New research provides a 200-year reconstruction of interannual rainfall in the Amazon basin using oxygen isotopes preserved in tree rings in Ecuador and Bolivia.
Research Spotlights
Research spotlights are plain-language summaries of recent articles published in AGU’s suite of 24 journals.
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Slight Shifts in Magnetic Field Preceded California Earthquakes
Magnetometers detected faint signals that with further study, may improve our understanding of what happens before earthquakes and offer promise for early detection.
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Food Deficits in Africa Will Grow in a Warmer World
Under the combined stress of growing populations and current warming trends, many African nations will face increasing shortfalls in food production in the coming decades.
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Melting Below the Pine Island Ice Shelf Minds the Gap
New research shows that increased calving from West Antarctica’s Pine Island Ice Shelf will likely drive increased circulation of warm water—and melting—below the ice.
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Internet Cable Reveals the Source of Underwater Vibrations
A novel use of an existing fiber-optic cable off the coast of Spain has clued scientists in to how seismic noise is generated in the ocean.
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When Projecting Coastal Resilience, Sediment Compaction Is Key
The addition of new sediment helps build up lowland environments like deltas and marshes, but it also compacts materials beneath it—a vital, but often overlooked, factor in landscape evolution studies.
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Satellites Can Accurately Take Earth’s Temperature
Satellite-based measurements of land surface temperature may prove to be an essential pairing with near-surface air temperatures to understand global warming and cooling trends.
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MESSENGER Reveals a More Dynamic Mercury Surface
Image pairs indicate that 99% of the planet’s surface could be altered in the next 25 million years.
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Unchecked Ocean Warming Threatens Many Gulf and Caribbean Corals
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean sea surface temperatures could surpass coral bleaching thresholds in the region as soon as 2050, motivating the need for prompt mitigation, researchers say.
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Exploring Carbon Emissions in Peatland Restoration
Rewetting bogs can increase methane emissions in the short term, but ultimately the approach helps restore peatlands and create larger carbon sinks.