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  Lake Vostok is one of the most unusual lakes on Earth. Buried beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, the subglacial lake has never been directly seen by humans. Scientists discovered it through radar observations in the 1990s and have since used ice-penetrating radar drilling and other techniques to study its size and characteristics. Despite having a smaller surface area than all five of North America’s Great Lakes Lake Vostok contains an enormous volume of water because of its depth. A lake hidden beneath kilometres of ice Lake Vostok stretches for roughly 250 kilometres and is about 50 kilometres wide. Estimates put its surface area at around 12,500 to 15,690 square kilometres, smaller than Lake Ontario, the smallest of the Great Lakes by surface area. The lake lies...

Chile’s Atacama Desert known as the driest non polar desert on Earth has been transformed into a vast carpet of colourful wildflowers after unusually heavy rainfall earlier this year. The rare “Desierto Florido”, or “flowering desert”, has brought millions of dormant seeds, bulbs and tubers to life across parts of the desert. Some of the plant material is believed to have remained dormant for decades. The flowering event follows record rainfall recorded across several regions of Chile between July and August. According to Chile’s National Forest Corporation (CONAF), some locations received between 160 and 190 millimetres of rain levels that had not been recorded since measurements began in the 1950s. Biologists have attributed the unusual rainfall to a strong El Niño weather patte...

  The Uttarakhand government is installing an early warning system at Vasundhara Tal in Chamoli district to monitor the high altitude glacial lake in real time and provide alerts about potentially dangerous changes in water levels, weather and surrounding conditions. Vasundhara Lake is located in the Raikana valley at an elevation of about 4,795 metres. The lake lies near the snout of the Raikana Glacier, which is its primary source and is considered the originating source of the Dhauliganga River an important tributary of the Alaknanda. The lake has been classified as a Category A glacial lake, placing it in the highest risk category identified by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). The new monitoring system will continuously track several parameters that c...

Scientists found that restoring submerged woody habitat in a Wisconsin lake changed how largemouth bass used their surroundings and what they ate, offering insights into how fallen trees can influence freshwater ecosystems. In a 2004 experiment at Camp Lake, Wisconsin, researchers added more than 300 trees and branches to one basin of the lake, while another basin was kept as a control. The goal was to determine whether restoring coarse woody habitat could influence fish populations, prey availability and feeding behaviour. The submerged trees created complex underwater structures that provided shelter for smaller fish and other aquatic organisms. Over the following four years researchers monitored the fish community and found that largemouth bass became more closely associated with ...

A new global study has identified how quickly groundwater systems recover after prolonged droughts offering a way to identify regions where groundwater reserves may be particularly vulnerable. Hydrologist Sandra Hauswirth of Utrecht University developed a classification method using a high resolution global groundwater model with a spatial resolution of one kilometre. The model was used to examine groundwater drought events around the world and assess how groundwater systems respond during drought and recover afterward. The study found that 57% of locations have resilient groundwater systems that recover rapidly and strongly following drought. About 15% were classified as vulnerable, while 26% were identified as unstable, with repeated droughts reducing their ability to recover a...

  Cabo Verde has validated a national roadmap under the Early Warnings for All initiative following Tropical Storm Gonzalo which caused flooding in Santa Maria and damage to coastal infrastructure but resulted in no reported deaths. The storm highlighted the importance of early warnings in giving authorities and residents time to take precautionary measures, while also showing the need to strengthen the systems connecting hazard detection, warnings and public action. The roadmap adopts a multi hazard approach covering risk knowledge, monitoring and forecasting, warning communication, and preparedness and response. It was developed through consultations led by Cabo Verde's four national pillar organisations: the National Civil Protection and Fire Service, the National Institut...

  World Vision Malawi has begun anticipatory measures in 23 districts and city councils as forecasts point to an increased risk of El Niño related drought across southern Africa. The initiative follows August 2026 forecasts that indicated elevated drought risks across much of southern and central Malawi. The National Anticipatory Action Technical Working Group subsequently activated drought triggers for 23 districts and city councils ahead of the November-December-January season. World Vision Malawi and its partners will pre position emergency supplies, including shelter materials, water treatment chemicals and other essential items in high risk areas. They will also support more than 340 Village Savings and Loan groups with additional loans and financial literacy programmes ...

New Delhi: Delhi three major landfill sites at Okhla, Bhalswa and Ghazipur have visibly reduced in height as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) accelerates efforts to clear decades-old waste through biomining. However, residents and waste management experts have raised concerns that fresh garbage continues to accumulate at and around the sites creating new waste piles even as the old mountains are brought down. Delhi generates around 11,000 to 12,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste every day. This makes the disposal of fresh waste a major challenge even as authorities work to remove legacy waste accumulated over several decades. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta recently said that 217.17 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste had been biomined in about 1.5 years and that 100 acres o...

  As Australia heads into the bushfire season a new satellite based tool is helping communities and land managers monitor vegetation moisture and identify areas where fire risk could increase. Developed by Geoscience Australia using observations from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2 satellites, the publicly available tool estimates fuel moisture content across Australia at a resolution of 20 metres. Updated approximately every five days, the data provides a record dating back to 2015. Lower vegetation moisture generally makes plants more flammable, allowing fires to ignite more easily, burn hotter and spread faster. The tool can therefore provide more detailed information than broad seasonal fire-risk forecasts. Researchers examined conditions in the Australian Capit...

In the early 1900s, Florida introduced the Australian paperbark tree Melaleuca quinquenervia to help drain wetlands and support the development of farms and settlements. The effort later had major ecological consequences as the fast growing tree spread across South Florida. Historical research indicates the species first arrived in Florida in 1886 through multiple introductions. By 1906, authorities were using it along canals and levees to absorb excess water and stabilise soil. By the 1920s, the tree had become established in the wild and was spreading through windborne seeds. At its peak, melaleuca was estimated to have covered nearly 500,000 acres of South Florida wetlands. Dense stands replaced native sawgrass habitats reduced sunlight reaching plants below and changed nutrient m...