El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is known to have a significant impact on climate across the Pacific, including Hawai‘i, and adjacent continents. However, new research led by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa atmospheric scientists revealed that the Pacific Meridional Mode (PMM), another climate pattern that operates in the eastern Pacific Ocean, plays a major role in the variability of rainfall in Hawai‘i.

On May 10, 2024, the first G5 or “severe” geomagnetic storm in over two decades hit Earth. The event, named the Gannon storm in memory of leading space weather physicist Jennifer Gannon, did not cause any catastrophic damages. But a year on, key insights from the Gannon storm are helping us understand and prepare for future geomagnetic storms.

It had been dormant for 800 years, but in March 2021, the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland came to life. While the eruption was ongoing, large-scale field experiments were conducted to build defensive earthen barriers aimed at slowing down the molten lava flow.

The Arctic landscape during the Cretaceous Period may have been dominated by the dinosaurs, but the rivers and streams held something more familiar. Alaska’s fresh waters 73 million years ago were teeming with the ancient relatives of today’s salmon, pike and other northern fish. A new paper published this week in the journal Papers in Palaeontology has named three new species of fish from that time period, including a salmonid, dubbed Sivulliusalmo alaskensis.

Nitrous oxide is known as the gas used in whipped cream cartridges or as an anaesthetic in hospitals. But it’s much more than that. This potent greenhouse gas is also released from biological wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), posing a real threat to our climate. PhD student Nina Roothans (University of Technology, Delft The Netherlands), who recently graduated cum laude, has identified practical strategies to reduce nitrous oxide emissions. Her groundbreaking work has now been published in Nature Water.