High-level explosive activity at Santa María’s Santiaguito dome complex on May 6, 2025, produced ash plumes up to 900 m (2 950 feet) above the crater and pyroclastic flows down the southern and southwestern flanks.
A new study from the University of Maryland and the University of Hawaiʻi has revealed surprising connections between two major volcanic features in the Pacific. By tracing the Louisville hotspot as the source of both the Ontong Java Plateau and a series of underwater volcanoes, the researchers have uncovered fresh insights into the Pacific Ocean’s geological history. This discovery challenges old ideas and offers a clearer picture of how the seafloor and the islands above it have formed over millions of years.
Antarctica has shown a rare shift in behavior, gaining ice mass between 2021 and 2023 after years of steady decline. Using satellite gravimetry, researchers tracked this anomaly and linked it to unusual precipitation rather than long-term change. The findings offer insight into the continent’s sensitivity but little certainty about what comes next.
Wildfires burned over 2 500 ha (6 200 acres) across North Dakota’s Turtle Mountain and Fort Berthold reservations in early May 2025, threatening homes. Coordinated efforts by state, tribal, and federal agencies saved most structures, with only one abandoned trailer lost.
Severe thunderstorms swept across Texas on Monday and Tuesday, May 5–6, 2025, triggering flash floods and widespread damage across the state. In Brenham, a 10-year-old girl who went missing after being swept away by floodwaters on Monday was found deceased the following day.
Scientists aboard the Alvin submersible witnessed an active volcanic eruption at the Tica hydrothermal vent on April 29, 2025, along the East Pacific Rise. The event, which buried a vibrant ecosystem under fresh lava, marks the first confirmed real-time observation of such an event on a mid-ocean ridge.
Severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado watches have been issued for parts of Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, and Houston on Tuesday, May 6, 2025, as an omega block weather pattern drives widespread storms across the region.
Floodwaters swept away a 10-year-old girl in Brenham, Texas, as severe thunderstorms moved across the region on Monday, May 5, 2025. Lightning strikes set multiple structures on fire, including in Colleyville where a house was destroyed.
At least 14 people were reported dead and 16 injured across Gujarat as unseasonal storms swept through the state from Sunday to Monday, May 4 and 5, 2025.
A new study published in PNAS provides the most detailed view to date of the dormant Uturuncu volcano in southwestern Bolivia, revealing that its long-standing ground deformation and seismic unrest are driven by the movement of hot fluids and gases, not by magma ascent. Researchers conclude there is no immediate eruption risk, but confirm that a deep magmatic system remains active beneath the surface.
