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.
Modeling
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Synergistic Integration of Flood Inundation Modeling Methods
Recent flood modeling advances are trending into silos that compete rather than complement each other, hampering the opportunity for transformative progress toward protecting lives and communities.
Machine Learning Could Enhance Earth System Modeling
Based on tests of a machine learning-based (ML) hybrid model, combining ML with established physics-based frameworks represents a promising path toward developing ML-based Earth system models.
Alaska’s Wildfires Heat the Planet, but Canada’s Cool It
Using 2 decades of satellite data, researchers learned that wildfires in North America don’t follow the same script: In western Canada, snow reflectivity drives a cooling effect, whereas in Alaska, permafrost burning leads to net warming.
