Intense sand mining is putting the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia at risk of collapse with catastrophic consequences, a new study has found.

Eggshell calcite gives us a new way to date fossil sites where volcanic layers are missing, a challenge that has limited paleontology for decades.

New Zealand — particularly the South Island/Te Waipounamu — is one of the most seismically active regions in the world. For this reason, the country has acknowledged the importance of building awareness and preparedness.

In this kind of disaster communication, emotions — whether conscious or not — play a crucial role. Caroline Rowe, researcher at the Centre for Sustainability Research, University of Otago, New Zealand, explored this dimension, showing how risk communication can balance fear and anxiety with positive emotions such as fascination and confidence, using vivid imagery, storytelling, and certainty. The result is an in-depth exploration of how emotional aspects of risk communication operate in a real-world context, contributing to a deeper understanding of risk communication in real-world contexts. The study was published in the special issue on emotions and science communication in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM).

A recent study published in National Science Review, reveals that continuously increasing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions will significantly amplify the risk of extreme dry-hot in North America and Europe by enhancing land-air coupling. This study highlights the critical role of regional climate feedbacks under global warming.

An international team led by Japan’s National Institute of Polar Research discovered that large-scale East Antarctic ice loss around 9,000 years ago was amplified by a “cascading positive feedback” between meltwater and ocean circulation. Sediment records and ocean–climate modeling show that meltwater from other Antarctic regions strengthened warm deep-water inflow, accelerating ice-shelf collapse and inland thinning. The finding highlights how Antarctic ice melt can self-reinforce under ongoing global warming.