El Nino and La Nina News

June 26, 2025

Top Headlines

123,000-Year-Old Coral Fossils Warn of Sudden, Catastrophic Sea-Level Rise

June 23, 2025 — Ancient coral fossils from the remote Seychelles islands have unveiled a dramatic warning for our future—sea levels can rise in sudden, sharp bursts even when global temperatures stay ...

Winter Sea Ice Supercharges Southern Ocean’s CO2 Uptake

June 18, 2025 — A breakthrough study has uncovered that the Southern Ocean's power to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere fluctuates dramatically depending on winter sea ice. When sea ice lingers longer into winter, the ocean absorbs up to 20% more CO2, thanks ...

Geological Time Capsule Highlights Great Barrier Reef's Resilience

June 2, 2025 — New research adds to our understanding of how rapidly rising sea levels due to climate change foreshadow the end of the Great Barrier Reef as we know it. The findings suggest the reef can withstand rising sea levels in isolation but is vulnerable to ...

Coastal Flooding More Frequent Than Previously Thought

June 2, 2025 — 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 ...

Air-Quality Monitoring Underestimates Toxic Emissions to Salton Sea Communities, Study Finds

June 2, 2025 — 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 ...

2021's Hurricane Ida Could Have Been Even Worse for NYC

May 30, 2025 — 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 ...

Climate Change May Make It Harder to Reduce Smog in Some Regions

May 26, 2025 — A modeling study shows that global warming will make it harder to reduce ground-level ozone, a respiratory irritant that is a key component of smog, by cutting greenhouse gas ...

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 ...

2024 Sea Level 'Report Cards' Map Futures of US Coastal Communities

May 6, 2025 — Researchers have released their 2024 U.S. sea level 'report cards,' providing updated analyses of sea level trends and projections for 36 coastal communities. Encompassing 55 years of historical data in a new, interactive dashboard, the report cards ...

Loss of Sea Ice Alters the Colors of Light in the Ocean

May 6, 2025 — The disappearance of sea ice in polar regions due to global warming not only increases the amount of light entering the ocean, but also changes its color. These changes have far-reaching consequences for photosynthetic organisms such as ice algae ...

Flood Risk Increasing in Pacific Northwest

May 4, 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, Oregon, and Washington, according to new research. The ...

When Sea Stars Fall, Sea Otters Rise: Sea Otters Benefit from Prey Boom Triggered by Loss of Ochre Sea Stars

Apr. 30, 2025 — In 2013, a sea star wasting syndrome decimated populations of Pisaster along the west coast of North America and along the Monterey Peninsula in California, where this study was conducted. The orange ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:30pm EDT

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 ...

Trawling-Induced Sediment Resuspension Reduces CO2 Uptake

Apr. 25, 2025 — When bottom trawls are dragged across the seafloor, they stir up sediments. This not only releases previously stored organic carbon, but also intensifies the oxidation of pyrite, a mineral present in ...

Coastal Management Model Plays the Long Game Against the Rising Tides

Apr. 21, 2025 — To protect against rising sea levels in a warming world, coastal cities typically follow a standard playbook with various protective infrastructure options. For example, a seawall could be designed ...

Caspian Sea Decline Threatens Endangered Seals, Coastal Communities and Industry

Apr. 14, 2025 — Urgent action is needed to protect endangered species, human health and industry from the impacts of the Caspian Sea shrinking, research has ...

Hundred-Year Storm Tides Will Occur Every Few Decades in Bangladesh, Scientists Report

Apr. 14, 2025 — For the highly populated coastal country of Bangladesh, once-in-a-century storm tides could strike every 10 years -- or more often -- by the end of ...

Pioneering Research Reveals Arctic Matter Pathways Poised for Major Shifts Amidst Climate Change

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study has shed unprecedented light on the highly variable and climate-sensitive routes that substances from Siberian rivers use to travel ...

Fishing for Cephalopod DNA Allows for Efficient Marine Surveying

Apr. 14, 2025 — New DNA probes allow for efficient surveying of the hidden lives of squids and octopuses in the deep sea. This development provides an effective tool for marine ecological research and conservation ...

Deep-Sea Mining Risks Leads Study to Urge Shift to Circular Solutions

Apr. 14, 2025 — Deep sea mining operations are expected to increase the negative impact on environmental indicators by up to 13 per cent, a change categorized as having 'great' significance, relative to the ...

With New Database Researchers May Be Able to Predict Rare Milky Seas Bioluminescent, Glowing Event

Apr. 9, 2025 — Milky seas are a rare bioluminescent phenomenon where vast areas of the ocean glow at night, sometimes for months. This glow, likely caused by Vibrio ...

Thinner Arctic Sea Ice May Affect Global Ocean Circulation

Mar. 31, 2025 — One of the ocean currents in the Arctic Ocean is at risk of disappearing this century because of climate change, according to a new study. As a result, the North Atlantic could be flooded with ...

One-Third of Australia's Coastal Terrestrial Aquaculture at Risk from Sea Level Rise by 2100

Apr. 7, 2025 — New research has highlighted more than 43% of Queensland, Australia's current productive aquaculture sites are expected to be impacted by sea level rise. Of the projected inundation caused by ...

Melting Ice, More Rain Drive Southern Ocean Cooling

Mar. 27, 2025 — Researchers found increased meltwater and rain explain 60% of a decades-long mismatch between predicted and observed temperatures in the ocean around ...

5,700-Year Storm Archive Shows Rise in Tropical Storms and Hurricanes in the Caribbean

Mar. 24, 2025 — A storm, even once it has passed, can leave traces in the ocean that last for thousands of years. These consist of sediment layers composed of coarse particles, which are different from the finer ...

Violent Supernovae 'Triggered at Least Two Earth Extinctions'

Mar. 13, 2025 — At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the 'devastating' effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests. Researchers say these ...

How Climate Change Affects Rain and Floods

Mar. 12, 2025 — Climate change may lead to more precipitation and more intense floods. A new study shows that to understand the details of this relationship, it is important to distinguish between different types of ...

Arctic Sea Ice Loss Drives Drier Weather Over California and Wetter Over Spain and Portugal

Mar. 11, 2025 — On decadal timescales, the loss of Arctic ice favors the climate of the south-west of the United States -- and California in particular -- becoming drier on average, especially in winter. This ...

The Yucca and the Moth: How Extreme Weather Impacts the Timing of Biological Events

Mar. 5, 2025 — A study sheds light on how extreme weather events impact phenological processes, specifically the flight period of butterflies and moths and the flowering time of plants, with implications for food ...

The Ozone Hole Is Healing, Thanks to Global Reduction of CFCs

Mar. 5, 2025 — A new study confirms the Antarctic ozone layer is healing as a direct result of global efforts to reduce ozone-depleting ...

Sea Otters Help Kelp Forests Recover -- But How Fast Depends on Where They Are

Mar. 3, 2025 — New modeling method helped researchers understand why kelp forests returned more slowly in Southern California than in British ...

Marine Mystery Solved: How Anemonefish Avoid Stings from Their Sea Anemone Hosts

Feb. 14, 2025 — The clownfish-anemone living arrangement is one of the most widely recognized examples of symbiosis. Researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding how anemonefish can live safely among sea ...

Arctic Cyclones Could Be Missing Link in Sea Ice Depletion Models

Feb. 12, 2025 — A study gives possible insight into the underprediction of sea ice depletion and the formation of Arctic cyclones. The study could lead to more accurate weather and climate models and better ...

New Autonomous System to Monitor Arctic's Melting Ice

Feb. 10, 2025 — Researchers have designed an alternative, autonomous observational method to monitor the Arctic's melting ice, which holds promise for improving the autonomy of marine vehicles, aiding in ...

Ice Streams Move Due to Tiny Ice Quakes

Feb. 6, 2025 — An international team of researchers has shown that countless tiny ice quakes take place in one of Greenland's mightiest ice streams. This finding will allow the flowing of the ice sheet and ...

Antarctic Ice Sheet Faces 'Death by a Thousand Cuts'

Jan. 28, 2025 — Smaller calving events, not large icebergs, drive Antarctic ice sheet ...

Global Sea Level Very Likely to Rise Between 0.5 and 1.9 Meters by 2100 Under High-Emissions Scenario

Jan. 27, 2025 — An interdisciplinary team of researchers has projected that if the rate of global CO2 emissions continues to increase and reaches a high emission scenario, sea levels would as a result very likely ...

Severe Weather and Major Power Outages Increasingly Coincide Across the United States, Study Finds

Jan. 22, 2025 — An understanding of the relationship between severe weather and power outages in our changing climate will be critical for hazard response plans, according to a new ...

Critical Ocean Current Has Not Declined in the Last 60 Years

Jan. 15, 2025 — The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has not slowed down since the mid-20th century based on the North Atlantic air-sea heat fluxes over that time. This finding contrasts with ...

Beach Guardians: How Hidden Microbes Protect Coastal Waters in a Changing Climate

Jan. 14, 2025 — Beneath sandy beaches, microbes filter chemicals from groundwater and safeguard ocean health. A new study reveals that sneaker waves provide a lens to explore the impending impacts of sea level rise ...

Marked Decrease in Arctic Pressure Ridges

Jan. 6, 2025 — In the Arctic, the old, multiyear ice is increasingly melting, dramatically reducing the frequency and size of pressure ridges. These ridges are created when ice floes press against each other and ...

Paleobiologists Unlock 500,000 Years of Fossil Records: Climate Change Impacts and Risks of Marine Carbon Removal

Dec. 23, 2024 — Climate change impacts not only life on land but also the largely unexplored deep-sea ecosystem, home to unique and largely unexplored fauna. Deep-sea animals, which have adapted to stable and ...