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.
Research Spotlights
Research spotlights are plain-language summaries of recent articles published in AGU’s suite of 24 journals.
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.
Why Trace Metals Cling to the Ocean’s Skin
Metals within the millimeter-thick sea surface microlayer may impact ocean health and climate.
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.
Improving Air Quality Could Prevent Thousands of Deaths in India
More stringent emission controls are key to the country’s future health.
How Two Massive Space Storms Zapped Alaska
New study reveals how space weather causes rapid fluctuations in Earth’s surface geomagnetic field.
Rising Seas Increase Methane Emissions from the Mouths of Rivers
Drowned river deltas exhale large quantities of greenhouse gas, new study finds.
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.
How Jupiter’s Icy Moons Got Their Bands and Grooves
Europa’s churning ice crust could reveal signs of ocean life, new study suggests.
Insect Infestations Alter Forest Carbon Cycle
A hemlock woolly adelgid outbreak in southern Appalachia prompted a transformation in where the forest stores carbon.