A reexamination of the global water cycle shows that tropical coastlines exert a profound influence on atmospheric water circulation by wringing water vapor from the atmosphere.
water cycle
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Humans to Blame for Higher Drought Risk in Some Regions
New observations and analysis dispel remaining doubts that anthropogenic climate change is expanding dry areas in northern midlatitudes.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Uncovering the Hidden Secrets of Water Vapor
A recent paper in Reviews of Geophysics describes how water vapor isotopic measurements and modeling can improve our understanding of the Earth’s water cycle.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Shedding Light on Intermittent Rainfall
A study provides a new modeling method to simulate rain when it pours and when it doesn’t.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Future of Earth Looks Drier…but Just How Dry?
New analysis of soil moisture projections from climate models could help resolve a discrepancy between expected increases in aridity and precipitation over land.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Tracing Water Through the Critical Zone
The authors of a recent paper in Reviews of Geophysics describe how isotope hydrology offers new insights into interactions at the interface between soil, vegetation, and the atmosphere.
Posted inScience Updates
Management Strategies for Sustainable Western Water
U.S. National Science Foundation Workshop: Quenching a Thirsty West; Lake Tahoe, Nevada/California, 29–30 August 2016
Posted inScience Updates
A New Data Set to Keep a Sharper Eye on Land-Air Exchanges
FLUXNET2015, the latest update of the longest global record of ecosystem carbon, water, and energy fluxes, features improved data quality, new data products, and more open data sharing policies.
Posted inEditors' Vox
The Arctic Freshwater Synthesis
The result of international study and coordination, this Special Issue provides an important "state-of-the-science" review of changing systems and their potential impacts.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Regional Wind Patterns Will Influence Climate Change
Climate change is expected to cause wet regions to get wetter and dry regions to get drier, but new research suggests that the truth is more complicated.