news
Earth Sciences
Results 1 - 20 of 34.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 29.10.2024
Large meltwater accumulation revealed inside Greenland Ice Sheet
A new study published in Nature unveils a surprising discovery: a substantial amount of meltwater is temporarily stored within the Greenland Ice Sheet during summer months. For the first time, an international group of researchers was able to quantify meltwater with positioning data. The finding challenges current models of how ice sheets contribute to global sea level rise.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 27.09.2024
Researchers from TU Delft and Cambridge University collaborate on innovative methods to combat Climate Change
For over a year and a half, researchers from TU Delft and the Cambridge University Centre for Climate Repair have worked together on groundbreaking techniques to increase the reflectivity of clouds in the fight against global warming. During a two-day meeting, the teams are discussing their progress.
Earth Sciences - 17.07.2024
Revealing coastal sediment pathways
Stuart Pearson, coastal engineer at TU Delft, receives a NWO Veni grant to investigate sediment pathways. He will specifically focus on tracking individual sand grains. Revealing the interconnected network of sediment pathways that shape our coast will help us to better manage the sediment that builds ecosystems and protects us against flooding.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 02.07.2024
Midnight sun on Svalbard: expedition to phytoplankton
On July 5, 2024, five researchers from Radboud University will travel to the far north to research climate change on Svalbard. For a week, the scientists, led by earth scientist Wytze Lenstra, will take samples of the sea floor and water column in one of the fjords. The archipelago is seen as a "natural laboratory" for studying the impact of climate change in the future: these Arctic regions are warming up to about four times faster than the global average.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 21.06.2024
Age of organic carbon important factor in ocean carbon storage
The ocean can store carbon and act as a carbon sink, and it can be a carbon source. The difference in 'age' of the organic carbon already present in the ocean and the carbon that is supplied determines whether the ocean acts as a carbon sink or source. Researchers from Nanjing universities and Utrecht University created the first sink or source world map that can be used when deciding where to invest in organic carbon storage in the ocean.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 24.05.2024
30 million euros for research into climate change feedbacks
Climate change can accelerate due to feedback mechanisms: complex phenomena caused by climate change that in turn can further drive climate change. An example is the extra CO2 emissions from thawing permafrost. Research into the influence of feedback mechanisms in the long term has been ongoing, and modern climate change research is obviously happening as well, but the connection between the two has so far been underemphasized.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 22.05.2024
Seaweed forests are an overlooked component of oceanic carbon storage
A groundbreaking study by an international team of researchers has revealed seaweed forests to be significant contributors to oceanic carbon storage. Their research estimates that the world's seaweed forests transport 56 million tonnes of carbon (between 10 to 170 million tonnes) to deep ocean sinks each year.
Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 14.03.2024
Surprising insights about debris flows on Mars
The period that liquid water was present on the surface of Mars may have been shorter than previously thought. Channel landforms called gullies, previously thought to be formed exclusively by liquid water, can also be formed by the action of evaporating CO2 ice. That is the conclusion of a new study by Lonneke Roelofs, a planetary researcher at Utrecht University.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 09.02.2024
Potential collapse of the Atlantic Ocean Circulation strongly affects European climate
Researchers from Utrecht University have successfully simulated the collapse of the large-scale ocean circulation in the Atlantic Ocean using a complex climate model, revealing severe global climate repercussions with Europe bearing the brunt. They published their findings in the scientific journal Science Advances today.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 26.01.2024
Destabilising interactions in the climate system: How tipping elements interact
Beyond 2°C of global warming, the risk of one climate tipping element triggering other tipping elements in the Earth's climate system strongly increases. Furthermore, most of these interactions are destabilising. This is the result of a new study by an international team of scientists, led by Anna von der Heydt from Utrecht University and Nico Wunderling from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.
Innovation - Earth Sciences - 08.01.2024
Unique permanent coastal observation detects minimal changes
A team of researchers from TU Delft has succeeded in long-term mapping of beach topography to within a few centimetres. The unique dataset provides insights into coastal changes for every hour, for three years. This data is important for dune maintenance and to keep the hinterland well protected. The methodology is also being used to monitor other coastlines and even glaciers.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 18.12.2023
Utrecht University’s Earth Sciences for the First Time Ever in the Guinness Book of World Records
For the first time ever, research led by one of Utrecht University's earth scientists - Dr Dan Palcu - has earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. His fascinating research shows the immense proportions of the largest lake the Earth has ever seen: the Paratethys. Guinness World Records published a whole page about the 'Largest lake ever' on their website, as well as a highlight in the print edition.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 06.12.2023
Largest ever study on tipping points presented at COP28
A major, international research report is released today at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai: the Global Tipping Points Report. The report shows that crucial tipping points in the Earth's climate system are getting closer. These tipping points occur when a small change triggers an irreversible transformation.
Earth Sciences - Environment - 31.10.2023
Science and citizens collaborate to understand natural methane removal
How does Saharan dust remove the powerful greenhouse gas methane from the atmosphere above the Atlantic Ocean? Recently, Utrecht University and other institutes started a research project in collaboration with the shipping industry to answer this question. Once every month, boxes of flasks arrive on the sixth floor of the Buys Ballot building at Utrecht University.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 21.09.2023
Much potential to reduce methane emissions European energy industry
The oil industry in Romania has an enormous potential for reducing methane emissions. This has been demonstrated by a team of scientists led by Professor Thomas Röckmann from Utrecht University. In 2019, the amount of methane emitted by the Romanian oil industry was equal to the amount of methane emitted by all other European oil industries combined.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 10.08.2023
Then vs. now: Did the Horn of Africa reach a drought tipping point 11,700 years ago?
'Wet gets wetter, dry gets drier'. That mantra has been used for decennia to predict how global warming will affect the hydrological cycle in different world regions. But if climate models predict that much of tropical Africa will enjoy a future with wetter weather, then why does it keep getting drier in certain parts of the African tropics, like the Horn of Africa? An international team of researchers have found a pre-historic climate tipping point that helps explain the disparity between these model predictions and the intensifying drought conditions in the Horn of Africa.
Earth Sciences - 07.08.2023
Less plastic in the ocean and easier to clean up
Significantly less plastic is estimated to be present in the global ocean than scientists previously thought. This new insight results from calculations with a computer model that includes a record number of measurements and observations of plastic in the ocean. Also, a relatively large proportion of the plastic in the ocean consists of large pieces that are easier to clean up.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 17.05.2023
’That we have enough time is a misconception’
Four Utrecht researchers, each with slightly different areas of expertise and at different stages in their careers. But with one urgent shared concern: climate is changing, ice sheets are melting and sea levels are rising. This concern is crystal clear. But the complex research behind it is far from simple for most people.
Environment - Earth Sciences - 07.04.2023
Past extreme climate warming triggered by tipping points
Can a rapid warming of Earth trigger tipping points in our climate? For decades scientists have debated if today's warming can strongly amplify itself by triggering a catastrophic release of greenhouse gases. New research, published in Science Advances , now presents evidence that such tipping points did occur in Earth's history.
Earth Sciences - Astronomy / Space - 31.03.2023
Rise of oxygen in early ocean due to wobbling Earth’s axis
Nearly 2.5 billion years ago, seas on our planet alternately contained more or less oxygen, due to the slow "wobble" of the rotating Earth. So writes an international team of scientists, some affiliated with Utrecht University and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). "The fact that the Earth eventually became an oxygen-rich planet with a pleasant climate may be partly due to the right astronomical influence at the right time," says Utrecht PhD candidate Margriet Lantink, first author of the article.