Desert News

November 15, 2025

Top Headlines

Meet the Desert Survivor That Grows Faster the Hotter It Gets

Nov. 9, 2025 In Death Valley’s relentless heat, Tidestromia oblongifolia doesn’t just survive—it thrives. Michigan State University scientists discovered that the plant can quickly adjust its photosynthetic machinery to endure extreme temperatures that ...

Scientists Predict a Wetter, Greener Future for the Sahara Desert

Nov. 3, 2025 UIC researchers predict that the Sahara Desert could see up to 75% more rain by the end of this century due to rising global temperatures. Using 40 climate models, the team found widespread precipitation increases across Africa, though some regions ...

A “Scary” New Spider Species Found Beneath California’s Beaches

Nov. 2, 2025 UC Davis scientists uncovered Aptostichus ramirezae, a new trapdoor spider species living under California’s dunes. Genetic analysis revealed it was distinct from its close relative, Aptostichus simus. The species was named after pioneering ...

Tiny Skaters Beneath the Arctic Ice Rewrite the Limits of Life

Sep. 12, 2025 Hidden within Arctic ice, diatoms are proving to be anything but dormant. New Stanford research shows these glass-walled algae glide through frozen channels at record-breaking subzero temperatures, powered by mucus-like ropes and molecular motors. ...

Antarctica’s Frozen Heart Is Warming Fast, and Models Missed It

Sep. 9, 2025 New research has revealed that East Antarctica’s vast and icy interior is heating up faster than its coasts, fueled by warm air carried from the Southern Indian Ocean. Using 30 years of weather station data, scientists uncovered a hidden climate ...

Could This New Earthquake System Give Alaska 50 Seconds to Prepare?

Aug. 16, 2025 A new study reveals that an earthquake early warning system, similar to the USGS ShakeAlert used in California, Oregon, and Washington, could give Alaskan communities precious seconds to prepare before strong shaking hits. Modeling shows that towns ...

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 millions of years ago by ancient earthquakes or ...

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 underwater valleys, shaped by glacial forces and ...

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, groundwater ...

Where Wild Buffalo Roam Free — And Collide with City Life in Hong Kong

July 8, 2025 Feral water buffalo now roam Hong Kong s South Lantau marshes, and a 657-person survey shows they ignite nostalgia, wonder, and worry in equal measure. Many residents embrace them as living links to a fading rural past and potential conservation ...

Can These Endangered Lizards Beat the Heat? Scientists Test Bold Relocation Plan

June 26, 2025 South Australia’s tiny pygmy bluetongue skink is baking in a warming, drying homeland, so Flinders University scientists have tried a bold fix—move it. Three separate populations were shifted ...

Hidden Carbon Giants: Satellite Data Reveals a 40-year Arctic Peatland Surge

June 20, 2025 Arctic peatlands are expanding with rising temperatures, storing more carbon at least for now. But future warming could reverse this benefit, releasing massive ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:01pm EST

Scientists Discover a Stunning New Golden-Tongued Lizard in China

Oct. 30, 2025 A new species of mountain lizard, Diploderma bifluviale, has been discovered in the upper Dadu River Valley of China. Its distinct traits and isolated habitat highlight the hidden biodiversity of the ...

MIT Finds Traces of a Lost World Deep Within Planet Earth

Oct. 17, 2025 Researchers have discovered chemical fingerprints of Earth's earliest incarnation, preserved in ancient mantle rocks. A unique imbalance in potassium isotopes points to remnants of “proto Earth” ...

Dinosaur Teeth Reveal Secrets of Jurassic Life 150 Million Years Ago

Sep. 7, 2025 Sauropod tooth scratches reveal that some dinosaurs migrated seasonally, others ate a wide variety of plants, and climate strongly shaped their diets. Tanzania’s sand-blasted vegetation left ...

Scientists Reveal the Hidden Trigger Behind Massive Floods

June 15, 2025 Atmospheric rivers, while vital for replenishing water on the U.S. West Coast, are also the leading cause of floods though storm size alone doesn t dictate their danger. A groundbreaking study ...

New MIT Study Reveals How Biofilms Help Stop Microplastic Build-Up

June 13, 2025 Where do microplastics really go after entering the environment? MIT researchers discovered that sticky biofilms naturally produced by bacteria play a surprising role in preventing microplastics from ...

Nitrogen Loss on Sandy Shores: The Big Impact of Tiny Anoxic Pockets

June 2, 2025 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 ...

Research Shows How Solar Arrays Can Aid Grasslands During Drought

June 2, 2025 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 ...

Even Birds Can't Outfly Climate Change

May 29, 2025 As rising global temperatures alter ecosystems worldwide, animal species usually have two choices: adapt to changing local conditions or flee to a cooler clime. Ecologists have long assumed that the ...

Engineers Discover a New Class of Materials That Passively Harvest Water from Air

May 24, 2025 A serendipitous observation has led to a surprising discovery: a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, collect it ...

Coastal Squeeze Is Bad for Biodiversity, and for Us, Experts Say

May 24, 2025 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 ...

First-of-Its-Kind Global Study Shows Grasslands Can Withstand Climate Extremes With a Boost of Nutrients

May 19, 2025 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 ...

Amazon Could Survive Long-Term Drought but at a High Cost

May 15, 2025 The Amazon rainforest may be able to survive long-term drought caused by climate change, but adjusting to a drier, warmer world would exact a heavy toll, a study ...

Sharp Depletion in Soil Moisture Drives Land Water to Flow Into Oceans, Contributing to Sea Level Rise

May 14, 2025 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 ...

Europe's Forest Plants Thrive Best in Light-Rich, Semi-Open Woodlands -- Kept Open by Large Herbivores

May 14, 2025 Before Homo sapiens arrived, Europe's forests were not dense and dark but shaped by open and light-rich woodland landscapes. Researchers have analyzed 917 native forest plant species in Central ...

Climate Change Is Turning Coastal Lagoons Into 'Salty Soup'

May 14, 2025 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 ...

Study Uncovers Mystery of How Mini Sand Dunes Form

May 12, 2025 A new study has uncovered the mystery of how mini sand dunes form on beaches and in ...

Microbial 'Phosphorus Gatekeeping' Found at Center of Study Exploring 700,000 Years of Iconic Coastline

May 12, 2025 A team of researchers investigated a sequence of coastal dunes of different ages (from 0-700,000 years old) in Cooloola National Park near Rainbow Beach to understand how soil microorganisms coped ...

Rainfall Triggers Extreme Humid Heat in Tropics and Subtropics

Apr. 29, 2025 Scientists believe they have found a way to improve warning systems for vulnerable communities threatened by humid heatwaves, which are on the rise due to climate change and can be damaging and even ...

Flood Risk Increasing in Pacific Northwest

Apr. 28, 2025 A powerful earthquake, combined with rising sea levels, could significantly increase flood risks in the Pacific Northwest, impacting thousands of residents and properties in northern California, ...

Invasive Weed Threatens Southern California's Deserts

Apr. 24, 2025 Once thought resistant to invasion, California's deserts are losing native plants to aggressive weedy species like Saharan mustard. New research shows its spread is disrupting biodiversity and ...

Major Dust-Up for Water in the Colorado River

Apr. 22, 2025 Dust-on-snow is a major threat to water in the Colorado River, yet no snowmelt forecasts integrate dust-accelerated melt. Using pioneering remote sensing techniques, new research is the first to ...

Colombia's Peatlands Could Be a Crucial Tool to Fight Climate Change: But First We Have to Find Them

Apr. 15, 2025 Researchers conducted three years of extensive fieldwork to develop the first data-driven map of both newly documented and predicted peatlands across Colombia's eastern ...

New Projections Reveal More Extreme Erosion on O'ahu's Shores

Apr. 11, 2025 O'ahu's sandy beaches are at risk. New research has determined that 81% of O'ahu's coastline could experience erosion by 2100, with 40% of this loss happening by 2030. ...

Nanoplastics in Soil: How Soil Type and pH Influence Mobility

Apr. 9, 2025 Nanoplastics are an increasing threat to the ecosystem; however, their mobility in the soil is still underexplored. Against this backdrop, researchers investigated the adsorption and aggregation ...

8 Million Years of 'Green Arabia'

Apr. 9, 2025 A new study reveals the modern arid desert between Africa and Saudi Arabia was once regularly lush and green with rivers and lakes over a period of 8 million years, allowing for the occupation and ...

The Lush Past of the World's Largest Desert

Apr. 7, 2025 The vast desert of the Arabian Peninsula was not always an arid landscape. A recent study reveals that this region was once home to a vast lake and river system. These favorable conditions fostered ...

New Carbon-Negative Material Could Make Concrete and Cement More Sustainable

Mar. 19, 2025 Researchers injected CO2 gas into seawater while applying an electrical current. The process transformed dissolved ions, minerals in seawater into clusters of solid particles. The clusters hold over ...

Unknown Microorganisms Used Marble and Limestone as a Habitat

Mar. 19, 2025 In the desert areas of Namibia, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, research work has revealed unusual structures that are probably due to the activity of an unknown microbiological life form. Unusually small ...

Coastal Guardians Pioneer a New Way to Protect the Florida Keys' Shorelines

Mar. 18, 2025 Nature-based solutions like restoring mangroves, and hybrid solutions, protect vulnerable shorelines. However, they need careful planning to be effective. A new GIS-based tool, combined with varied ...

Global Warming Can Lead to Inflammation in Human Airways, New Research Shows

Mar. 17, 2025 In a recent, cross-institutional study partially funded by the National Institutes of Health, researchers report that healthy human airways are at higher risk for dehydration and inflammation when ...