A new study reveals that the devastating 2023 flood in Derna, Libya, was not merely the result of extreme rainfall but was drastically intensified by a major design shortcoming and its resulting collapse of two embankment dams. Through advanced hydrological modeling and satellite data analysis, researchers found that while Storm Daniel brought heavy rainfall, the catastrophe stemmed from dam failures and flawed risk assessment and communication—amplifying the destruction nearly twentyfold. The findings highlight the urgent need for improved flood mitigation strategies, especially in dryland regions where high uncertainty in risk analysis, coupled with vulnerable infrastructure, pose an ever-growing threat.

A study by Brazilian and Swiss researchers predicts that even in an optimistic greenhouse gas emissions scenario, 99% of the area of the Upper Paraguay River Basin will be lost.

The SpongeBoost project is taking a creative approach to communicating its mission of enhancing and restoring landscapes' natural water retention capacities. By consolidating existing knowledge, utilising best practices, and testing innovative approaches, the project aims to create a comprehensive roadmap for implementing transformative measures that improve resilience to extreme weather events. This involves synthesising information for policy-making, practical restoration, and land-use planning, as well as showcasing successful examples of sponge restoration and its multiple benefits.

Renting clothes can reduce the fashion industry's enormous environmental impact, but so far, the business models have not worked very well. The best chance of success is for a rental company to provide clothing within a niche market, such as specific sportswear, and to work closely with the suppliers and clothing manufacturers. This is shown by a study led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, which highlights the measures that can make clothing rental a success.

Getting zapped with millions of volts of electricity may not sound like a healthy activity, but for some trees, it is. A new study, published in New Phytologist, reports that some tropical tree species are not only able to tolerate lightning strikes, but benefit from them. The trees may have even evolved to act as lightning rods. The research was led by Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Gora studies how lightning impacts biodiversity and carbon storage in Panama’s tropical forests.

Regional role in the discrepancy of Hadley circulation intensity trends between reanalysis data and models