EurekAlert! Climate Change - Latest News Releases

Latest News Releases

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 14-Jan-2026 22:11 ET (15-Jan-2026 03:11 GMT/UTC)

Climate change could drastically reduce aquifer recharge in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Study shows that most of the country’s underground reservoirs will lose their capacity for renewal, increasing the risk of water shortages in several regions, especially the Southeast and South. One strategy to address the problem is “managed recharge,” which includes techniques that promote the infiltration of rainwater or even treated sewage.

Journal: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
Funder: Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

New electrical flash method rapidly purifies red mud into strong ceramics, aluminum feedstock

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A team of researchers at Rice University has developed a faster and cleaner method for recovering aluminum and removing toxic metals from bauxite residue, or red mud, which is a hazardous by-product of aluminum production. This new technique, published in American Chemical Society Applied Materials and Interfaces Sept. 15, involves a brief electrical pulse lasting under one minute along with a small amount of chlorine gas. If implemented on a larger scale, it could revolutionize global waste management and materials recovery.

Journal: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
Funder: Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Chapman University research reveals tropical rainforest soils may fuel climate change as the Earth warms – Accelerating global warming

Chapman University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Chapman University researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service and others, published a study in Nature Communications showing that warming tropical rainforest soils release vast amounts of carbon dioxide, potentially accelerating climate change. In Puerto Rico, experimentally heated plots showed a 42–204% increase in soil respiration, among the highest CO₂ release rates ever recorded. The findings suggest that instead of acting as carbon sinks, tropical soils could become major carbon sources, intensifying global warming. Chapman’s Dr. Christine Sierra O’Connell co-led the research as part of the TRACE project.

Journal: Nature Communications

Warming temps alone fail to trigger increased CO2 levels from soil

North Carolina State University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Higher temperatures combined with added carbon – and added nutrients – led to higher carbon dioxide levels released from the soil.

Journal: Biogeochemistry
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy

Can vertical farms really feed the UK sustainably? New study weighs climate costs and benefits

University of Surrey
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Vertical farming offers a much-needed opportunity to secure food production in the face of climate change, but can it truly deliver a sustainable alternative to field-grown crops? A new study led by the University of Surrey has found that while vertical farms dramatically increase lettuce yields and use far less water, the carbon footprint still exceeds traditional lettuce farming – raising important questions about how the UK can balance food security with environmental responsibility.

Journal: Food and Energy Security

Ancient crop discovered in the Canary Islands thanks to archaeological DNA

Linköping University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The lentils now grown in the Canary Islands have a history that stretches back almost 2,000 years on the site. This is shown in the very first genetic study of archaeological lentils, carried out by researchers at Linköping University and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain. Since these lentils have been adapted for cultivation in hot and dry climates for a very long time, they may become valuable for plant breeding in the light of ongoing climate change.

Journal: Journal of Archaeological Science
Funder: European Research Council, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, the Swedish Research Council

Architecture’s past holds the key to sustainable future

Taylor & Francis Group
Book Announcement

Modern ‘sustainable’ innovations in architecture are failing to slow climate change, but revisiting ancient knowledge and techniques found in traditional architecture could offer better solutions.

When does melting ice capsize? New research unearths several mechanisms

New York University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Rising temperatures of the world’s oceans threaten to accelerate the melting and splintering of glaciers—thereby potentially increasing the number of icebergs and, with it, the need to better understand more about their movement and impact. Through a series of experiments, a team of scientists has pinpointed some of the factors that cause icebergs to capsize, offering insights into how climate change may affect Earth’s waters.

Journal: Physical Review Fluids
Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

Machine learning accelerates biochar research to cut carbon emissions and recycle waste

Biochar Editorial Office, Shenyang Agricultural University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Biochar, a carbon-rich material made from organic waste, is gaining attention for its ability to improve soils, clean water, and capture carbon. A new review in Biochar X highlights how machine learning (ML) is reshaping biochar research, making it faster, smarter, and more effective in tackling climate change.

Ancient DNA reveals deeply complex Mastodon family and repeated migrations driven by climate change

McMaster University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An ancient DNA analysis of the remains of several mastodons, including those which roamed along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of North America, has revealed the Ice Age giants migrated vast distances in response to shifting climates and were far more genetically diverse than previously known.

Journal: Science Advances

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