Research Spotlights Archive

16 hours ago

Brown Carbon from Increased Shipping Could Harm Arctic Ice

Emission from a ship’s engine gives clues to how much light-absorbing molecules may build up on and above snow and sea ice. Such emissions are likely to increase as more ships venture into the Arctic.

Atmospheric Sciences

Researchers look at satellite imaging for evidence of high-altitude “wind walls” near Earth’s magnetic poles

14 August 2018

High-Altitude “Wind Walls” Discovered near Magnetic Poles

Satellite imaging reveals two narrow channels of extreme winds surrounded by gentle opposing flow 140–250 kilometers above sea level.

Ocean Sciences

Researchers look at metals in the millimeter-thick sea surface microlayer to better understand how the layer can affect ocean health

14 August 2018

Why Trace Metals Cling to the Ocean’s Skin

Metals within the millimeter-thick sea surface microlayer may impact ocean health and climate.

Planetary Sciences

13 August 2018

Evidence of Regional Deposition in Mars’s South Polar Deposits

Shallow Radar correlation of discrete units in one of the Red Planet’s largest ice reservoirs suggests that its material was emplaced as a single, regional deposit.

Geohealth

People walking a tree-lined street during extreme smog conditions in New Delhi, India.

7 August 2018

Improving Air Quality Could Prevent Thousands of Deaths in India

More stringent emission controls are key to the country’s future health.

Space Science & Space Physics

Researchers look at space storm data to understand how they caused fluctuations in Earth’s surface geomagnetic field

6 August 2018

How Two Massive Space Storms Zapped Alaska

New study reveals how space weather causes rapid fluctuations in Earth’s surface geomagnetic field.

Biogeosciences

Researchers examine the link between drowned river deltas and methane emissions, and how they might be affected by rising sea levels

2 August 2018

Rising Seas Increase Methane Emissions from the Mouths of Rivers

Drowned river deltas exhale large quantities of greenhouse gas, new study finds.

Ocean Sciences

Researchers look at the traces of icebergs in the Norwegian Sea to better understand the past behavior of North Atlantic currents

1 August 2018

Scraping Bottom: Iceberg Scours Reveal North Atlantic Currents

A 3-D seismic analysis of Pleistocene iceberg gouges indicates that surface currents in the Norwegian Sea flowed northward and remained consistent during numerous glacial cycles.

Planetary Sciences