A University of Hamburg-led study maps urban flood risk building by building, combining hazard, exposure and social vulnerability such as age, income and education. It finds flood-prone areas do not always match the most socially vulnerable ones, and the freely available data can support adaptation planning in other cities.
— via Phys.org
A modeling study in Cell Reports Sustainability suggests that treating PFAS results below minimum reporting levels as zero captures only 44% of the average concentration of 25 PFAS across 9,991 community water systems. The model puts the six regulated PFAS average at 5.2 ng/L versus 2.6 ng/L, though the authors stress these are predictions, not proof of health risk.
— via Phys.org
Research with three flood action groups in northwestern England, based on 17 interviews and five years of observation, finds residents distrust resilience messaging. They see it as shifting responsibility from institutions onto citizens, and want investment and accountability instead.
— via Phys.org
A children-led citizen science project in Ayangue, Ecuador, monitored cigarette butt pollution on the beach and recorded a 53.2% drop in butts found in the sand between 2023 and 2024. Collectors and an exchange point kept 6,821 butts from reaching the ocean over two years.
— via Phys.org
A University of Helsinki study of 503 terrestrial animal species over 20 years, drawing on more than 3 million observations across Finland, found habitat explained occurrence and abundance better than climate for most groups. Climate mainly accounted for north-south and year-to-year differences, while habitat mattered more locally.
— via Phys.org
Typhoon Champi struck Taiwan, bringing destructive winds, heavy rain, widespread closures, hundreds of flight cancellations and over 4,300 evacuations. One person died, at least 350 were injured, and more than 21,000 households lost power; the storm was linked to a busy El Niño-boosted Pacific season.
— via Phys.org
Modeling led by Plymouth Marine Laboratory finds the 13 no-mining reserves in the Pacific's Clarion-Clipperton Zone are too far apart for larvae to travel between them. Adding a few corridor sites could link them into one network and raise simulated larval exchange more than 400-fold.
— via Phys.org
Australian researchers analyzed more than 7,500 historical ENSO forecasts from models built in nine countries. They found the Pacific's starting state shapes one-year forecast reliability, with La Niña starts performing well and neutral starts being far less reliable.
— via Phys.org
KAIST and APEC Climate Center researchers analyzing 1979–2025 reanalysis data found the East Asian summer front has drifted north, by about 213 km in late summer. This raises the chance of heavy rain and heat stress hitting the Korean Peninsula together.
— via Phys.org
NASA altimetry data show the current El Niño on track to rival or exceed the strong 1997–98 event, with a similar sea-level pattern extending to South America. NOAA gives an 83% chance of a strong to very strong event into early 2027, though winter impacts remain uncertain.
— via Phys.org
Satellite radar tracking of a sinking ice surface suggests the Kronshtadskiy subglacial lake in East Antarctica lost about 78 million cubic meters of water from 2016 to 2021. Nearby rising and sinking patches hint at connected lakes, though direct evidence of flow is lacking.
— via Phys.org
Typhoon Champi, weakened from super typhoon status, forced Taiwan to close schools, shops and its stock exchange and evacuate over 1,200 people, with at least one death and dozens injured. Up to 90 cm of rain is forecast, and flights and events in Japan were also disrupted.
— via Phys.org
A Nature Communications study of 216,502 glaciers found that the 3.2% ending in lakes, oceans or ice shelves lost 134 billion metric tons of ice a year from 2000 to 2019, over half of all glacier ice loss. Lake-ending glaciers lost ice about 57% faster relative to their size than land-ending ones.
— via Phys.org
A life cycle study of 47 packaging systems found that swapping polyethylene for paper, glass, aluminum or steel often fails to lower environmental impacts, and can raise greenhouse gas emissions threefold to fourfold. Results depend on material quantity, transport packaging, recycling, reuse and product protection. The authors note PE is not preferable in every application.
— via Phys.org
The Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway in Agoura Hills, billed as the world's largest, is scheduled for completion on December 2. It aims to reconnect habitats and reduce genetic isolation of mountain lions, though flooding from El Niño could delay work.
— via Popular Science, Margherita Bassi
Seismic surveys by Kobe University researchers found a large, magma-rich region beneath Japan's Kikai caldera, the site of a huge eruption about 7,300 years ago. Chemical evidence suggests the magma is newly injected rather than leftover, though this does not mean an eruption is imminent.
— via ScienceDaily
A study in Nature Health modeling 854 European cities estimates 50,391 heat-related deaths this summer, with 32,619 attributed to human-caused climate change. That total is 71% above the deadliest earlier summer, 2022, and is likely an underestimate.
— via Phys.org
Shifting match times to early morning or night does more to open safe playing hours than moving a tennis tournament to a cooler date, according to an analysis of more than 119,000 hourly heat readings across Japan. Nighttime play raised the odds of staying below the 28 WBGT risk line by 46%, early-morning play by 36%.
— via Phys.org
A Roman stone coffin found under Westminster Abbey in the 1860s held a medieval monk, not the 4th-century man named on it, and carbon dating of the skeleton narrows him to one of two abbots. The remains are about 700 years newer than the sarcophagus, and the body was older and taller than the 19th-century "robust young man" theory allowed.
— via Popular Science, Andrew Paul
A new R package called oceandatr pulls global seafloor depth, seamount and sea surface temperature data and gets it analysis-ready with a single command. Its developers built it from the scripts they kept rewriting while planning marine protected areas in island nations like Vanuatu and Fiji.
— via Phys.org
