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Near-Earth asteroid Bennu is one of a range of bodies in the Solar System to have been reached by space missions in the past months. Crowd-sourcing technologies can help with the exploration of its surface.
Two tsunamis generated by distinct geohazards struck Indonesia within six months and killed thousands. Early-warning systems established after 2004 have not prevented devastation.
Wildfires are a natural part of many ecosystems, but they can become destructive and less predictable, especially when the system is perturbed. Human activities and climate change lead to interactions with fire dynamics that need our attention.
Machine learning allows geoscientists to embrace data at scales greater than ever before. We are excited to see what this innovative tool can teach us.
Past and future changes in tropical cyclones and the damage they cause are fiendishly difficult to detect and project. For the Atlantic, progress is being made; other ocean basins lag behind.
Fifty years of international ocean drilling have brought enormous insights into the workings of our planet. Incorporating young investigators’ ideas, cooperating internationally and sharing data and samples have been key to this success.
Increasing numbers of geoscientists are nurturing an online presence. Nature Geoscience explores the potential benefits of taking your professional life online.
As Peer Review Week approaches, Nature Geoscience takes the opportunity to thank its peer reviewers and contemplate how their vital work can be better supported.
Earth’s resources may not be running out, but the planet’s capacity to cope with the resulting waste products is limited. Resource geology can no longer be the preserve of the economic, mining or petroleum geologist; sustainably providing for the world’s population requires a broader skillset.
A high percentage of international collaborations in a country’s research output can be a sign of excellent networks, or of a reliance on know-how imports. Caution is needed in the latter case, but international collaborations make research more powerful.
Human manipulation of hydrocarbons — as fuel and raw materials for modern society — has changed our world and the indelible imprint we will leave in the rock record. Plastics alone have permeated our lives and every corner of our planet.
Whether the climate of early Mars was warm and wet or cold and dry remains unclear, but the debate is overheated. With a growing toolbox and increasing data to tackle the open questions, progress is possible if there is openness to bridging the divide.
Preprint servers afford a platform for sharing research before peer review. We are pleased that two dedicated preprint servers have opened for the Earth sciences and welcome submissions that have been posted there first.
The East Antarctic ice sheet may be gaining mass in the current, warming climate. The palaeoclimate record shows, however, that it has retreated during previous episodes of prolonged warmth.
Great Earth science has been published over the ten years since the launch of Nature Geoscience. The field has also become more interdisciplinary and accountable, as well as more central to society and sustainability.
The world's inland waters are under siege. A system-level view of watersheds is needed to inform both our scientific understanding and management decisions for these precious resources.
Over the past decade or so, China has turned into a land of opportunity for science. We are keen to witness first hand how the geoscience landscape continues to unfold.
