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Extreme rainfall events are often linked to climate change based on simple thermodynamic arguments, but complex dynamic processes also play a role. Scientists have a responsibility to ensure they provide accurate information to the media and public.
Atmospheric observations show the presence of shallow mesoscale circulations in the North Atlantic trades and demonstrate their widespread influence on atmospheric moisture and, consequently, clouds.
Groundwater springs formed during the retreat of a melting glacier are likely hotspots of methane emissions in the high Arctic according to measurements of methane concentrations in springs recently formed in central Svalbard.
Glacier retreat in Greenland not only changes the primary productivity of downstream fjord ecosystems but also the ecosystem structure and functioning, according to seasonal sampling of two downstream fjords.
Anthropogenic greenhouse gases and aerosols have counteracting effects on heat uptake and interbasin transport in the ocean, according to an ensemble of climate model simulations.
Both magnetic reconnection and kinetic instabilities are required to produce magnetotail plasma eruptions, according to high-resolution global simulations of Earth’s magnetosphere.
Uncertainty in stratospheric water vapour projections is reduced using an observational constraint based on historical co-variations between atmospheric temperature and water vapour.
Overturning circulation that mixes surface and deep water was invariant over the Holocene, suggesting a limited role in rising CO2 during this time, according to deep-sea coral radiocarbon records.
The low-latitude western boundary current in the South Pacific Ocean strengthened as climate warmed over the past 100 years, according to a coral nitrogen isotope record from the Solomon Sea.
Atmospheric sulfate aerosols—which could cool the atmosphere—were formed in less acidic cloud water in continental interiors in pre-industrial time than today, according to a triple oxygen isotope analysis of sulfate in weathering carbonates.
Icequake observations were combined with an analytical friction model to measure friction and slip at the bed of an Antarctic ice stream. Friction and slip are found to be highly variable in space and time, controlled by higher-than-expected normal stresses at the ice–bed interface.
Surface fractures that intersect glacial streams can propagate deeply in ice sheets and can increase their dynamic instability as melting intensifies, according to a new observationally-constrained modelling study of the Greenland Ice Sheet.
Post-subduction downwelling of lithosphere—or drips—can lead to extension and crustal thinning, influencing the tectonic evolution of continental crust after subduction termination, according to thermo-mechanical simulations.
Passive seismic observations from the Rutford Ice Stream in Antarctica reveal a highly complex bed and substantial variability in friction and slip rates at the ice–bed interface.
Analysis of changes in the Earth’s rotation in the Precambrian suggests that day length stabilized at 19 h for 1 billion years due to tidal resonance, which may have been linked to a relatively quiescent period of tectonic activity and biological evolution.
Mantle lithosphere underlying the stable continental crust of cratons is dense and has experienced cyclic deformation since the Neoproterozoic, leading to the longevity of cratons, according to geological data and geodynamic modelling.
Research on the energy transition needs to involve all communities and requires breaking the paradigm of traditional industry-funded research, argues Jef Caers from his personal story.
