Climate change is causing storms to change around the world, a new Earth’s Future study finds. Credit: Unsplash/Beau Horyza
AGU News
AGU24 press registration
Press registration for AGU’s Annual Meeting is open! AGU24 will be held in Washington, D.C. from 9-13 December. Complimentary registration is available for journalists, journalism students, press officers, and institutional writers covering the meeting. Discounted housing is available through 11 November, but housing is almost full. [register here][eligibility][AGU24 press center][hotel information]
Featured Research
Storms in the tropics are intensifying as climate warms
Climate change is altering storm patterns globally, according to new research. Storms in tropical regions are becoming shorter with more concentrated rainfall, while temperate storms are becoming more dispersed and lasting longer. [Earth’s Future study]
Post-drought precipitation to increase this century
Periods of high precipitation after drought can increase natural hazards, such as landslides, and agricultural losses. A new study finds that post-drought precipitation could increase by approximately 15% globally by the end of the century, especially in the autumn. [Geophysical Research Letters study]
Great Dismal Swamp has lost 50 million metric tons of carbon since the 1700s
The Great Dismal Swamp is a peat swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. Humans have disturbed the swamp for hundreds of years, starting with drainage in the 1700s. New research finds the swamp has lost around 50 million metric tons (approximately 55 million U.S. tons) of carbon since the colonial era. Two peat fires in 2008 and 2011 caused an additional one million metric tons (approximately 1.1 million U.S. tons) of carbon loss. [JGR Biogeosciences study]
Perserverance samples could reveal history of Mars’ ancient magnetic field
Mars does not currently have a magnetic field, but it did have one almost 4 billion years ago. But when and why did it disappear? New research finds that samples collected by the Perseverance rover likely contain ferromagnetic minerals, which should tell researchers more about Mars’ magnetic past. [JGR Planets study]
Pollution from Indian biomass burning absorbs solar radiation
Brown carbon, a type of aerosol released during biomass burning, can reflect sunlight. However, it can also absorb radiative energy and contribute to climate warming. Researchers deployed air filters and used satellite data to find that brown carbon particles from residential cooking, agricultural burning and other industries may absorb large amounts of solar energy over India. [Geophysical Research Letters study]
The Moon’s tides hint at a melty lunar layer
New lunar gravity measurements support the idea that a partially molten mantle layer is sandwiched between the rest of the Moon’s mantle and its core. [Eos research spotlight] [AGU Advances study]
###