EurekAlert! News by Subject: Atmospheric Science - News by Subject: Atmospheric Science

Atmospheric Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 16-Oct-2025 09:11 ET (16-Oct-2025 13:11 GMT/UTC)

1-Jul-2025

NASA missions help explain, predict severity of solar storms

An unexpectedly strong solar storm rocked our planet on April 23, 2023, sparking auroras as far south as southern Texas in the U.S. and taking the world by surprise.

Two days earlier, the Sun blasted a coronal mass ejection (CME) — a cloud of energetic particles, magnetic fields, and solar material — toward Earth. But the CME wasn’t especially fast or massive, suggesting the storm would be minor. But it became severe.

Using NASA heliophysics missions, new studies of this storm and others are helping scientists learn why some CMEs have more intense effects — and better predict the impacts of future solar eruptions on our lives.

Journal: The Astrophysical Journal

1-Jul-2025

Food waste: Recycling, not discarding, offers huge environmental benefits

University of Pennsylvania

Researchers at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and their collaborators examine how common food waste recycling methods, including composting, could have a huge impact on greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and the sparing of natural resources such as land and water. Food loss and waste, in particular, are “a big deal,” says Zhengxia Dou. They account for almost a third of the food produced for human consumption.

Journal: Nature Food
Funder: National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Key Research and Development Program of China, Major Science and Technology Projects in Yunnan Province, Major Science and Technology of Shandong Province, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Major Science and Technology Project of Shandong Province, National Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China

1-Jul-2025

Thunderstorms are a major driver of tree death in tropical forests

Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Trees in tropical forests are dying at an increased rate, with consequences for biodiversity, carbon storage, and the global climate. While deforestation is the primary cause of forest loss, intact forests are also experiencing a rise in tree death. Drought, higher temperatures, and fires have been the leading suspects, but a new paper led by Evan Gora, a forest ecologist at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, identifies an underappreciated threat: thunderstorms, which are becoming more frequent with climate change.

Journal: Ecology Letters
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation, Royal Society, Natural Environment Research Council

1-Jul-2025

Extending classical CNOP method for deep-learning atmospheric and oceanic forecasting

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers extend classical CNOP method for deep learning forecasting models with multi-time-slice-input structure. It reveals when—not just where—input errors matter most in targeted observations. This improves forecasts for ocean-atmospheric variables, especially high-impact environmental events.

Journal: Advances in Atmospheric Sciences

1-Jul-2025

ECMWF - delivering forecasts over 10 times faster and cutting energy usage by 1000

ECMWF
Business Announcement

First openly available ensemble model using Artificial Intelligence goes live - delivering forecasts over 10 times faster and cutting energy usage by 1000

30-Jun-2025

Harnessing clean energy from the sun and deep space: A breakthrough in thermoelectric generators

FAR Publishing Limited

A new review highlights advancements in thermoelectric generators (TEGs) that use solar energy and radiative cooling to produce clean electricity. This breakthrough technology shows promise for off-grid power solutions and sustainable energy applications.

Journal: Energy Engineering
Funder: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and the National Natural Science Foundation of China

30-Jun-2025

Hurricane ecology research reveals critical vulnerabilities of coastal ecosystems

American Institute of Biological Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A recently published article in the journal BioScience reveals that endangered longleaf pine ecosystems—among North America's most biodiverse habitats—face mounting threats from intensifying hurricane regimes driven by climate change. An interdisciplinary team of authors headed by Nicole Zampieri (Tall Timbers and The Jones Center at Ichauway) describe the urgent situation: The North American Coastal Plain was once characterized by extensive longleaf pine savannas covering approximately 36 million hectares. Today, these ecosystems "now occupy less than 5% of their historic distribution, primarily because of habitat fragmentation, widespread unsustainable logging, land-use conversion, and fire suppression during the past half millennium."

Journal: BioScience