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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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.

  • Giant Devonian scorpion identified from 400-million-year-old fossils in Britain

    A giant scorpion that lived more than 410 million years ago may have been one of the earliest apex predators on Earth and could have spent much of its life in water, according to a new study published in Palaeontology. Researchers re-examined the fossil of the arthropod Praearcturus gigas and concluded that it was a giant scorpion rather than a crustacean, resolving a debate that has persisted for more than 150 years.

  • Continent-scale basin system found beneath East Antarctica’s ice sheet

    Scientists have identified a vast fan-shaped basin province beneath East Antarctica that extends under roughly half of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The newly recognized structure may preserve evidence of tectonic processes linked to mountain building and the breakup of Gondwana.

  • Earth has a second planetary symmetry, maintained by a hidden balance of clouds

    Earth’s eastern and western hemispheres reflect almost exactly the same amount of sunlight despite being dominated by very different cloud systems, land masses, and ocean basins. A new study has identified a previously unknown planetary symmetry centered on 27° E longitude, revealing a new large-scale feature of Earth’s climate system and a phenomenon that many current climate models fail to reproduce.

  • Noctilucent cloud season begins: How glowing night clouds form near the edge of space

    Noctilucent cloud season is underway across the Northern Hemisphere, bringing one of Earth’s most unusual atmospheric phenomena back to twilight skies. Composed of microscopic ice crystals suspended near the edge of space, these clouds shine with a distinctive silver-blue glow when conditions in the upper atmosphere become cold enough for them to form.