• El Niño strengthens as positive Indian Ocean Dipole raises warm, dry risk across Australia

    ByReet Kaur

    El Niño has become established across the tropical Pacific, while seasonal forecast models favor the development of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) during the Southern Hemisphere winter and spring, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). If both climate drivers persist, they would increase the probability of warmer and drier conditions across much of Australia during the second half of 2026.

  • Water released from hydrous minerals identified as a viable trigger for slow earthquakes

    ByReet Kaur

    Researchers have identified a geological mechanism that may explain why slow earthquakes occur in recurring cycles, concluding that episodic dehydration of hydrous minerals can generate intermittent pulses of fluid capable of triggering slow-slip events in subduction zones. The findings, published in Geology on June 18, 2026, combine field observations from New Caledonia with thermodynamic and mechanical modelling to explain how water released during metamorphism may initiate these elusive earthquakes.

  • Rare plutonium isotope preserved in Pacific seabed points to an ancient cosmic explosion

    ByReet Kaur

    Tiny traces of radioactive plutonium locked inside a slow-growing crust on the floor of the Pacific Ocean have helped scientists solve a cosmic mystery dating back more than 100 million years. In a study published on June 15, 2026, in Nature Astronomy, an international team reports that the last nearby event capable of forging many of the Universe’s heaviest elements occurred long before the supernovae whose signatures have already been found on Earth.

  • AI uncovers nearly 1 000 hidden earthquakes beneath East Antarctica

    ByReet Kaur

    Scientists have discovered nearly 1 000 previously undetected earthquakes beneath East Antarctica after applying machine-learning techniques to seismic records collected decades ago, revealing that one of Earth’s most remote regions is far more seismically active than once believed. The findings were published in Science on May 28, 2026.

  • 2025 Kamchatka earthquake rupture matched the 1952 great earthquake, study finds

    ByRishav Kothari

    A new study of the July 2025 Mw 8.8 Kamchatka earthquake found that the rupture extended about 500 km (311 miles) southwest from its epicenter, closely matching the rupture area of the great 1952 Kamchatka earthquake. Researchers say the similarity points to long-lived structural controls along the subduction zone that may influence how the region’s largest earthquakes rupture

  • New study links Atlantic “cold blob” to declining ocean heat transport

    ByReet Kaur

    The Atlantic “cold blob” — a persistent cooling anomaly in the subpolar North Atlantic south of Greenland and Iceland — is primarily caused by reduced ocean heat transport into the region rather than increased heat loss to the atmosphere, according to a study published in Geophysical Research Letters on May 28, 2026. The findings add to growing evidence of a long-term weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).

  • Gulf Stream shifted north during abrupt Ice Age cold snap, offering clues to future climate tipping points

    ByReet Kaur

    During one of the most dramatic climate reversals of the last Ice Age, the Gulf Stream shifted hundreds of kilometers northward, warming waters off Nova Scotia by about 4-5°C (7.2-9°F) and likely disrupting marine ecosystems along eastern Canada, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

  • 800-year-old diary reveals solar storm 14 times stronger than the largest event of the Space Age

    ByReet Kaur

    An 800-year-old diary describing red lights in the skies over Kyoto has helped researchers identify a previously unknown solar proton event that occurred during one of the most active periods of solar activity known from the Medieval era.

  • Hidden faults beneath Seattle may rupture more frequently than previously recognized, study finds

    ByReet Kaur

    Secondary faults beneath the Seattle metropolitan area may rupture more frequently than previously recognized and could represent an underappreciated source of seismic hazard, according to a new study published in GSA Bulletin.

  • Stress along Southern California faults reaches highest level in 1 000 years

    ByRishav Kothari

    More than 160 years after the M7.9 Fort Tejon earthquake, tectonic stress along Southern California’s two dominant fault systems has reached record levels, according to a new study that reconstructs 1 000 years of earthquake activity across the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto faults.