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Time and again debris flows cause death and destruction. A research team has measured these flows of water, earth and debris with high precision. The study shows previously unexplained factors that determine the destructive force of debris flows - which allows appropriate protective measures to be put in place.

New international research led by Professors Willy Baeyens and Yue Gao of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), published in the highly ranked journal One Earth , demonstrates that plankton is not onl

Jet streams are often referred to as the "motor" of global weather: High-altitude wind currents steer areas of high and low pressure, playing a crucial role in shaping our weather. However, how these atmospheric flows are affected by climate change remains uncertain. Now, a team of climate scientists from Leipzig University, working with other research institutions, has developed a new method that enables a deeper understanding of what is referred to as the Eddy-Driven Jet in the Southern Hemisphere.

Jet streams are considered the "weather engine": The wind currents at high altitudes drive high and low pressure areas and are therefore largely responsible for our weather. However, it is still unclear how climate change affects these air currents. A team of climate scientists from Leipzig University and other research institutions has now found a method that provides a deeper understanding of the so-called eddy-driven jet in the southern hemisphere and allows better predictions for the coming years as to how this wind band reacts to climate change.

By the end of the century, water temperatures in Swiss rivers will rise by up to 3.5 degrees if no action to protect the climate is taken.

Over the last 3,800 years, agro-pastoral activities have accelerated alpine soil erosion at a pace 4-10 times faster than their natural formation. The history of this erosion has just been revealed for the first time by a research team led by a CNRS scientist 1 . The team has shown that high-altitude soil was degraded first, under the combined effect of pastoralism and forest clearing to facilitate the movement of herds.

The extreme summer high water of July 2021 showed how vulnerable and unpredictable the Meuse (Maas) is. Researchers from Wageningen University & Research (Hermjan Barneveld and Ton Hoitink) and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Willem Toonen), among others, discovered that the bottom of the Maas changed drastically in a short time.

New international research led by Professors Willy Baeyens and Yue Gao of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), published in the highly ranked journal One Earth , demonstrates that plankton is not only the basis of the marine food chain but also a crucial natural ally in combating global warming. In their publication, Prevalence of Multi-Micronutrient Limitation of Phytoplankton Growth in the Southern Ocean , the researchers offer new insight into the functioning and resilience of the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

A new 3D simulation tool developed by ETH and SLF researchers now allows for significantly more accurate predictions of complex alpine mass movements, supporting alpine risk management. Recent major rock-ice avalanches in the Swiss Alps - especially the dramatic collapses near Brienz and Blatten - also indicate the need for even more advanced modelling approaches.

Scientists have discovered hundreds of giant sand bodies beneath the North Sea that appear to defy fundamental geological principles and could have important implications for energy and carbon storage. Using high-resolution 3D seismic (sound wave) imaging, combined with data and rock samples from hundreds of wells, researchers The University of Manchester in collaboration with industry, identified vast mounds of sand - some several kilometres wide - that appear to have sunk downward, displacing older, lighter and softer materials from beneath them.

Sea Levels Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have gained unique insight into the mechanisms behind the collapse of Antarctic ice shelves, which are crucial for sea level rise in the Northern Hemisphere. The discovery of old aerial photos has provided an unparalleled dataset that can improve predictions of sea level rise and how we should prioritise coastal protection and other forms of climate adaptation.

Due to global warming, the North Atlantic Oscillation, an atmospheric circulation pattern that strongly influences European weather, is becoming more extreme in summer To the point North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO): Fluctuations in the air pressure difference between the Azores and Iceland influence the weather in Europe Increasing variability: Climate change will lead to more frequent and more severe NAO extremes in summer by the end of the cent

Laboratory experiments: Chlorine shapes the chemistry of the earth-facing side of the moon - new clues about formation How many halogens, that is volatile elements such as chlorine and fluorine, are present on the Moon and how they are distributed provides vital insights into the origin and evolution of our celestial companion - for instance, how the lunar crust formed and how it chemically changed over time.

A new study by researchers of the University of Bern shows that the hilly surface of Mercury could be influenced not only by the cooling and contraction of the planet, but also by the tidal forces of the Sun. Future analysis will draw on new data from the BepiColombo mission, which is currently on its way to Mercury.

An international scientific team, including researchers from the Université Libre de Bruxelles led by François Fripiat, have successfully located an old borehole drilled in 1992 at the top of the Greenland ice cap. Buried under five metres of snow that had accumulated over three decades, the 10-centimetre diameter hole had become difficult to locate.

Hot summers in Europe can be better predicted if an increase of the heat content in the North Atlantic is taken into account To the point Heat indicator in the ocean: European heat waves are often preceded by an increase in the North Atlantic heat content Better predictions: Model simulations that take into account the connection with the heat content in the Northern Atlantic predict past European heat waves more reliably than calculations which omit this mechanism.

Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and The Australian National University (ANU), in collaboration with First Nations community members who hold cultural connections with the Blue Mountains, have unearthed 693 stone artefacts dating from the last ice age to the recent past.

Scientists have used clues locked into tree rings to reveal major changes in the Amazon's rainfall cycle over the last 40 years which show that wet seasons are getting wetter and dry seasons drier. Oxygen isotope signals in rings from two Amazon tree species allowed the international research team led by the University of Leeds to reconstruct seasonal changes in rainfall for the recent past.

In just over 20 years, the northward shift of the subtropical jet stream - a high-altitude airflow - caused by climate change has reduced primary production in the northwestern Mediterranean by about 40%. This marked reduction - the highest ever described - affects the base of the marine food web and could significantly impact living resources, ecosystem health and marine dynamics in this region of the Mediterranean.

Researchers from Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Potsdam have published the results of a study indicating that the slope of the seafloor plays a crucial role in how submarine canyons are formed Submarine canyons are large, kilometer-deep gorges on the seafloor along continental margins that transport sediments, nutrients, and carbon from offshore regions into the deep sea.