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Atmospheric Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 30-Apr-2026 14:16 ET (30-Apr-2026 18:16 GMT/UTC)

UK winters becoming wetter due to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Newcastle University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

UK winters are becoming significantly wetter mainly due to warming driven by human burning of fossil fuels releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, a Newcastle University study reveals.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters

Where did that raindrop come from? Tracing the movement of water molecules using isotopes

Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, uses a multi-model approach to improve climate modeling. Isotope analysis allows researchers to track the global water cycle and identify changes in atmospheric dynamics in a warming climate. Their simulation data, identification of parameter sensitivity, and discovery of ongoing challenges in understanding the behavior of atmospheric water vapor provide a baseline for better general climate models in the future.

Half of the world’s coral reefs suffered major bleaching during the 2014–2017 global heatwave

Smithsonian
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For the first time, an international team led by Smithsonian researchers estimated the extent of coral bleaching worldwide during a global marine heatwave, finding that half of the world’s reefs experienced significant damage between 2014 and 2017. Another heatwave began in 2023 and is ongoing.

Journal: Nature Communications

Trace gases play previously unseen role in cloud droplet formation

University of California - Riverside
Peer-Reviewed Publication

UCR-led study finds that tiny, invisible gases long thought to be irrelevant in cloud formation appear to play a major role in determining whether clouds form—and possibly whether it rains. This realization runs counter to more than a century of assumptions about the physics behind cloud droplet formation.

Journal: Science Advances

UW researchers use satellite data to quantify methane loss in the stratosphere

University of Washington
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A University of Washington study shows that existing models underestimate methane loss in the stratosphere and generate uncertainty in the global methane budget — a key metric for tracking climate change.

Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Seeing the whole from a part: Revealing hidden turbulent structures from limited observations and equations

Tokyo University of Science
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Turbulence can be found everywhere, from stirring in a teacup to currents in the planetary atmosphere. Predicting such flows is difficult, especially when only incomplete information is available. Now, researchers from Japan and the UK have shown that, in two-dimensional turbulent flows, observing only large-scale motion is sufficient to reconstruct the full flow. Their findings contribute to a deeper understanding of fluid dynamics, with implications for data-driven weather forecasting.

Journal: Journal of Fluid Mechanics
Funder: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science

New study reveals cyanobacteria may help spread antibiotic resistance in estuarine ecosystems

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Scientists have discovered that cyanobacteria, microscopic organisms best known for driving harmful algal blooms, may play a major role in spreading antibiotic resistance genes in coastal environments. The findings highlight a previously overlooked link between natural nutrient cycling and the global challenge of antibiotic resistance.

Some early life forms may have breathed oxygen well before it filled the atmosphere

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An MIT study suggests some early life forms may have evolved the ability to use oxygen hundreds of millions of years before the Great Oxidation Event, when oxygen became a permanent fixture in the atmosphere. The findings may represent some of the earliest evidence of aerobic respiration on Earth.

Funder: Research Corporation for Science Advancement Scialog program

Could ionospheric disturbances influence earthquakes?

Kyoto University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Kyoto, Japan -- Researchers at Kyoto University have proposed a new physical model that explores how disturbances in the ionosphere may exert electrostatic forces within the Earth’s crust and potentially contribute to the initiation of large earthquakes under specific conditions.

The study does not aim to predict earthquakes but rather presents a theoretical mechanism describing how ionospheric charge variations -- caused by intense solar activity such as solar flares -- could interact with pre-existing fragile structures in the Earth’s crust and influence fracture processes.

In the proposed model, fractured zones within the Earth’s crust are assumed to contain high-temperature, high-pressure water, potentially in a supercritical state. These zones behave electrically like capacitors and are capacitively coupled with both the ground surface and the lower ionosphere, forming a large-scale electrostatic system.

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