News by Subject Earth Science

Earth's climate was relatively stable for a long period of time. For three billion years, temperatures were mostly warm and carbon dioxide levels high - until a shift occurred about 400 million years ago. A new study suggests that the change at this time was accompanied by a fundamental alteration to the carbon-silicon cycle.

Sea-level rise threatens to produce more frequent and severe flooding in coastal regions and is expected to cause trillions of dollars in damages globally if no action is taken to mitigate the issue. However, communities trying to fight sea-level rise could inadvertently make flooding worse for their neighbors, according to a new study from researchers at UT Arlington and the Stanford Natural Capital Project published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Research led by Newcastle University's Dr Hannah Kreczak is the first to identify the processes that underpin the trajectories of microplastics below the ocean surface. Publishing their findings in the journal Limnology and Oceanography the authors analysed how biofouling - the accumulation of algae on the surface of microplastics, impacts the vertical movement of buoyant particles.

A single tree along a city street or in a backyard can provide measurable cooling benefits, according to a new study from American University.

Rapid snowmelt can be dangerous, and understanding its drivers is important for understanding the world under the influence of climate change.

Two factors that play a key role in climate change - increased climate warming and elevated ozone levels - appear to have detrimental effects on soybean plant roots, their relationship with symbiotic microorganisms in the soil and the ways the plants sequester carbon.

Using a new pressure quenching (PQ) technique at high temperatures to induce superconductivity in iron selenide (FeSe) crystals, superconductivity was achieved by Paul Chu and team at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston - and sustained without pressure.