While storing carbon dioxide, the coastal ocean also releases methane and nitrous oxide. New research shows that understanding the impact of coastal oceans on climate requires more research into these fluxes and how they counteract each other.
carbon cycle
The Open Ocean, Aerosols, and Every Other Breath You Take
Phytoplankton and other marine plants produce half of Earth’s atmospheric oxygen and have big effects on food webs and climate. To do so, they rely on nutrients from the sky that are hard to quantify.
Our Breathing Earth: A Review of Soil Respiration Science
A new synopsis details how the past 20 years have changed our understanding of soil respiration and revealed its critical effects on the climate system.
Los microplásticos son el ingrediente no tan secreto de la nieve marina
Partículas diminutas de plástico degradadas y cubiertas por biopelículas se hunden hasta el fondo marino llevando consigo carbono.
New Satellite Will Help NASA Keep PACE with Earth Systems
Color and light measurements will help scientists better assess how our oceans and atmosphere interact.
A Closer Look-Sea at the Ocean’s Carbon Cycle
In the February issue of Eos, we dive deep to better understand opportunities, challenges, and ongoing mysteries posed by carbon’s role in marine environments.
Microplastics Are the Not-So-Secret Ingredient in Marine Snow
Particles of tiny, degraded plastics coated with biofilms sink to the seafloor, carrying carbon with them.
Ecosystem Observations from Every Angle
Proximal remote sensing provides a bridge between ecosystem flux data at Earth’s surface and optical data from satellite sensors, improving our grasp of feedbacks between terrestrial ecosystems and climate.
Affordable Robots Measure Soil Respiration
Measuring soil carbon flux, also known as soil respiration, can be expensive or time-consuming. A set of affordable robots that gather these data autonomously could especially benefit the Global South.
Weathering of Rocks Can Release Carbon Dioxide
New research upends the notion that the weathering of rocks mainly removes CO2 from the atmosphere. Rocks can also be carbon sources, releasing as much CO2 as Earth’s volcanoes.
