Climate News

September 8, 2025

Top Headlines

Scientists Just Cracked a 60-million-year-old Volcanic Mystery

Sep. 7, 2025 — Cambridge scientists discovered that thin, weak zones in Earth’s plates helped spread Iceland’s mantle plume across the North Atlantic, explaining why volcanic activity once spanned thousands of kilometers. These ancient scars not only shaped ...

Satellites Confirm 1990s Sea-level Predictions Were Shockingly Accurate

Sep. 6, 2025 — Satellite data reveals sea-level rise has unfolded almost exactly as predicted by 1990s climate models, with one key underestimation: melting ice sheets. Researchers stress the importance of refining local projections as seas continue to rise faster ...

Scientists Made Plastic That Eats Carbon

Sep. 5, 2025 — A team of chemists has discovered how to transform PET plastic waste into BAETA, a material that captures CO2 with remarkable efficiency. Instead of ending up as microplastics in the environment, discarded bottles and textiles could become tools to ...

Oceans Could Reach a Dangerous Tipping Point by 2050

Sep. 5, 2025 — UC Santa Barbara researchers project that human impacts on oceans will double by 2050, with warming seas and fisheries collapse leading the charge. The tropics and poles face the fastest changes, and coastal regions will be hardest hit, threatening ...

Even the Toughest Corals Are Shrinking in Warming Seas

Sep. 5, 2025 — Scientists found that Red Sea corals can endure warming seas but grow much smaller and weaken under long-term heat stress. Though recovery is possible in cooler months, rising global temperatures may outpace their resilience, endangering reefs and ...

A Simple Metal Could Solve the World’s Plastic Recycling Problem

Sep. 3, 2025 — Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a groundbreaking nickel-based catalyst that could transform the way the world recycles plastic. Instead of requiring tedious sorting, the catalyst selectively breaks down stubborn polyolefin ...

Central Asia’s Last Stable Glaciers Just Started to Collapse

Sep. 3, 2025 — Snowfall shortages are now destabilizing some of the world’s last resilient glaciers, as shown by a new study in Tajikistan’s Pamir Mountains. Using a monitoring station on Kyzylsu Glacier, researchers discovered that stability ended around ...

Scientists Fear the Atlantic’s Great Ocean Conveyor Could Shut Down

Sep. 1, 2025 — A new study projects that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)—the system of currents that includes the Gulf Stream—could shut down after 2100 under high-emission scenarios. This shutdown would drastically reduce heat transport ...

A Monster Seaweed Bloom Is Taking over the Atlantic

Sep. 1, 2025 — Sargassum has escaped the Sargasso Sea and exploded across the Atlantic, forming the massive Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Fueled by nutrient runoff, Amazon outflows, and climate events, these blooms now reshape ecosystems, economies, and ...

Geologists Got It Wrong: Rivers Didn’t Need Plants to Meander

Aug. 31, 2025 — Stanford researchers reveal meandering rivers existed long before plants, overturning textbook geology. Their findings suggest carbon-rich floodplains shaped climate for billions of ...

Scientists Stunned as Strange Islands and Hidden Springs Appear in the Great Salt Lake

Aug. 31, 2025 — As the Great Salt Lake shrinks, scientists are uncovering mysterious groundwater-fed oases hidden beneath its drying lakebed. Reed-covered mounds and strange surface disturbances hint at a vast ...

The Ancient Oxygen Flood That Forever Changed Life in the Oceans

Aug. 27, 2025 — Ancient forests may have fueled a deep-sea oxygen boost nearly 390 million years ago, unlocking evolutionary opportunities for jawed fish and larger marine animals. New isotopic evidence shows that this permanent oxygenation marked a turning point ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:40am EDT

Scientists Finally Crack the Mystery of Rogue Waves

Sep. 8, 2025 — Once thought to be sailors’ myths, rogue waves gained credibility after a towering 80-foot wall of water struck the Draupner oil platform in 1995. New research shows that these extreme waves ...

Earth’s Safe Zones Are Vanishing Fast

Sep. 6, 2025 — A sweeping new study reveals that humanity has already pushed 60% of Earth’s land outside its safe biosphere zone, with 38% in a high-risk state. By analyzing centuries of data, researchers mapped ...

Earth’s Inner Core Exists Only Because of Carbon

Sep. 4, 2025 — New research reveals that carbon made it possible for Earth’s molten core to freeze into a solid heart, stabilizing the magnetic field that protects our planet. Without it, Earth’s deep interior ...

Ozone Recovery Could Trigger 40% More Global Warming Than Predicted

Aug. 22, 2025 — As the ozone layer recovers, it’s also intensifying global warming. Researchers predict that by 2050, ozone will rank just behind carbon dioxide as a driver of heating, offsetting many of the ...

This Is Where Tree Planting Has the Biggest Climate Impact

Aug. 21, 2025 — Planting more trees can help cool the planet and reduce fire risk—but where they are planted matters. According to UC Riverside researchers, tropical regions provide the most powerful climate ...

Scientists Reveal How Just Two Human Decisions Rewired the Great Salt Lake Forever

Aug. 19, 2025 — Scientists found that Great Salt Lake’s chemistry and water balance were stable for thousands of years, until human settlement. Irrigation and ...

Greenland’s Glacial Runoff Is Powering Explosions of Ocean Life

Aug. 18, 2025 — NASA-backed simulations reveal that meltwater from Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier lifts deep-ocean nutrients to the surface, sparking large summer blooms of phytoplankton that feed the Arctic food ...

NASA’s PREFIRE Satellites Reveal a Secret Glow Escaping from Our Planet

Aug. 18, 2025 — With its two tiny CubeSats, NASA’s PREFIRE mission is capturing invisible heat escaping from Earth, offering clues to how ice, clouds, and storms influence the climate system. The insights could ...

Scientists Just Found a Hidden Factor Behind Earth’s Methane Surge

Aug. 17, 2025 — Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature ...

The Surprising Way Rising CO2 Could Supercharge Space Storms

Aug. 17, 2025 — Rising CO₂ levels will make the upper atmosphere colder and thinner, altering how geomagnetic storms impact satellites. Future storms could cause sharper density spikes despite lower overall ...

The Ocean’s Fragile Fortresses Are Crumbling Under Climate Pressure

Aug. 16, 2025 — Mediterranean bryozoans, including the “false coral,” are showing alarming changes in structure and microbiomes under acidification and warming. Field studies at volcanic CO₂ vents reveal that ...

Strange Spotted Rock on Mars Could Reveal Signs of Ancient Life

Aug. 15, 2025 — A curious red Martian rock nicknamed Sapphire Canyon has scientists excited, as its spotted appearance hints at possible organic origins. On Earth, researchers tested a powerful laser technique, ...

Scientists Warn Ocean Could Soon Reach Rapa Nui’s Sacred Moai

Aug. 13, 2025 — Advanced computer modeling suggests that by 2080, waves driven by sea level rise could flood Ahu Tongariki and up to 51 cultural treasures on Rapa Nui. The findings emphasize the urgent need for ...

This Prehistoric Predator Survived Global Warming by Eating Bones

Aug. 6, 2025 — A prehistoric predator changed its diet and body size during a major warming event 56 million years ago, revealing how climate change can reshape animal behavior, food chains, and survival ...

The Hidden Climate Battle Between Forests and the Ocean

Aug. 2, 2025 — Between 2003 and 2021, Earth saw a net boost in photosynthesis, mainly thanks to land plants thriving in warming, wetter conditions—especially in temperate and high-latitude regions. Meanwhile, ...

Deep-Sea Fish Just Changed What We Know About Earth’s Carbon Cycle

July 27, 2025 — Mesopelagic fish, long overlooked in ocean chemistry, are now proven to excrete carbonate minerals much like their shallow-water counterparts—despite living in dark, high-pressure depths. Using the ...

Satellites Just Revealed a Hidden Global Water Crisis—and It’s Worse Than Melting Ice

July 27, 2025 — For over two decades, satellites have quietly documented a major crisis unfolding beneath our feet: Earth's continents are drying out at unprecedented rates. Fueled by climate change, ...

Is the Air You Breathe Silently Fueling Dementia? A 29-Million-Person Study Says Yes

July 27, 2025 — Air pollution isn't just bad for your lungs—it may be eroding your brain. In a sweeping review covering nearly 30 million people, researchers found that common pollutants like PM2.5, nitrogen ...

The Oceans Are Overheating—and Scientists Say a Climate Tipping Point May Be Here

July 26, 2025 — In 2023, the world’s oceans experienced the most intense and widespread marine heatwaves ever recorded, with some events persisting for over 500 days and covering nearly the entire globe. These ...

DNA from the Deep Reveals a Hidden Ocean “superhighway”

Aug. 7, 2025 — Deep beneath the ocean's surface, a groundbreaking DNA study reveals that the deep sea is far more globally connected than once thought. By analyzing thousands of brittle stars preserved in ...

Scientists Modeled Nuclear Winter—the Global Food Collapse Was Worse Than Expected

July 24, 2025 — What would happen if a nuclear war triggered a climate-altering catastrophe? Researchers have modeled how such a scenario could devastate global corn crops cutting production by as much as 87% due to ...

Scientists Stunned by Colossal Formations Hidden Under the North Sea

Aug. 14, 2025 — Beneath the North Sea, scientists have uncovered colossal sand formations, dubbed “sinkites,” that have mysteriously sunk into lighter sediments, flipping the usual geological order. Formed ...

This Plastic Disappears in the Deep Sea—and Microbes Make It Happen

July 24, 2025 — A new eco-friendly plastic called LAHB has shown it can biodegrade even in the extreme environment of the deep ocean, unlike conventional plastics that persist for decades. In real-world underwater ...

Scientists Just Uncovered Three Ancient Worlds Frozen Beneath Illinois for 300 Million Years

Aug. 9, 2025 — Over 300 million years ago, Illinois teemed with life in tropical swamps and seas, now preserved at the famous Mazon Creek fossil site. Researchers from the University of Missouri and geologist ...

332 Colossal Canyons Just Revealed Beneath Antarctica’s Ice

Aug. 9, 2025 — Deep beneath the Antarctic seas lies a hidden network of 332 colossal submarine canyons, some plunging over 4,000 meters, revealed in unprecedented detail by new high-resolution mapping. These ...

Concrete That Lasts Centuries and Captures Carbon? AI Just Made It Possible

July 23, 2025 — Imagine concrete that not only survives wildfires and extreme weather, but heals itself and absorbs carbon from the air. Scientists at USC have created an AI model called Allegro-FM that simulates ...

Snowless Winter? Arctic Field Team Finds Flowers and Meltwater Instead

July 23, 2025 — Scientists in Svalbard were shocked to find rain and greenery instead of snow during Arctic winter fieldwork. The event highlights not just warming—but a full seasonal shift with major consequences ...

Frozen for 12,000 Years, This Alpine Ice Core Captures the Rise of Civilization

July 16, 2025 — An ancient glacier high in the French Alps has revealed the oldest known ice in Western Europe—dating back over 12,000 years to the last Ice Age. This frozen archive, meticulously analyzed by ...

25 Years, 1 Coastline Report Card: The Shocking Wins and Misses

July 16, 2025 — Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many ...

What Radar Found Beneath Antarctica Could Slow Ice Melt and Rising Seas

July 22, 2025 — Ancient river landscapes buried beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet have been uncovered by radar, revealing vast, flat surfaces formed over 80 million years ago before Antarctica froze. These hidden ...