Earth Sciences

Rivers are rarely the calm, orderly streams we imagine on maps. Over time, their winding paths—called meanders—shift, bend, and occasionally snap off in sudden “cutoff” events that shorten loops and reshape the landscape. While scientists […]

Earth’s “gold kitchen” lies deep beneath the seafloor. Island arcs, whose volcanoes form above subduction zones where one oceanic plate sinks beneath another, are often particularly rich in gold. The reasons for this have long […]

Researchers have uncovered new evidence that short-lived spikes in ocean phosphorus may have played a major role in two of the most severe marine extinctions in Earth’s history. Dr. Matthew Dodd from The University of […]

The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, caused widespread population displacement and infrastructure damage. However, it has also led to an unintended environmental effect with notable changes in the country’s landscape, according to a […]

In a first-of-its-kind study, a team of researchers led by geoscientist Michael Rawlins at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has shown in fine-grained detail what happens when Arctic permafrost thaws. Focusing on a Wisconsin-sized area […]

Communities worldwide rely on reservoirs for drinking water, hydroelectric power, irrigation, and more. These critical freshwater resources are affected by seasonal and long-term changes; water levels in reservoirs can dip during hot summer months or […]

The circular economy concept is often thought of as a model to eliminate waste and pollution—but when applied thoughtfully, circular approaches can create jobs, strengthen local economies, improve public health and more, according to new […]

As global temperatures climb, rainfall patterns are shifting in ways that could put water resources and agriculture under increasing strain, a new study published in Water Resources Research suggests.This post was originally published on this […]

Scientific expeditions require months of planning before scientists can acquire the first data. A bark cuts through the Arctic silence, waking Anna up. She slept only three hours after collecting the last sample. Anna reaches […]

In recent years, the Prairies have seen bigger swings in climate conditions—very wet years followed by very dry ones. That makes an already unpredictable landscape even harder to forecast, with real consequences for flood preparedness […]