As climate hazards escalate, communities facing repetitive disasters in high-risk areas must weigh the economic and social trade-offs of rebuilding versus relocating. A Risk Analysis study has found that residents and government officials may have different ideas about how public funds should be spent to adapt to extreme weather events brought on  by climate change.

Anomalies in temperature and salinity that originate in the midlatitude North Atlantic can affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the Nordic Seas up to a decade later. The study published in Nature’s journal Communications Earth & Environment shows that the anomalies that travel northward with the Atlantic Water are an important part of the system, and actively modulate both the inflow of warm water into the Nordic Seas and the overflow of dense water back into the deep Atlantic.

Tropical cyclones can occur concurrently in the same basins in clusters, potentially resulting in greater damage. A recent study published in Nature Climate Change reveals a significant shift in the spatial distribution of tropical cyclone clusters, identifying the North Atlantic as a rapidly emerging hotspot under global warming.

The accurate estimation of bearing stratum depth, the subsurface soil or rock layer depth that can support a foundation, is key to preventing soil-related disasters in earthquake-prone areas and ensuring a building’s structural safety. However, traditional methods to assess this depth involve high costs, time, and labor. Now, researchers from Japan have demonstrated improved depth prediction accuracy by employing machine learning algorithms, making it both cost-effective and a generalizable alternative to traditional field surveys.

Solid-oxide fuel cells are a promising material for future green energy infrastructure due to their high efficiency and long lifespan. However, they require operation at high temperatures of around 700-800℃. Now researchers at Kyushu University have succeeded in developing a new SOFC material with an efficient operating temperature of 300℃. The team expects that their new findings will greatly accelerate the practical application of green energy devices.

UVic research published in Nature Geoscience today provides the most comprehensive view into how fast glaciers erode and how they change the landscape. Most importantly, the research also provides an estimate of the rate of future erosion for more than 180,000 glaciers worldwide.