A new study reevaluates the use of vapor pressure deficit, or VPD, in climate models to predict increases in area burned by wildfire across the U.S. West.
Modeling
Posted inEditors' Vox
Tracing Water’s Hidden Journey Through the Earth’s Living Skin
Water’s natural fingerprints reveal how it’s stored, mixed, and released through the Earth’s Critical Zone, potentially improving Earth System models in a rapidly warming world.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Let’s Not Forget About Long Droughts
Why do conceptual hydrologic models struggle to model long-term droughts? A new study investigates.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Want to Predict Wildfire Severity? Look to the State of Vegetation
A new study connects satellite data on vegetation condition, topography, and weather conditions to examine the predicted versus actual burn severity of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Drone Imagery Reveals Marked Variability in Antarctic Snow Roughness
Multi-temporal UAV oblique photogrammetry reveals significant fine-scale variability in Antarctic snow roughness driven by surface type, measurement scale, model choice, and meteorological conditions.
Posted inOpinions
The Genesis Mission Needs Hydrology: Here’s How to Incorporate It
By positioning water security as one of the “most challenging problems of this century,” the Genesis Mission can become the sandbox in which AI reshapes how the United States measures, models, and manages water.
Posted inNews
Widening Channels and Westerly Winds Together Formed Earth’s Strongest Current
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current could only develop once wind patterns aligned with new ocean passages 34 million years ago, a new study suggests.
Posted inNews
Location, Location, Location: The “Where” of Reforestation May Matter More Than the Extent
A new study finds that focusing reforestation efforts in strategic locations, such as the tropics, can accomplish global cooling levels comparable to less strategic reforestation efforts covering twice as much area.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mediterranean Mussel Farming Could Collapse by 2050
New experiments suggest that ocean warming and acidification are on track to slash both oyster and mussel farming yields.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Glaciers May Flow into the Ocean More Quickly Than We Think
New research found that adjusting a key model variable may give more accurate predictions of glacial retreat.