Using satellite data, scientists have detected where once-stable alpine ecosystems are transforming into greener, shrubbier places.
remote sensing
Posted inNews
A Rock Avalanche Buried an Arctic Glacier. Was Climate Change to Blame?
Degrading permafrost and earlier small quakes likely weakened a rock slope until it collapsed and buried an Arctic glacier in tons of rock.
Posted inNews
Fast, Severe Wildfires Can Change How Forests Grow Back
These blazes can cause ecological shifts even in fire-adapted forests.
Posted inResearch & Developments
We’ve Lost 11 Trillion Metric Tons of Ice Since the 1980s
Researchers have calculated that Greenland and Antarctica have lost 11 trillion metric tons of ice since the 1970s, which has led to a global rise in sea level of more than 3 centimeters.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Remote Sensing Mitigated the Impact of the 2025 Los Angeles Wildfires
Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3 (AVIRIS-3) observations supported situational awareness, inspections, infrastructure assessment, and debris-flow management.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Earth Greening Under Water Stress
Worldwide patterns of increased plant water stress reveal water limits to vegetation greening.
Posted inEditors' Vox
7 Decades of Books Leave a Lasting Legacy
Authors and Editors reflect on the lasting impacts of their books in honor of the AGU Books Program’s 70th anniversary.
Posted inNews
Vegetation Moves Upslope Across the Himalayas
The vegetation line in places like Nepal and Bhutan is shifting upward by meters per year, with implications for how water moves through the planet’s “Third Pole.”
Posted inScience Updates
Sensing the Sounds from Earth’s Hazardous Environments
Low-cost infrasound sensors, deployed in large numbers, provide a practical means of data collection near volcanoes, earthquakes, wildfires, and other geophysical phenomena.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How to Study Coastal Evolution
Researchers reviewed what’s known about how coastlines are changing and made recommendations for how to learn more.