Water

Flooding in coastal communities is happening far more often than previously thought, according to a new study. The study also found major flaws with the widely used approach of using marine water level data to capture instances of flooding.

Some microbes living on sand grains use up all the oxygen around them. Their neighbors, left without oxygen, make the best of it: They use nitrate in the surrounding water for denitrification -- a process hardly possible when oxygen is present. This denitrification in sandy sediments in well-oxygenated waters can substantially contribute to nitrogen loss in the oceans.

California Central Valley, which is known for the agriculture that produces much of the nation's fruits, vegetables and nuts, is a major contributor to a growing dust problem that has profound implications for people's health, safety and well-being.

New research shows that the presence of solar panels in Colorado's grasslands may reduce water stress, improve soil moisture levels and -- particularly during dry years -- increase plant growth by about 20% or more compared to open fields.

Researchers showed that hydrogen sulfide, which is associated with numerous health conditions, is emitted from California's largest lake at levels far higher and more frequently than previously reported.

While scientists have long studied currents of large eddies, the smaller ones -- called submesoscale eddies -- are notoriously difficult to detect. These currents, which range from several kilometers to 100 kilometers wide, have been the 'missing pieces' of the ocean's puzzle -- until now. Using data from the new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, scientists finally got a clear view of these hard-to-see currents, and they are a lot stronger than anyone thought.

Anthropologists have examined the societal consequences of global glacier loss. This article appears alongside new research that estimates that more than three-quarters of the world's glacier mass could disappear by the end of the century under current climate policies.

Hurricane Ida wreaked an estimated $75 billion in total damages and was responsible for 112 fatalities -- including 32 in New Jersey and 16 in New York state. Yet the hurricane could have been even worse in the Big Apple, find scientists.

As the world shifts toward sustainable energy sources, 'green hydrogen' - hydrogen produced without emitting carbon - has emerged as a leading candidate for clean power. Scientists have now developed a new iron-based catalyst that more than doubles the conversion efficiency of thermochemical green hydrogen production.

A professor of crop sciences and of plant biology describes research efforts to 'future-proof' the crops that are essential to feeding a hungry world in a changing climate. Long, who has spent decades studying the process of photosynthesis and finding ways to improve it, provides an overview of key scientific findings that offer a ray of hope.

Lead contamination in municipal water sources is a consistent threat to public health. Ingesting even tiny amounts of lead can harm the human brain and nervous system -- especially in young children. To empower people to detect lead contamination in their own homes, a team of researchers developed an accessible, handheld water-testing system called the E-Tongue. This device was tested through a citizen science project across four Massachusetts towns.

This study measured the growth rate of coral reefs in Honaunau Bay, Hawaii, using on-site data gathering and aerial imagery. Researchers found that the reefs are being eroded by sea urchin populations which have exploded due to overfishing in the area. The reefs are also threatened by climate change and water pollution, and their growth rates are not fast enough to counteract the erosion caused by the urchins.

Researchers find that iron powder, an inexpensive alternative to activated carbon, does a better job at filtering PFOS from water -- it's 26 times more effective.

A new study has found that a smartphone app that tracks household water use and alerts users to leaks or excessive consumption offers a promising tool for helping California water agencies meet state-mandated conservation goals. The study found that use of the app -- called Dropcountr -- reduced average household water use by 6%, with even greater savings among the highest water users.

Scientists, who have spent more than a decade examining the impact of artificial light at night on the world's coasts and oceans, have shown that more than one-fifth of the global ocean -- an area spanning more than 75 million sq km -- has been the subject of ocean darkening over the past two decades. Ocean darkening occurs when changes in the optical properties of the ocean reduce the depth of its photic zones, home to 90% of all marine life and places where sunlight and moonlight drive ecological interactions.

New international research demonstrates global-scale patterns in how El Ni o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences mangrove growth and degradation. Previously, impacts had only been documented at individual sites, such as a dramatic die-off in northern Australia in 2015 when more than 40 million mangrove trees perished along a 1,200-mile stretch of coastline.

As sea levels climb and weather grows more extreme, coastal regions everywhere are facing a creeping threat: salt. Salinization of freshwater and soils adversely affects 500 million people around the world, especially in low-lying river deltas. A new study sheds light on how rising oceans are pushing saltwater into freshwater rivers and underground water sources in the world's largest river mouth -- the Bengal Delta in Bangladesh.

New research shows how rapidly proliferating turf algae are waging 'chemical warfare' to inhibit the recovery of kelp forests along Maine's warming coast.

Engineers developed a membrane that filters the components of crude oil by their molecular size, an advance that could dramatically reduce the amount of energy needed for crude oil fractionation.

A review has stressed that agricultural soils now hold around 23 times more microplastics than oceans.

The risk of heavy rainfall and severe flooding increases with climate change. But property owners -- regardless of size -- often underestimate their own responsibility and are unaware of what preventive measures they can take themselves.

A serendipitous observation has led to a surprising discovery: a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, collect it in pores and release it onto surfaces without the need for any external energy. The research describes a material that could open the door to new ways to collect water from the air in arid regions and devices that cool electronics or buildings using the power of evaporation.

SeaSplat is an image-analysis tool that cuts through the ocean's optical effects to generate images of underwater environments reveal an ocean scene's true colors. Researchers paired the color-correcting tool with a computational model that converts images of a scene into a three-dimensional underwater 'world' that can be explored virtually.

Researchers look to extremes in the past to study how the system reacts to imbalances. They detail an overlooked mechanism for how the ocean can help stabilize massive releases of carbon into the atmosphere following volcanic eruptions.

Large shifts in UV radiation at Lake Tahoe are associated with wet and dry climate extremes, finds a new study.

New research could improve the efficiency of electrochemical carbon-dioxide capture and release by six times and cut costs by at least 20 percent. Researchers added nanoscale filtering membranes to a carbon-capture system, separating the ions that carry out the capture and release steps, and enabling both steps to proceed more efficiently.

Worldwide, coastal areas are squeezed between a rising sea level on one end and human structures on the other. The distance between a sandy coastline and the first human structures averages less than 400 meters around the world. And the narrower a coastline is, the lower its biodiversity as well.

The Arctic is one of the coldest places on Earth, but in recent decades, the region has been rapidly warming, at a rate three to four times faster than the global average. However, current climate models have been unable to account for this increased pace. Now, researchers have reported that clouds may be to blame.

People have assumed climate change solutions that sequester carbon from the air into soils will also benefit crop yields. But a new study finds that most regenerative farming practices to build soil organic carbon -- such as planting cover crops, leaving stems and leaves on the ground and not tilling -- actually reduce yields in many situations.

New research reveals mountain glaciers across the globe will not recover for centuries -- even if human intervention cools the planet back to the 1.5 C limit, having exceeded it.

Fertilizer might be stronger than we thought. A new international study found that fertilizer can help plants survive short-term periods of extreme drought, findings which could have implications for agriculture and food systems in a world facing climate stressors.

The near-bottom water on the U.S. Northeast continental shelf provides a critical cold-water habitat for the rich regional marine ecosystem. This 'cold pool' preserves winter temperatures, even when waters elsewhere become too warm or salty during the summer. The U.S. Northeast coastal ocean has experienced accelerated warming in recent years, compared to the global average. Now, scientists using salt as a tracer are investigating how much the influx of salty offshore water onto the continental shelf contributes to the observed 'erosion' of the seasonal cold pool. This paper provides the first evidence for a seasonal salinification of the cold pool on the US Northeast continental shelf, as consistently observed in the multi-year mooring record of the [Ocean Observatories Initiative] Coastal Pioneer Array.

New research suggests that the negative effects of the ozone hole on the carbon uptake of the Southern Ocean are reversible, but only if greenhouse gas emissions rapidly decrease. The study finds that as the ozone hole heals, its influence on the ocean carbon sink of the Southern Ocean will diminish, while the influence of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will rise.

The combination of air pollution, dense urban development and limited green spaces increases the risk of asthma in both children and adults.

Janus heterobilayers -- dual-sided materials with unique properties -- may be the key to efficiently creating clean hydrogen fuels.

New research from an international group looking at ancient sediment cores in the North Atlantic has for the first time shown a strong correlation between sediment changes and a marked period of global cooling that occurred in the Northern Hemisphere some 3.6 million years ago. The changes in sediments imply profound changes in the circulation of deep water currents occurred at this time. This crucial piece of work, which showed sediments changed in multiple sites east of the mid-Atlantic ridge but not west of that important geographical feature, opens multiple doors to future research aimed at better understanding the link between deep water currents, Atlantic Ocean heat and salt distribution and ice-sheet expansion, and climatic change.

Engineers have developed a groundbreaking computational model to study the movement of granular materials such as soils, sands and powders. By integrating the dynamic interactions among particles, air and water phases, this state-of-the-art system can accurately predict landslides, improve irrigation and oil extraction systems, and enhance food and drug production processes.

When trees and soil fungi form close associations with each other, both partners benefit. Many tree species have further enhanced this cooperation by forming a concurrent symbiosis with two different groups of mycorrhizal fungi. Those trees cope better with water and nutrient scarcity, which is an important trait for forestry in the face of climate warming.

A team has created the most complete map of the world's rivers ever made offering a major leap forward for flood prediction, climate risk planning, and water resource management in a warming world. The new study introduces GRIT -- a mapping system that finally shows how rivers really flow, branch, and connect landscapes.

A new study shows that seagrass ecosystems along the northern half of Florida's Gulf Coast have remained relatively healthy and undisturbed for the last several thousand years.

As industries seek innovative solutions for carbon capture, scientists have turned to advanced materials that efficiently trap and store carbon dioxide (CO ) from industrial emissions. A recent study sheds light on the gas adsorption physics of so-called Calgary Framework 20 (CALF-20), a zinc-based metal-organic framework (MOF). While applying a combination of advanced techniques, the scientists reveal the material's unique adaptability under varying conditions.

A new study examined associations between diet, drinking water, and 'legacy' PFAS -- chemicals that were phased out of production in the US in the 2000s -- with blood samples from California residents. PFAS exposure was associated with consumption of seafood, eggs, and brown rice, but fewer other foods than suggested by earlier studies. PFAS levels were elevated among people who lived in areas where these chemicals were detectable in their drinking water supply, but lower than levels found in highly contaminated communities.

A team of engineers has developed a system that could transform desalination practices, making the process more adaptable, resilient and cheaper. The new system is powered by sunlight and uses a creative approach to heat recovery for extended water production -- with and without sunshine.

Scientists are using artificial intelligence to determine which genes collectively govern nitrogen use efficiency in plants such as corn, with the goal of helping farmers improve their crop yields and minimize the cost of nitrogen fertilizers.

The increasing frequency of once-in-a-decade agricultural and ecological drought has underscored the urgency of studying hydrological changes. A research team has analyzed the estimated changes in land water storage over the past 40 years by utilizing space geodetic observation technology and global hydrological change data. This innovative method has revealed a rapid depletion in global soil moisture, resulting in a significant amount of water flowing into the oceans, leading to a rise in sea levels. The research provides new insights into the driving factors behind the alarming reduction in terrestrial water storage and rise in sea levels.

The impacts of human activity and climate change are coalescing to make coastal lagoons saltier, changing the microbial life they support and the function they play in their ecosystems, according to new research.

When researchers went searching for microplastics in sediments pulled from the bottom of Matagorda Bay and its surrounding inlets, they didn't find much. Most of their samples contained only tens to hundreds of microplastic particles for each kilogram of sediment. This is hundreds to thousands of times less than other bayside environments around the world.

With coral reefs in crisis due to climate change, scientists have engineered a bio-ink that could help promote coral larvae settlement and restore these underwater ecosystems before it's too late. Researchers demonstrate that the ink could boost coral settlement by more than 20 times, which they hope could contribute to rebuilding coral reefs around the world.

A new study finds that with bold and coordinated policy choices -- across emissions, diets, food waste, and water and nitrogen efficiency -- humanity could, by 2050, bring global environmental pressures back to levels seen in 2015. This shift would move us much closer to a future in which people around the world can live well within the Earth's limits.

Biologists and chemists have a new programming language to uncover previously unknown environmental pollutants at breakneck speed -- without requiring them to code.

In order for trees to grow, they need to control their water balance meticulously. A study shows how trees react to drought -- and revises previous perceptions.

Engineers have taught a simple submarine robot to take advantage of turbulent forces to propel itself through water.

El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to have a significant impact on climate across the Pacific, including Hawai'i, and adjacent continents. However, atmospheric scientists have now revealed that the Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM), another climate pattern that operates in the eastern Pacific Ocean, plays a major role in the variability of rainfall in Hawai'i.

How might floating solar energy projects impact wild birds and vice versa? A paper outlines key considerations for a growing floating solar industry.

Researchers have developed two unique energy-efficient and cost-effective systems that use urea found in urine and wastewater to generate hydrogen. The unique systems reveal new pathways to economically generate 'green' hydrogen, a sustainable and renewable energy source, and the potential to remediate nitrogenous waste in aquatic environments.

Metals and hormone-disrupting substances such as estrogens present a genuine risk to the sustainability of agriculture and water management in Europe. This research provides new insights into the distribution, availability, and risks associated with these pollutants, while also highlighting shortcomings in current regulations.

The marine bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis feeds on oil, multiplying rapidly in the wake of oil spills, and thereby accelerating the elimination of the pollution, in many cases. It does this by producing an 'organic dishwashing liquid' which it uses to attach itself to oil droplets. Researchers have now discovered the mechanism by which this 'organic dishwashing liquid' is synthesized.

Antarctic krill do not only react to external environmental influences such as light or food. They also use their internal clock to adapt to the extreme conditions of the polar environment.

Environmental engineers have developed critical methods to remove toxic selenium from water.

A long period of drought in North America has been recognized by scientists for decades. A new study links the severe climate to a change in Earth's orbit.