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6 November 2012
Atmospheric study spots elusive aircraft-disrupting waves
Air turbulence is a familiar annoyance to travelers and a hassle to airlines. Scientists have long suspected — and predicted in computer models — that mountain-generated atmospheric waves play a key role in such bumpy rides. But the waves have been hard to detect outside of polar regions. New research shows that not only do the turbulence-generating waves exist in those mountainous areas, but scientists can detect them with satellites — if they look hard enough.
12 October 2012
On the early lives of diamonds
Diamonds may not be forever, but they do last an incredibly long time. The forces in the Earth’s interior that shape these famously durable gems have long been mysterious. A new study looks at teensy chunks of an inner zone of the planet that can get caught within diamonds’ crystal structures. It presents new evidence that diamonds often take a long ride in the planet’s fluidly moving gut before rising to the surface.
5 October 2012
Rare upward lightning videos reveal potential downward triggers
Meteorologists have documented upward lightning, which travels upward from the ground to the clouds, since 1939, but they remain puzzled about how it happens. Now, one research team’s analysis of high-speed video taken in Rapid City, South Dakota, captures a possible clue: a downward flash that preceded most upward lightning filmed by the observers.
24 August 2012
Underground bubbles could help keep unwelcome carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere
Pour yourself a flute of champagne and bubbles of carbon dioxide will rise, bursting when they reach the surface. A question troubling some researchers is whether carbon dioxide behaves similarly underground. They’d like to know whether the gas, stored beneath the surface to cut down on greenhouse emissions, would make its way through cracks in the rock, and bubble out into the atmosphere.
23 August 2012
The rare 5.8 Virginia earthquake: One year later
One year ago today, the Washington Monument – along with many other buildings in Washington, D.C. – shook as a 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered near Mineral, Va., rattled the ground beneath it. Since then, experts have deemed the structure unsafe for tourists to enter and estimated that the monument suffered tens of millions of dollars in damage that will take years to repair. Despite these setbacks, the rare seismic event sparked a new era in earthquake assessment in the eastern U.S.
6 August 2012
As Curiosity’s wheels touch down, science gets rolling
As viewing parties celebrating the successful landing of the Mars Science Laboratory wound down early Monday morning, 400 scientists – many of them AGU members – were already using their newest tool for investigating the red planet.
17 July 2012
Water scarcity in the tropical Andes: Population growth outweighs climate change
As the Earth’s surface warms, climate models predict that the amount of fresh water for human consumption will likely decrease in parts of the globe. While that prospect looms for many cities around the world, a new study finds a more imminent threat to water supplies of cities in the tropical Andes — population growth.
15 June 2012
Volcanic impacts on everyday life — circa 1600
Massive volcanic eruptions that spew sulfur-rich particles into the atmosphere can disrupt climate around the globe, leading to cooler temperatures worldwide. Researchers can track the impacts by looking at ice cores or tree rings that record summer growth, but a different approach involves scouring through historical records to see what kind of an impact these volcanic explosions had on everyday life.
Quiet Eyjafyallajökull littered with reminders of 2010 explosion
Three years ago, icebergs floated at the base of this glacier, in the milky water of a glacial lagoon. But in May 2010, Eyjafjallajökull erupted forcefully beneath Gígjökull, causing torrents of melted water called jökulhlaups to surge down the valley and into the lagoon, carrying with them enough boulders and debris fill it up, displacing all the water.
14 June 2012
Volcanoes lessen global rain — by more than climate model predicts
Scientists are working to understand how explosive volcanic eruptions – and potential geoengineering efforts – would affect rain worldwide. And climate models might be underestimating how much precipitation decreases after eruptions.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.