Discovery of Earth’s polar wind

After more than five decades since it was first proposed, scientists have finally detected the polar wind, an invisible force influencing how Earth’s atmosphere escapes from the poles. This significant breakthrough was achieved by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center’s principal investigator Glyn Collinson and his team, validating a phenomenon as fundamental to our planet as gravity and the magnetic field. Detected through the Endurance mission launched in May 2022 from the Svalbard Rocket Range in Norway, this discovery offers crucial insights into atmospheric dynamics and the polar wind’s role in shaping Earth’s upper atmosphere.

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Donut-shaped discovery in Earth’s liquid metal core

Deep beneath Earth’s surface, at a depth of about 2,890 kilometers, lies the liquid metal core, a critical component of our planet responsible for generating the magnetic field that shields life from harmful solar winds. Scientists use seismic waves produced by earthquakes to probe the structure of this core, functioning much like an ultrasound, to visualize the hidden depths of the planet.

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Navigating future extreme weather events

Extreme weather events, by definition rare, have always demonstrated the climatic extremes our planet can endure, including ferocious storms, severe heatwaves, and intense cold snaps. However, with the rapid warming of Earth’s climate primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels, the spectrum of possible weather conditions—including extreme weather events—is expanding and altering. This alteration poses significant challenges to how we understand, predict, and adapt to these changes.

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Unraveling the mystery of Earth’s heartbeat

Seismologists have uncovered a peculiar phenomenon that reveals Earth is not as passive as it appears. Every 26 seconds, a faint seismic tremor, often referred to as Earth’s heartbeat, pulses through the planet. These microseisms, which are akin to tiny earthquakes but not identical, have baffled scientists for decades. Despite numerous theories, the source of this mysterious pulse remains unidentified.

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Φsat-2 launch: A new era in AI Earth observation

On August 16, 2024, ESA launched Φsat-2, a pioneering cubesat designed to revolutionize AI Earth observation. This small yet powerful satellite was sent into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as part of the Transporter-11 rideshare mission, which also included ESA’s Arctic Weather Satellite. The successful deployment and initial communication from Φsat-2 marked a significant milestone in the application of artificial intelligence for Earth observation from space.

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AI earthquake prediction breakthrough

Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have made significant strides in the field of AI earthquake prediction, potentially revolutionizing how we approach the mitigation of earthquake-related risks. The team developed an AI algorithm capable of predicting 70% of earthquakes a week before they occurred during a seven-month trial conducted in China. This trial represents a promising development in the use of artificial intelligence for earthquake forecasting, raising hopes that this technology could one day minimize the devastating impact of earthquakes on lives and economies.

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Earth mantle waves drive uplift of continental plateaus

Recent research has uncovered a fascinating mechanism behind the formation of high plateaus in the interior of continents, attributing their rise to deep, slow-moving processes within the Earth. The study, led by Thomas Gernon, a geoscientist at the University of Southampton, suggests that as continents break apart, they set off a chain reaction deep within the Earth’s mantle. These disturbances generate Earth mantle waves that propagate inward from the edges of the continents over tens of millions of years, eventually leading to the uplift of vast inland plateaus.

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Greenland ice sheet once melted: fossil evidence found

Recent research has revealed groundbreaking evidence suggesting that Greenland, currently 98% covered by ice, was virtually ice-free less than a million years ago. This discovery challenges the long-held belief that Greenland has been continuously covered by ice since the beginning of the Pleistocene epoch, around 2.7 million years ago. The new findings, published in the journal PNAS, provide the first direct evidence that the Greenland ice sheet not only melted at its edges but also in its central regions during recent geological history.

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Study reveals drivers of Amazon carbon emissions

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who assumed office in 2023, has been actively working to reverse the intense deforestation that plagued the Amazon during the tenure of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. President Lula’s administration has set ambitious goals, including ending Amazon deforestation by 2030. Early results show promising progress, with deforestation rates reportedly halved due to stricter enforcement measures. However, a new study suggests that the focus on deforestation might be too narrow, as it represents just a fraction of the broader climate impact on the Amazon.

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AMOC collapse prediction: urgent climate alert

Recent research highlights a growing concern over the stability of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), a key ocean current system essential for regulating climate and weather patterns across the globe. Scientists warn that the AMOC collapse prediction indicates potential disruptions as soon as the late 2030s to mid-2060s, with models suggesting a greater likelihood of collapse by 2050. This alarming scenario stems from the combination of increasing ocean temperatures and altered salt concentrations in the ocean, driven primarily by human-induced climate change.

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