Wind kicks up dust on a dirt road in the Sahara Desert. Dust storms in northern Africa can negatively impact human health and agriculture, but also play a major role in forming clouds and delivering nutrients around the world. Large-scale climate phenomena are making these storms less frequent, a trend likely to continue with climate change. Credit: Armands Brants
AGU News
AGU Denounces Trump Administration’s Repeal of the EPA Endangerment Finding
AGU President Brandon Jones released a statement today on the Trump Administration’s repeal of the EPA Endangerment Finding, calling it a reckless, senseless decision with global implications for human well-being and the environment. Read more: [From the Prow]
Press registration is open for the 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland
Staff, freelance and student journalists, press officers and institutional writers are eligible to apply for complimentary press registration for the conference, which will convene 22-27 February. [media advisory][OSM26 Press][eligibility guidelines][preview conference hotels]
Featured Research
North African dust storms are in decline. Climate change may continue the trend.
Dust storms in the Sahara and Sahel regions of northern Africa have declined at a rate of roughly 0.1 storms per month since the mid-1980s. In a recent study, researchers say the major cause was the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, a long-term pattern of anomalous surface temperatures in the North Atlantic Ocean. In the Sahel, this phenomenon has brought wetter, warmer conditions that moisten soil and fuel plant growth, suppressing dust, while in the Sahara, it has altered wind patterns to the same effect. The team expects the trend to continue under climate change, potentially benefiting air quality and agricultural yields in northern Africa but also impacting how much dust is in the air globally, which in turn influences cloud formation, solar radiation, and nutrient delivery. [JGR Atmospheres study]
On dry-region farms, solar panels can boost crop growth and carbon sequestration
Agrivoltaics, which sites solar panels and farm crops together, can do more than produce food and energy on the same land: in some cases, it can fight drought and enhance carbon sequestration. Researchers fed data from agrivoltaic farms in Colorado and Illinois into a computer model to simulate how the panels affected the land’s water use and carbon storage. In drier Colorado, the panels’ shade kept the soil moist, boosting grass growth and thereby storing more carbon. Amid Illinois’ wetter conditions, however, the shade mostly served to hamper maize and soybean growth, reducing carbon storage. Combining data from both sites, the researchers estimated that solar panel coverage of about 60% worked best for balancing the benefits from both solar and crops. [JAMES study]
As climate change makes floods more variable, coastal deltas will shrink
Coastal deltas and wetlands will likely shrink and sequester less carbon as the timing and intensity of extreme rains and floods get more variable, as scientists expect due to human-driven climate change. In a recent study, researchers ran two experiments on miniature-scale deltas in a lab — one with a constant flood discharge, and one with a variable flow that tripled in volume from base flow to peak flow. The variable flow made its delta slope into the water nearly twice as steeply, and shrink in area by 2.5 times, compared to the steady flow. The former delta also held 108% less organic material, suggesting variable flooding patterns could reduce wetland’s carbon sequestration abilities. [Geophysical Research Letters study]
As warming worsens hot droughts, plants contribute more to ozone pollution
Simultaneous heatwaves and drought, an increasing phenomenon in the northern hemisphere due to global warming, spur plants’ production of ozone-forming chemicals while reducing their ability to suck ozone from the air, a recent study found. Researchers used models to estimate chemical interactions between plants and the atmosphere during hot droughts, with a focus on the US, western Europe, and China. Except in cases of severe drought, the models indicated that hot drought augments plant emissions of ozone precursors by 10% to 24%, mainly due to heat boosting the activity of enzymes central to the process. Drought, meanwhile, prompts plants to close their stomata, or pores, to save water, exchanging gases with the atmosphere up to 36% less and therefore removing less ozone from the air. [JGR Atmospheres study]
Rising gases flag hidden faults in Türkiye
Leaks of carbon dioxide and radon gas from soils in Türkiye align with the presence of underground faults, potentially even revealing previously unknown fault areas, according to a recent study. Researchers measured gas emissions from soils at 98 sites in the Hatay Province of southeastern Türkiye after the country’s 2023 earthquake. In two areas, they found gas leaking along linear paths. Faults may allow gases to rise to the surface, the team wrote, meaning the measurements may indicate buried faults associated with known fault structures. The gas patterns even showed one fault may stretch farther west than previously estimated. The researchers said this confirms soil gases offer a way to detect hidden faults and improve earthquake risk assessment. [Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems study]
How the spring thaw influences arsenic levels in lakes
Four lakes near Yellowknife, Canada, show that there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. [Eos research spotlight][JGR Biogeosciences study]
A road map to truly sustainable water systems in space
Future astronauts need efficient, durable, and trustworthy closed-loop systems to provide water for missions lasting months to years. [Eos research spotlight][Water Resources Research study]
Why are thunderstorms more intense over land than ocean?
A new perspective on convective instability sheds light on the factors controlling intensity in the rising motions that produce precipitation, and occasionally thunder and lightning, over land. [Eos editors’ highlight][Geophysical Research Letters study]