Earth
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Researchers uncover dynamic processes that shape the Arctic seafloor
Repeated surveys by MBARI’s ocean floor mapping autonomous underwater vehicle have revealed unique landforms, including the rapid formation of giant craters and large mounds, on the edge of Canada’s Beaufort Sea continental shelf. Credit: : Eve Lundsten, MBARI MBARI researchers, working with a team of international collaborators, have discovered a large underwater ice formation at the edge of Canada’s Beaufort…
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Arctic ozone reaches record high in positive step for climate
Modeling representation of Arctic ozone hole recovery in 2024. Credit: Michala Garrison, NASA Earth Observatory. The Earth’s ozone hole in polar regions, where stratospheric ozone levels have been significantly reduced, has been featured frequently in climate change news in recent decades. Anthropogenic chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the main culprit and are emitted by household products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, and…
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Why is Mount Everest so big? New study highlights river of injustice, but deeper forces are at work
Map of normalized channel steepness (ksn) as a measure of stream power. Credit: Nature Geoscience (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41561-024-01535-w Mount Everest (also known as Chomolungma or Sagarmatha) is famous for being the tallest mountain in the Himalayas, and indeed on Earth. but why? At 8,849 meters above sea level, Mount Everest is about 250 meters higher than the other great mountains…
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Capturing finer-scale topographic differences improves the ability of Earth system models to reproduce observations
Spatial pattern of number of topographic units (TGU) per 0.5 degree grid. We demonstrate the ability of a terrain-based subgrid structure to capture terrain heterogeneity across a mountainous region and associated data that is a measure of the computational efficiency of the data reduction metric (DRM). We define a variable number of TGUs per grid in conjunction with the allocation…
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Large-scale afforestation and reforestation can halt global warming
Regeneration by planting young trees. Schmallenberg forest area in Sauerland, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Credit: Picture Alliance / ZB/euroluftbild.de | Hans Blossie The Paris Agreement calls for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, we need to reduce COâ‚‚ emissions and remove existing COâ‚‚ from the atmosphere. A team led by LMU scientists Yanis Moustakis and…
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How can California’s skyscrapers withstand a major earthquake? LA County is trying to find out.
Credit: CC0 Public Domain Faced with the prospect of extensive and expensive seismic retrofitting of its downtown headquarters built in the 1960s, Los Angeles County decided to scrutinize alternatives. It’s a much newer building just a few blocks away. This could be because not only were they manufactured to stricter standards, but they were also available at a significant discount…
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Tonga’s volcanic eruption was caused by an explosion equivalent to ‘five underground nuclear bombs,’ new study reveals
Mr. Jinyin Hu and Dr. Thanh-Son Phạm. Credit: Jamie Kidston/ANU Two years on, new research from the Australian National University (ANU) has revealed the main trigger of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, the Hunga Tonga submarine volcano. The study is published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. Until now, the cause of this disaster has remained a…
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A river is pushing up the top of Everest
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Mount Everest is about 15 to 50 meters taller than it would be otherwise, and continues to grow, due to uplift caused by erosion of nearby river gorges, UCL researchers say. found out in a new study by. The study, published in Nature Geoscience, found that a significant canyon has been carved out by erosion from…
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VXS-1 squadron continues mission while tracking potential tropical cyclone
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Science Development Squadron ONE (VXS) 1 takes to the skies Tuesday, Sept. 24, to deploy observation buoys in advance of Hurricane Helen’s predicted path to the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP). Provided real-time predictions. Hurricane Coastal Impact (NHCI) team for timely forecasting and operational preparedness. The planned deployment site pictured above is where the team…
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Geologists discover mysterious subduction zone beneath the Pacific Ocean, reshaping understanding of Earth’s interior
A map depicting the area where the ancient ocean floor was discovered. Credit: Jingchuan Wang, University of Maryland. Scientists at the University of Maryland have discovered evidence of an ancient ocean floor that sank deep into the Earth during the age of dinosaurs, casting doubt on existing theories about the Earth’s internal structure. This previously unstudied section of the ocean…
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