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24 January 2018
Rise in severity of hottest days outpaces global average temperature increase
While Earth’s average annual temperature has increased at a steady pace in recent decades, there has been an alarming jump in the severity of the hottest days of the year during that same period, with the most lethal effects in the world’s largest cities, a new study finds.
15 December 2017
High-resolution climate models present alarming new projections for U.S.
Researchers have developed new, high-resolution climate models that may help policymakers mitigate the effects of climate change at a local level.
6 December 2017
Cartogram maps provide new view of climate change risk
Scientists have developed cartograms — maps that convey information by contorting areas — to visualize the risks of climate change in a novel way.
10 November 2017
Rising sea levels could weaken coral reefs’ protective influence on Brazil’s coast
Rising sea levels could diminish the ability of Brazil’s coral reef systems to weaken incoming ocean waves, resulting in stronger waves hitting populated areas on the Brazilian coastline, according to new research.
8 November 2017
Study: Major return on investment from improving climate observations
A well-designed climate observing system could help scientists answer knotty questions about climate while delivering trillions of dollars in benefits by providing decision makers information they need to protect public health and the economy in the coming decades, according to a new study published today.
29 August 2017
Unprecedented levels of nitrogen could pose danger to Earth’s environment
Humankind’s contribution to the amount of nitrogen available to plants on land is now five times higher than it was 60 years ago, mainly due to increases in the synthetic production of fertilizer and nitrogen-producing crops, according to a new study. This increase in nitrogen parallels the exponential growth of atmospheric carbon, the main culprit behind climate change, and could pose as much of a danger to Earth’s environment, according to the study’s authors.
7 August 2017
New study details earthquake, flood risk for Eastern European, Central Asian countries
How will future disasters affect countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia? Researchers aiming to answer this question used projected changes in population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 33 countries, along with climate, flood and earthquake risk models, to estimate how each country is affected by flooding and earthquakes now and in the future. In addition, the earthquake model was used to estimate fatalities and capital losses from a strong quake.
27 June 2017
As climate stirs Arctic sea ice faster, pollution tags along
A warming climate is not just melting the Arctic’s sea ice; it is stirring the remaining ice faster, increasing the odds that ice-rafted pollution will foul a neighboring country’s waters, says a new study. The new study, which maps the movement of sea ice in the region, underscores the risk of contaminated sea ice drifting from the economic zone of one country to another’s.
18 May 2017
Planting trees cannot replace cutting carbon dioxide emissions, study shows
Growing plants and then storing the carbon dioxide they have taken up from the atmosphere is not a viable option to counteract unmitigated emissions from fossil fuel burning, a new study shows. Plantations would need to be so large they would eliminate most natural ecosystems or reduce food production if implemented as a late-regret option in the case of substantial failure to reduce emissions, according to the study.
2 May 2017
Development degrades Canary Island’s cherished sand dunes (+video)
A new study published in Earth’s Future, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, explores the impact of development on local wind patterns and dune formation on one of Spain’s Canary Islands. By reviewing aerial photographs and topographical measurements, the study’s authors watched how a city’s expansion altered local wind patterns and ultimately changed the surrounding landscape, jeopardizing the long-term sustainability of a major tourist destination.
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.