Earthquake-triggered landslides move soils down steep slopes and deposit the sediments near rivers, sequestering the carbon contained within them for millions of years.
Climate Change
Posted inScience Updates
Lightning: A New Essential Climate Variable
Lightning is a symptom and a cause of climate change. A recently established task team is working to make lightning data available and useful for climate science and service applications.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Budgeting Ozone-Depleting Emissions from Coastal Tidal Marshes
Brackish wetlands and their salt-tolerant vegetation are significant methyl halide emitters. The natural emissions add chlorine and bromine to the stratosphere, which break down ozone.
Posted inScience Updates
Better Data for Modeling the Sun’s Influence on Climate
Several international initiatives are working to stitch together data describing solar forcing of Earth’s climate. Their objective is to improve understanding of climate response to solar variability.
Posted inOpinions
Human Activities Create Corridors of Change in Aquatic Zones
Canals, dammed reservoirs, irrigation ditches, and pollution are changing species diversity, microbial communities, and nutrient levels in aquatic zones across the planet.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Modeling Framework Improves Radiative Feedback Estimates
A new approach offers insights into the relationship between surface temperature and top-of-atmosphere energy imbalances and improves the understanding of important climate feedbacks.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Countergeoengineering Could Ease or Escalate Climate Tensions
Researchers systematically consider the feasibility and political implications of future strategies to counteract temperature-lowering solar geoengineering efforts.
Posted inScience Updates
Better Plant Data at the Root of Ecosystem Models
Version 2 of the Fine-Root Ecology Database is bigger, better, and free to download and use.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
What Is a Nuisance Flood, Exactly?
A more precise definition could help cities and governments prepare and respond to hazards.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Restored Wetlands Could Lower Local Surface Temperatures
A 3-year study of wetlands and cropland in a major California delta highlights the need to consider the physical effects of vegetation when planning land use changes.