's rivers may face a much drier future. A new study led by NAU researchers found that groundwater-fed streamflow, known as base flow, has been steadily declining across headwater watersheds in the western U…
Since returning to power, President Donald Trump's administration has approved five pesticides considered by many to be PFAS "forever chemicals," a class of toxic substances facing bans and increasing restrictions around the world.
"An island of biodiversity in a sea of monoculture": This is how a recent study characterized the Pimentel Barbosa Indigenous Territory (TIPB), located in the northeastern part of Mato Grosso state in Brazil's Central-West region. The study showed that the ar…