Rising water temperatures undermine nutrient reduction efforts. Eutrophication and rising water temperatures are taking an increasing toll on the Baltic Sea, leading to dangerous oxygen depletion in deeper water layers and threatening many marine organisms. Despite successful efforts to reduce nutrient inputs, rising temperatures are preventing the ecosystem from recovering. Researchers at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel have used long-term measurements to investigate how environmental conditions have changed in recent decades. Their findings have now been published…

The evolution of the lunar dynamo is crucial for understanding the Moon’s deep interior structure, thermal history, and surface environment. A recent study by Chinese scientists conducted paleomagnetic analyses on basalts returned by the Chang’e-6 mission and revealed a significant reinforcement of the lunar dynamo approximately 2.8 billion years ago (Ga). This groundbreaking work was published in Nature. Previous paleomagnetic studies of nearside lunar samples have established a general timeline for the evolution of the Moon’s magnetic field. However, limited spatial…

Academics from Northumbria University are part of an international research team which has used data from satellites to track changes in the thickness of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Global warming is causing the Ice Sheet to melt and flow more rapidly, raising sea levels and disturbing weather patterns across our planet. Because of this, precise measurements of its changing shape are of critical importance for tracking and adapting to the effects of climate warming. Scientists have now delivered the first…

Remote sensing creates a cost-effective solution to monitoring plastic pollution. A first-of-its-kind study from researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities shows how remote sensing can help monitor and remove plastic debris from freshwater environments like the Mississippi River. The research, published in Nature, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, helps to increase the understanding of plastic debris behavior in freshwater environments. Plastic pollution in oceans continues to be a growing environmental issue, with the United Nations Environment Programme naming it one…

Just one look in the yellow bin reveals a colourful jumble of different types of plastic. However, the purer and more uniform plastic waste is, the easier it is to recycle. In a new research project, the universities of Jena and Bayreuth, together with the companies BASF, Endress + Hauser Digital Solutions and TechnoCompound GmbH, want to optimise the recycling process for plastics. The Spectroscopic Investigation of the Recycling of Plastic project plans to reliably and precisely identify the composition…

After several years of service under harsh weather conditions, the rotor blades of offshore wind parks are subjected to degradation and surface erosion, releasing sizeable quantities of particle emissions into the environment. A team of researchers led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now investigated the effects of these particle on blue mussels – a species also being considered for the multi-use of wind parks for aquaculture. In the experiment, the mussels absorbed metals from the rotor blades’ coatings, as…

On the morning of December 26, 1999, the winter storm “Lothar” swept across Switzerland, knocking down around 14 million cubic meters of wood, three times the annual logging volume. WSL experts answer numerous questions about how the forest is doing 25 years later. Citations: “Lothar showed us the damage that extreme events can cause. In the Swiss Plateau, the extent of the damage was unprecedented. Today we would say, ‘inconceivable’.” Thomas Wohlgemuth, disturbance ecologist at WSL “A windthrow event shakes…

Method could advance neuromorphic computing for AI. How does the Earth generate its magnetic field? While the basic mechanisms seem to be understood, many details remain unresolved. A team of researchers from the Center for Advanced Systems Understanding at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Sandia National Laboratories (USA) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission has introduced a simulation method that promises new insights into the Earth’s core. The method, presented in PNAS, simulates not only the behavior of atoms,…

The humus content of soils is one of the most important indicators of soil fertility. Detecting humus changes by sampling soils is very time-consuming and expensive. A new method enables the direct observation of humus changes with satellite images. Posing a threat to soil fertility and sustainable farming, the humus stock of agricultural soils in Germany is declining. Researchers from the Thünen Institute of Farm Economics have achieved a groundbreaking milestone by demonstrating that changes in humus content can be…

Glacial melting, heat waves, and changing precipitation patterns call for strategic and transnational water management Constant, rigorous resource use has negatively impacted our environment, extending beyond national borders. Climate change is reshaping the Alpine region, where melting glaciers and shifting precipitation patterns endanger rivers and groundwater reserves. The EU-co-funded “Waterwise” project, helmed by the Interreg Alpine Space program, and in collaboration with Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA) and 11 other partners from seven Alpine countries—France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria,…

By studying sulphur in magmatic fluids at extreme pressures and temperatures, a UNIGE team is revolutionising our understanding of gold transport and ore deposit formation. When one tectonic plate sinks beneath another, it generates magmas rich in volatiles such as water, sulphur and chlorine. As these magmas ascend, they release magmatic fluids, in which sulphur and chlorine bind to metals such as gold and copper, and transport these metals towards the surface of the Earth. As the extreme conditions relevant…

Thematic focus in Environmental Research Letters initiated by the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence deals with social resilience over the past 5,000 years. According to data from the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global average temperature in 2024 will almost certainly exceed the limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average temperature as set in the Paris Climate Agreement for the first ever time. Against this backdrop, researchers from the ROOTS Cluster of Excellence at Kiel University, the Ludwig…

Despite sea level rise in Western Indian Ocean, more than 60% of Aldabra Atoll’s shoreline remained unchanged from 1960 to 2011, based on aerial and satellite image analysis. On average, the shoreline changed at a rate of 0.25 ± 0.36 meters per year, with significant localized erosion trends. The international team led by University of Zurich and Seychelles Islands Foundation researchers highlight Aldabra Atoll’s resilience and its ability to maintain its shoreline despite the threats to reef island processes. Aldabra…

In April 2021, two tropical cyclones, Seroja and Odette, collided in the Indian Ocean northwest of Australia. Two researchers from the University of Oldenburg have now studied how this rare phenomenon affected the ocean. According to their case study, the rendezvous caused an unusual cooling of the surface water and an abrupt change in the direction of the combined storm. Since the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones are increasing as a result of global warming, it is possible that…

New study shows seal moms prefer slow and steady icebergs, while seals prefer faster ice in better foraging grounds later in the year. Harbor seals in icy regions use icebergs shed by glaciers as safe platforms to give birth, care for young and molt. New research finds that as glaciers change with the climate, the resulting changes in size, speed and number of icebergs affect seals’ critical frozen habitat. Mother seals prefer stable, slower-moving bergs for giving birth and caring…

Geoscientists led by Universities of Leicester and Southampton create new climate record for early Antarctic ice ages. Periods of sudden melting in the Antarctic ice sheet have been unearthed in a new climate record from over 20 million years ago by geoscientists led by the University of Leicester and the University of Southampton. Published in the journal Nature Communications, the new study reveals how sensitive our planet’s early ice ages were to the effect of the Earth’s eccentric orbit around the…