A series of proposed hydroelectric dams along the Marañón River in Peru could cause the destruction of one of its tributaries, a new Water Resources Research study finds. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/waterloo1883
AGU News
AGU24 Annual Meeting press event schedule posted
AGU24 will be held next week in Washington, D.C. from 9-13 December. Press events this year feature AI in science, NOAA’s Arctic Report Card, Parker Solar Probe’s closest approach to the Sun, first science results from the 2024 total solar eclipse, what to do about space trash, Io’s space volcanos, and approaches to climate adaptation.
Visit the Annual Meeting Press Center to browse the press event schedule, tips and press releases. Registration will remain open throughout the meeting, and registered press will have access to recordings through February. [register here][eligibility][AGU24 press center][meeting app]
Featured Research
Damming one Andean river could cause another to vanish
The Marañón River runs from the Andes Mountains to the Amazon lowlands in Peru. New research finds plans for new hydroelectric dams along the river could cause one of the river’s tributaries, the Santiago River, to clog with sediment and disappear. The proposed dam could also dramatically change fish diversity upstream and downstream of the dams. [Water Resources Research study]
Canada’s 2023 wildfires caused record Midwestern ozone
Smoke from Canada’s 2023 fire season blanketed large regions of the United States. New research finds the fires rocketed surface-level ozone in the upper Midwest to the highest levels recorded since measurements began in 1995. [Geophysical Research Letters study] [CIRES press release]
China’s forests have dramatically recovered since 2000
China has gained 86 million hectares (approximately 213 million acres) of forest since the early 2000s, according to new research. The rate of recovery, however, has slowed by 50% since 2015. [Geophysical Research Letters study]
South Sandwich subduction zone tsunami threat could be understudied
In August 2021, an underwater magnitude 8.1 earthquake caused a tsunami to ripple out from the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean. New research suggests that the subduction zone where the earthquake occurred should be studied more, as the tsunami reached coastlines worldwide. [JGR Oceans study]
Reexamining the Mother’s Day geomagnetic storm
A new study describes what happened during the biggest solar storm in decades, including the “drastic reconfiguration” of Earth’s protective magnetosphere. [Space Weather study]
Seemingly simple climate adaptation strategy could backfire
Reflecting sunlight can protect a neighborhood from scorching temperatures, but surrounding neighborhoods could suffer as a result. [Eos research spotlight] [Geophysical Research Letters study]
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