Atmosphere News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Atmospheric Chemistry Keeps Pollutants in the Air

June 3, 2025 — A new study details processes that keep pollutants aloft despite a drop in ...

Rising Soil Nitrous Acid Emissions, Driven by Climate Change and Fertilization, Accelerate Global Ozone Pollution

May 30, 2025 — Ozone pollution is a global environmental concern that not only threatens human health and crop production, but also worsens global warming. While the formation of ozone is often attributed to ...

Thousands of Sensors Reveal 3D Structure of Earthquake-Triggered Sound Waves

May 29, 2025 — Earthquakes create ripple effects in Earth's upper atmosphere that can disrupt satellite communications and navigation systems we rely on. Scientists have now used Japan's extensive network of Global ...

Does Planting Trees Really Help Cool the Planet?

May 29, 2025 — Replanting forests can help cool the planet even more than some scientists once believed, especially in the tropics. But even if every tree lost since the mid-19th century is replanted, the total effect won't cancel out human-generated ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:50pm EDT

New Study Analyzes Air Quality Impacts of Wildfire Smoke

May 27, 2025 — With wildfires increasing in frequency, severity, and size in the Western U.S., researchers are determined to better understand how smoke impacts air quality, public health, and even the weather. As ...

Rapid Simulations of Toxic Particles Could Aid Air Pollution Fight

May 27, 2025 — A pioneering method to simulate how microscopic particles move through the air could boost efforts to combat air pollution, a study ...

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

May 22, 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 ...

Study Reveals Healing the Ozone Hole Helps the Southern Ocean Take Up Carbon

May 16, 2025 — 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 ...

Rising Temperatures Lead to Unexpectedly Rapid Carbon Release from Soils

May 16, 2025 — How sensitively does organic carbon stored in soils react to changes in temperature and ...

A Vicious Cycle: How Methane Emissions from Warming Wetlands Could Exacerbate Climate Change

May 15, 2025 — The latest study finds that emissions of the potent greenhouse gas might be higher than previously ...

Enhanced Activity in the Upper Atmosphere of Sporadic E Layers During the 2024 Mother's Day Super Geomagnetic Storm

May 13, 2025 — Researchers report on ionospheric sporadic E layer (Es) activity during the Mother's Day geomagnetic storm. The team found that the Es layers were ...

It's Not Just El Niño: New Climate Phenomenon Impacts Hawai'i Rainfall

May 12, 2025 — 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 ...

Satellite Measures CO2 and NO2 Simultaneously from Power Plant Emissions for the First Time

May 9, 2025 — A research team used the German environmental satellite EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) to simultaneously detect the two key air ...

Mercury Levels in the Atmosphere Have Decreased Throughout the 21st Century

May 8, 2025 — Mercury is released by environmental and human-driven processes. And some forms, specifically methylmercury, are toxic to humans. Therefore, policies and regulations to limit mercury emissions have ...

The Atmospheric Memory That Feeds Billions of People: Newly Discovered Mechanism for Monsoon Rainfall

May 7, 2025 — Across the globe, monsoon rainfall switches on in spring and off in autumn. Until now, this seasonal pattern was primarily understood as an immediate response to changes in solar radiation. A new ...

Biological Particles May Be Crucial for Inducing Heavy Rain

May 5, 2025 — Atmospheric and climate scientists show that biological particles may induce rain events that could contribute to flooding and snowstorms, owing to their ability to precipitate ice formation in ...

Dust in the System -- How Saharan Storms Threaten Europe's Solar Power Future

May 2, 2025 — New research reveals how Saharan dust impacts solar energy generation in Europe. Dust from North Africa reduces photovoltaic (PV) power output by scattering sunlight, absorbing irradiance, and ...

Oceans Are Heating Faster in Two Bands Stretching Around Globe

May 1, 2025 — The world's oceans are heating faster in two bands stretching around the globe, one in the southern hemisphere and one in the north, according to climate ...

Geoengineering Technique Could Cool Planet Using Existing Aircraft

Apr. 28, 2025 — A technique to cool the planet, in which particles are added to the atmosphere to reflect sunlight, would not require developing special aircraft but could be achieved using existing large planes, ...

Why Are Patagonian Glaciers Rapidly Losing Mass?

Apr. 23, 2025 — Over the past two decades, satellite-based planetary observations have recorded rapid mass loss of Patagonian glaciers, contributing approximately 0.07 mm per year to global sea-level rise. A study ...

Sunscreen, Clothes and Caves May Have Helped Homo Sapiens Survive 41,000 Years Ago

Apr. 16, 2025 — A study suggests that Homo sapiens may have benefited from the use of ochre and tailored clothing during a period of increased UV light 41,000 years ago, during the Laschamps ...

Tree Rings Track Atmospheric Mercury Cheaply

Apr. 9, 2025 — Wild fig tree rings offer a cheap method for tracking toxic atmospheric mercury, a byproduct of gold mining in the Global South, according to a new ...

Southern Ocean Warming Will Mean a Wetter West Coast, US

Apr. 2, 2025 — As global temperatures warm, the Southern Ocean -- between Antarctica and other continents -- will eventually release heat absorbed from the atmosphere, leading to projected long-term increases in ...

The Proportion of Harmful Substances in Particulate Matter Is Much Higher Than Assumed

Mar. 31, 2025 — People breathing contaminated air over the course of years are at greater risk of developing numerous diseases. This is thought to be due to highly reactive components in particulate matter, which ...

Peatlands' Potential to Capture Carbon Upgraded as Temperatures Rise

Mar. 20, 2025 — According to a predictive model, the microalgae present in peat bogs could offset up to 14% of future CO2 emissions, thanks to their photosynthetic activity. This conclusion was reached by basing the ...

Delhi Air Pollution Worse Than Expected as Water Vapor Skews Figures

Mar. 12, 2025 — New Delhi's air pollution is more severe than previously estimated with particles absorbing atmospheric water vapor leading to particulate matter levels across the city being underestimated by ...

Earth's 'Dirty Mirror' Effect Is Accelerating Climate Change

Mar. 11, 2025 — Cloudy areas over oceans are reflecting less sunlight to space than ...

Are Volcanoes Behind the Oxygen We Breathe?

Mar. 10, 2025 — It is widely believed that Earth's atmosphere has been rich in oxygen for about 2.5 billion years due to a relatively rapid increase in microorganisms capable of performing photosynthesis. ...

Climate Change Will Reduce the Number of Satellites That Can Safely Orbit in Space

Mar. 10, 2025 — Aerospace engineers found that greenhouse gas emissions are changing the environment of near-Earth space in ways that, over time, will reduce the number of satellites that can safely operate ...

Researchers Reveal Nitrogen's Dominant Role in Global Organic Aerosol Absorption

Mar. 6, 2025 — A collaborative research team has introduced a nitrogen-centric framework that explains the light-absorbing effects of atmospheric organic aerosols. This groundbreaking study reveals that ...

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 ...

Heat from the Sun Affects Seismic Activity on Earth

Mar. 4, 2025 — Researchers explore the likelihood that Earth's climate, as affected by solar heat, plays a role in seismic activity. Using mathematical and computational methods, they analyzed earthquake data ...

Air Inside Your Home May Be More Polluted Than Outside Due to Everyday Chemical Products

Feb. 18, 2025 — Bringing aromas indoors with the help of chemical products -- yes, air fresheners, wax melts, floor cleaners, deodorants and others -- rapidly fills the air with nanoscale particles that are small ...

Clean Air Policies Having Unintended Impact Driving Up Wetland Methane Emissions by Up to 34 Million Tons

Feb. 5, 2025 — Reducing sulphur in the air may inadvertently increase natural emissions of methane from wetlands such as peatlands and swamps, a new study has found. The resulting additional future release of 20-34 ...