Rainwater connects the biogeochemical cycles of land and the atmosphere. It's effectively a chemical conveyor belt that delivers compounds to the ground during a process called wet deposition.
Arctic sea ice moves and spreads in ways that wind alone cannot explain. A new UC Riverside-led study finds that collisions between individual pieces of ice provide a surprisingly simple explanation for these movements, potentially offering scientists a better way to predict where sea ice will travel as the Arctic warms.
At just an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, the sand hoppers skipping across California's Isla Vista Beach at dawn don't exactly look like a force of nature. But a new study reveals that these shrimp-like creatures might be doing more to shape the landscape in which they live than any other animal on Earth.
At just an inch (2.5 centimeters) long, the sand hoppers skipping across California's Isla Vista Beach at dawn don't exactly look like a force of nature. But a new study reveals that these shrimp-like creatures might be doing more to shape the landscape in which they live than any other animal on Earth.
Across its basins and thousands of meters down, the Mediterranean Sea is getting warmer and saltier. Now, a new study finds it is also doing so at an increasingly rapid pace. The speedup is largest in the central and eastern Mediterranean and strongest of all in the Adriatic, where it reaches all the way to the sea floor.
Across its basins and thousands of meters down, the Mediterranean Sea is getting warmer and saltier. Now, a new study finds it is also doing so at an increasingly rapid pace. The speedup is largest in the central and eastern Mediterranean and strongest of all in the Adriatic, where it reaches all the way to the sea floor.
"Sediment and fossil records are a major pillar of our understanding of how the climate works—but climate scientists have gotten something wrong about Australia's ice age," says Dr. Alex F. Wall, lead author of a new research paper published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
"Sediment and fossil records are a major pillar of our understanding of how the climate works—but climate scientists have gotten something wrong about Australia's ice age," says Dr. Alex F. Wall, lead author of a new research paper published in Quaternary Science Reviews.
The longest satellite record ever assembled shows that Greenland and Antarctica have lost 11.3 trillion metric tons of ice since the 1970s, raising global sea level by more than 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)—and that most of the loss has come from glaciers flowing faster into the ocean, not from melting at the surface.
The longest satellite record ever assembled shows that Greenland and Antarctica have lost 11.3 trillion metric tons of ice since the 1970s, raising global sea level by more than 3 centimeters (1.2 inches)—and that most of the loss has come from glaciers flowing faster into the ocean, not from melting at the surface.
The same amount of rain falling on the same landscape at different times can send very different amounts of water into its rivers, according to a new study in Nature Water. The research offers a global picture of how catchments behave—not where rivers are or how much water they carry, but how consistently landscapes turn rainfall into river flow.
Dozens of glacial lakes have formed across northern India in the last three decades, while existing lakes have expanded rapidly, highlighting the need to monitor a landscape reshaped by climate change.
Dozens of glacial lakes have formed across northern India in the last three decades, while existing lakes have expanded rapidly, highlighting the need to monitor a landscape reshaped by climate change.
The historic droughts of 2023 and 2024 in the Amazon reduced river flows and altered the region's rainfall composition. Daily monitoring in Manaus, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, revealed these changes through the use of isotopes, which act as a kind of water "fingerprint." This method demonstrated how El Niño and warming in the North Atlantic affected the origin of moisture and precipitation dynamics.
Some 550 million years ago, Earth looked very different than it does today. The Southern Hemisphere was dominated by an enormous single continent known as Gondwana.
Peatlands store large amounts of carbon. However, when they are drained, they can become substantial sources of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂).
In November 2025, NASA and its European partners launched the Sentinel-6B satellite to improve hurricane forecasts, help protect infrastructure and benefit commercial industries, including shipping. The satellite is now flying 30 seconds behind its predecessor, Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich. Both satellites are providing precise sea level height measurements during what oceanographers expect to be a historic El Niño, a naturally occurring oceanic phenomenon in which warmer-than-usual Pacific waters shift global weather patterns.
Fieldwork is a vital part of geoscience research, allowing scientists and students to directly observe, interact with and collect data about Earth processes that cannot be replicated in the lab.
Rising sea levels and storm surges could cost $855 billion in economic losses across Australia by the end of the century, according to new research, the first of its kind in Australia.
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