A growing population requires more food and energy, which compete for limited space…unless they don’t.
Research Spotlights
Research spotlights are plain-language summaries of recent articles published in AGU’s suite of 24 journals.
Coral Chemistry Reflects Southeast Asia’s Economic Expansion
Soil erosion from economic development sent sediments into the South China Sea—and into coral skeletons.
The Greenhouse Gas Burden of Inland Waters
A global collaboration inventoried greenhouse gas emissions from rivers, lakes, and streams.
A New Origin Story for Mars’s Burns Formation
The Red Planet’s Grasberg and Burns formations have different compositions today, but they may have started out the same way.
Tropical Cyclone Triggered Record Algal Bloom in the South Pacific
In 2019, Tropical Cyclone Oma hovered over the Coral Sea in the South Pacific, leaving a massive algae bloom in its wake.
Rougher Faults May Generate More Earthquake Aftershocks
Lab experiments on pieces of granite reflect natural aftershock dynamics and highlight the role of rock roughness along a fault.
Carbon Sink Models Need Nitrogen
If terrestrial biosphere models don’t include nitrogen, they will overestimate carbon sequestration.
Do Volcanoes Add More Carbon Than They Take Away?
Slow carbon seep long after eruptions have ceased could shape the carbon cycle on geological timescales.