We may be closer to unravelling the mystery of how the dry, arid Mars used to be covered in water from new research that focuses on an unexpected event (a powerful dust storm) at an unexpected time (Northern Hemisphere summer).

New research by Patrick Sorensen at the University of Rhode Island reveals a vulnerable process as snowpacks shrink, challenging long-held assumptions about how microbes build biomass. Ultimately, Sorensen hopes the research encourages people to see snowy ecosystems in a new light.

Deep learning is increasingly being used to emulate cloud and convection processes in climate models, offering a faster alternative to computationally intensive cloud-resolving simulations. However, because these processes unfold at kilometre scales or smaller — far below the resolution of global climate models — hybrid AI–physics approaches often become unstable when run over long time horizons. Researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS)’s College of Design and Engineering (CDE), in collaboration with Tsinghua University, NVIDIA and the Centre for Climate Research Singapore, have traced a key instability to a moisture imbalance during condensation. They developed CondensNet, an adaptive, physics-constrained neural-network that can correct physically inconsistent behaviour. Integrated into a global climate model, it enables stable, accurate long-term simulations while running far faster than cloud-resolving approaches.

AES Andes announced that it will step back from the megaproject INNA, planned to be located near the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal Observatory. ESO welcomes this announcement and expects that the project will be withdrawn from Chile's Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) soon, which would formally confirm INNA is not going ahead.

Contrary to expectations, wetlands do not need to be completely flooded to provide the greatest climate benefit. Instead, the water table should be below the soil surface and remain stable, according to a new study from the University of Copenhagen. The greenhouse gas methane and microorganisms in the soil are a game changer.

A new study led by climatologists at the University at Albany has found that extreme heatwaves across the Caribbean are becoming significantly more frequent, longer and severe.

A new study out of York University has found that the amount of atmospheric trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), the tiniest forever chemical, significantly declined in Toronto during COVID in 2020, which researchers say is good news for the world’s ability to mitigate it in the future. “When we turned off the tap, so to speak, and we all went home and stopped normal activities, we saw a really quick response, a dramatic reduction of TFA. But the real surprise is that the results point to TFA being formed from short-lived chemical precursors emitted into the atmosphere,” says York University atmospheric chemist Professor Cora Young, senior author of the paper published today.