Trees release invisible gases that can create clouds, trap heat, and worsen pollution. Scientists are busy trying to unravel forests’ complex atmospheric contributions in a changing climate.
everything atmospheric
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Dust and Marine Halogens Team Up to Destroy Tropospheric Ozone
Mineral dust-activated halogen chemistry is an important yet under-studied natural sink of the tropospheric ozone with implications for the Earth’s oxidative balance, crop yields, and human health.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Wind Works: The Atmosphere’s Invisible Energetic Tug-of-War
Two basic atmospheric factors can explain the weak and, at times, contrasting trends in global wind energy dissipation under climate change.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Volatile Organic Compounds Have Been Underestimated in the Carbon Cycle
Better tracking of these reactive compounds is essential for understanding how the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere interact.
Posted inFeatures
The Effects of Polar Night and Day on Arctic Air Masses
Cold air outbreaks and warm air intrusions link Arctic and midlatitude weather and climate. But a lack of data on these events, especially in winter, limits our understanding.
Posted inScience Updates
The Ozone Paradox: A Growing Cost of a Warmer Atmosphere
Mexico City’s air is getting cleaner, but ozone levels near the ground aren’t decreasing as fast as expected. Climate change is partly to blame.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Unveiling Atmospheric Circulation on Mars with Magnetic Field Data
Not only can the magnetometer on NASA’s MAVEN satellite track magnetic fields on Mars; it can also track atmospheric circulation – using machine learning.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Rising Air Plumes Help Spike Moist Heat
When dry air mixes with warm, moist air carried aloft by currents from the surface, it can contribute to rising wet-bulb temperatures near Earth’s surface.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Decoding the Origins of Lightning’s Violent Currents
A compact set of physical equations delivers a unified, first-principles explanation for how lightning’s most destructive surge of current is born, races towards the clouds, and fades.