3/26/2025: Blackbirds play key role in North American West Nile spread

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Blackbirds such as red-winged blackbirds and grackles carry West Nile virus as they migrate, spreading the disease across North America, a new GeoHealth study reports. Credit: Niklas Hamann/unsplash

AGU News

AGU journal editors are committed to scientific publishing free from political interference
In an editorial published today, Editors-in-Chief of AGU publications reaffirm their commitment to excellence, inclusion, and the independence of Earth and space science research. They condemn any form of censorship or coercion that attempts to limit or condition the activity and output of Earth and space scientists, including removal of data, curtailing of research funding, and restrictions to research activities. They will continue to champion rigorous peer review, equitable participation, and policies that protect scientific integrity. [AGU Advances opinion] 

One week left to submit to our Journalism Awards!
Submit your own work or nominate others’ Earth and space science stories. We have one award for features and one for short-turnaround news stories; work must have been first published in 2024. Entries from all countries are encouraged. Deadline: 31 March. Send questions to [email protected]. [award information][submit here]

Featured Research 

Blackbirds play key role in spreading West Nile virus in North America 
Mosquitoes can spread West Nile virus to humans, but they can also infect birds, who then carry the disease along flyways. Previous research focused on migratory birds, but large groups of blackbirds can contribute to virus spread as well, a new study finds. [GeoHealth study][see also: unusual species of wild birds are spreading bird flu] 

Aluminum from falling satellites change atmospheric temps, wind speeds
When satellites fall from orbit, they burn up in the atmosphere and release pollution, including aerosolized aluminum. New modeling of pollution from satellite reentry estimates about 11,000 US tons of aluminum oxide will be released by year by 2040, leading to mesospheric heating and changes in wind speeds. [JGR Atmospheres study][see also: plummeting Starlink satellites could jeopardize ozone hole recovery] 

Earth’s rotational axis could shift 27 meters by 2100 thanks to ice melt
The point around which the Earth rotates changes over time in response to various factors, including the distribution of water and ice mass on Earth’s surface. By 2100, this rotational axis could be up to 27 meters (89 feet) from where it was in 1900 as a result of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheet melt and changes in water on land, a new study finds. [Geophysical Research Letters study] 

Sustainable-certified aquaculture farms can still pollute
Net-pen aquaculture is an efficient way to raise fish, which can help local economies. But they can contribute significant volumes of pollutants, such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Even aquaculture setups that are certified sustainable release unhealthy amounts of N and P, a new case study in Honduras finds. [Earth’s Future study] 

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3/19/2025: Martian dust will be a health hazard for astronauts

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A global Martian dust storm in summer 2018 blocked sunlight on the planet for weeks. Curiosity’s Mast Camera captured the storm’s advance in these images from June to September. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/York University

AGU News

Two weeks left to submit to our Journalism Awards!
Submit your own work or nominate others’ Earth and space science stories. We have one award for features and one for short-turnaround news stories; work must have been first published in 2024. Entries from all countries are encouraged. Deadline: 31 March. Send questions to [email protected]. [award information][submit here]

Featured Research

Martian dust will be a health hazard for astronauts
Prolonged exposure to the Red Planet’s regolith, which contains carcinogens and toxic metals, could pose respiratory threats and increase chronic disease risk. [GeoHealth study][Eos research spotlight]

Hailstones send heavy metals back to Earth
Hailstones from more heavily populated — and polluted — parts of China had higher concentrations of heavy metals than those in more rural regions, a new study finds. The metals primarily come from traffic emissions. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

More than a million premature deaths due to biofuel burning
Burning solid biofuels, such as wood and animal waste, creates air pollution that can cause health problems or death. Although burning biofuels is less common than it used to be, globally it caused between 1.1 and 1.4 million premature annual deaths in 2000-2019, a new study finds. That is roughly twice as high as previous estimates. [GeoHealth study]

New assessment of landslide risk across Europe
Many landslide risk assessments are at local or regional scales, limiting knowledge of large-scale patterns and drivers of this hazard. A first-of-its-kind study analyzes daytime and nighttime landslide risk across the European continent and maps threats to human settlements and agriculture. [Reviews of Geophysics study][explore the risk map]

The Middle East’s first comprehensive carbon budget
The first greenhouse gas budget for Central and West Asia, comprising 24 countries, was just published. Iran was the top emitter, and the top 10 countries emitted 84% of the region’s greenhouse gases. [Global Biogeochemical Cycles study][Eos research spotlight]

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3/12/2025: Soil microbes can consume much of the methane leaking from old oil, gas wells

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A natural gas well. Credit: wikimedia

AGU News

Eos launches ‘Research & Developments’ to keep up with rapid policy changes
AGU’s magazine Eos has launched a new blog, “Research & Developments,” to keep up with the onslaught of changes in U.S. science policy and funding. Eos reporters will provide timely, brief updates and critical context for law and policy changes that impact science and scientists. [check it out]

Featured Research

Microbes eat up methane leaking from abandoned oil and gas wells
Decommissioned oil and gas wells can release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Microbes that naturally occur in soils can efficiently remove methane before it reaches the atmosphere, suggesting soil could be used as a nature-based solution to well leaks, a new study finds. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Brake wear adds dangerous antimony to city air
The metal antimony can harm human health, but its sources in urban environments are not well known. Brake wear and waste incineration are the major antimony sources in Wuhan, China, a new study finds. The findings can guide regulation and public health measures. [JGR Atmospheres study]

Opinion: Formalizing the Anthropocene would “align the Earth sciences with reality”
In 2024, the International Union of Geological Sciences rejected a proposal to formally define the Anthropocene as an epoch. But the Earth “clearly no longer operates in a ‘Holocene mode,’” and formalizing the Anthropocene would recognize this critical shift, scientists argue in a new editorial. Such recognition, they state, would “acknowledge the facts” and “align the Earth sciences… with reality.” [AGU Advances commentary]

“Mega-pool” salt marshes are expanding in Maine, threatening carbon storage
Salt marshes provide critical habitat and ecosystem services, and their health rests in the balance between vegetation and pools of standing water. Pool growth can degrade habitat and limit carbon cycling. Maine’s 12 largest salt marshes expanded by about 16% from 2009 to 2021, with growth largely driven by the expansion of “mega pools.” The findings will guide marsh restoration projects. [JGR Earth Surface study]

Food insecurity linked to heart disease, diabetes in the US
A lack of consistent access to food increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, according to a new study of health and food deserts in the U.S. The tie is particularly strong in the South. [GeoHealth study][Eos research spotlight]

Higher ozone levels tied to heart attack risk
Higher levels of ozone pollution were associated with increased rates of some types of heart attack 4-5 days after the pollution, a new study finds. The correlation was stronger in non-Hispanic Black patients than white patients, and the association remained significant even at ozone levels lower than WHO guidelines. [GeoHealth study][Eos research spotlight]

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3/5/2025: Two degrees of warming would double Greenland’s rain

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A wildfire burns in South Carolina in 2016. Credit: US National Guard

AGU News

AGU joins suit supporting fired federal scientists
AGU has joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit before the United States District Court, Northern District of California, arguing that the firings of probationary employees in agencies across the federal government directed by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management were illegal. It argues downstream impacts of reduced federal scientific expertise and funding on research have harmed the economy, public health, environment, and national security. [read the full statement]

The state of science: “Ushering in a dark age of retreat”
AGU responds to President Trump’s speech Tuesday night. “At the moment, the state of our science is not strong, but the resolve of our community in Earth and space sciences to restore and renew it is.” [read the full statement]

Experts available to comment on importance of US climate science
AGU last week issued a statement stressing the importance of climate science for ensuring a secure, prosperous future for the country and for the world. Federal firings and funding cuts threaten the next generation of scientists and risk undoing critical progress made in climate research and mitigation. Email [email protected] for help finding expert sources willing to speak with the media about climate science. [read the full statement]

Featured Research

Research roundup: The changing wildfire climate in the southeast US
Hundreds of wildfires are burning in the Carolinas and Georgia. These studies may be useful for reporters covering the fires. [growth of woody veg drives SE US wildfires][wildfires are on the rise in the eastern US][how smoke impacted vulnerable populations in N.C.’s 2016 fires]

Two degrees of warming would double Greenland’s rain
If temperatures in Greenland rise to 2.3°C above the historical average, the amount of precipitation falling as rain there would double, while 10°C of warming would cause half the island’s precipitation to fall as rain, a new study finds. Rain accelerates the ice sheet’s mass loss, while snow can help decelerate loss. [Geophysical Research Letters study][see also: atmospheric rivers can dump enough snow to replenish some of Greenland’s ice loss]

Even mild warming will bring 10 times more atmospheric rivers to western US
Atmospheric rivers can cause destructive flooding and frequently hit the western U.S. In mild warming, extreme atmospheric rivers will hit the West Coast nearly 10 times more frequently by the end of the century, a new modeling study reports. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

The thirstiest crops in the US
Corn and alfalfa agriculture account for about two-fifths of the country’s annual “blue” crop water consumption, a new study finds. About 10% of irrigated croplands in the U.S. account for more than 90% of the volume of irrigation water. Corn and soybeans are prominent in the East, while alfalfa and hay dominate the West. [Water Resources Research study]

Oceans are warming, but evaporating less
Recent research documented a slowdown in the accumulation of water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere in recent decades. Despite rising sea surface temperatures, marine evaporation (a key source of water vapor) has decreased, primarily because of “wind stilling,” a new study finds. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

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2/26/2025: Only low-emissions pathways will keep Antarctica cold

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Credit: NASA GSFC

AGU News

Nominate work for AGU’s 2025 Journalism Awards
The deadline for our News and Features awards is 31 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Email us at [email protected] with questions about submissions and eligibility. [media advisory][information for News and Features awards][SUBMIT HERE]

Featured Research

Only low-emissions pathways will keep Antarctica cold
Only the lowest-emissions scenario could keep Antarctica under the critical 2 degrees Celsius warming mark by 2100, new models show. Warming will continue to increase melt in Antarctica, which will contribute to global sea level rise, highlighting the importance of climate policies to meet emissions goals. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Hudson Bay sea ice broke up a month early in spring 2024
Sea ice in Canada’s Hudson Bay in 2024 broke up 31 days earlier than the historical record, leading to record-low sea ice extent that was exceptionally lower than the historical average, a new study finds. Sea ice retreated six times faster than in the historical period, leading to record-high sea surface temperatures and exceptionally long marine heat waves. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Tracing the causes of Brazil’s disastrous 2024 floods
Severe flooding in southern Brazil (May 2024) claimed nearly 200 lives and displaced more than 600,000 people. The floodwaters were around 1.5 billion cubic meters, a new study finds. The flooding was caused by a heatwave that blocked a cold front, leading to record-breaking rainfall. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Ancient city of Alexandria is collapsing
Building collapses in the 3,000-year-old port city of Alexandria, today the most densely populated urban area in the southern Mediterranean, increased 10-fold in the last 20 years, a new study finds. Nearly 300 buildings have collapsed, and at least 7,000 more are at risk. Seawater intrusion and erosion drive the collapses there and threaten buildings similarly throughout the Mediterranean. [Earth’s Future study][USC press release]

A slowdown of seafloor spreading may have sunk sea levels
Between 15 million and 6 million years ago, a drop in ocean crust production may have lowered sea level by 26 to 32 meters. The slowdown could have led to climate cooling, which could further lower sea level. [Eos research spotlight][Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems study]

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2/19/2025: Ozone pollution tied to heart attack risk

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Smog in Los Angeles. Credit: Ron Reiring/flickr

AGU News

Nominate work for AGU’s 2025 Journalism Awards
The deadline for our News and Features awards is 31 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Email us at [email protected] with questions about submissions and eligibility. [media advisory][information for News and Features awards][SUBMIT HERE]

Featured Research

Ozone pollution tied to heart attack risk
Even short-term exposure to ozone pollution may lead to increased risk of heart attack in individuals 18-55, a new study finds. Black patients were more likely to be negatively impacted. [GeoHealth study]

How much water is the massive Mu Us Desert restoration using?
The Mu Us Desert in northwestern China was historically an arid steppe, but climate change and human activities caused desertification to spread in the mid-1900s. Ecological restoration efforts have been ongoing for decades, and some of those efforts might be using less water than previous estimates said, a new study found. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Biomass burning is blackening Himalayan glaciers
Black carbon warms the atmosphere and melts ice. In the Himalayas, fossil fuel combustion contributes most black carbon, but biomass burning has been adding more in recent decades, a new study finds. Years with droughts, particularly El Niño years, saw more black carbon from biomass burning. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Jupiter’s moon Callisto is likely an ocean world
The planet’s second-largest moon probably hosts a vast, salty ocean under its icy shell, according to a new study. The ocean could be tens of kilometers deep. [Eos research spotlight][AGU Advances study]

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2/12/2025: Consecutive El Niño events may increase infectious disease risk

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AGU News

Nominate work for AGU’s 2025 Journalism Awards
The deadline for our News and Features awards is 31 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Email us at [email protected] with questions about submissions and eligibility. [media advisory][information for News and Features awards][SUBMIT HERE]

Featured Research

Back-to-back El Niños may increase infectious disease outbreaks
Consecutive El Niño events, which can occur relatively often, may lead to a multi-year increase in risk for infectious diseases, a new study finds. El Nino’s impacts on human health persist for one or more years after the weather changes, the study also found. [GeoHealth study] 

Heavy rains leave Beijing air cleaner
Large rainstorms can “scavenge” pollutants from urban air, a new study of Beijing finds. Besides temporarily cleaning the air, that has a surprising effect: With fewer aerosols in the air, the clouds changed, and the city was more likely to receive gentle, warm rain than when the air was more polluted. [JGR Atmospheres study]

The next decade of space weather research
A summary report of the 2024 decadal survey for the solar and space physics community was released at the end of last year, with emphases on increased satellite launches, the development of private space exploration, space exploration, and vulnerabilities to space weather. In a brief editorial, the editor-in-chief of the journal Space Weather discusses key recommendations for the next decade of space weather research. [Space Weather commentary]

First Martian soil samples collected
The Perseverance rover has collected the first soil samples taken on the Red Planet, a new study reports. The samples, slated to return to Earth in the mid- to late 2030s, will give scientists crucial new information about how the planet’s climate and tectonics work and affected its surface. [JGR Planets study][UNLV press release]

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2/5/2025: A new way to take lightning’s temperature

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AGU News

Nominate work for AGU’s 2025 Journalism Awards
The deadline for our News and Features awards is 31 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Email us at [email protected] with questions about submissions and eligibility. [media advisory][information for News and Features awards][SUBMIT HERE]

Featured Research

A new way to take lightning’s temperature
Lightning contributes nitrogen oxide to the atmosphere and causes many wildfires, and knowing how hot strikes are improves our understanding of both of these impacts. But taking lightning’s temperature is very difficult. A new method of measuring strikes’ temperatures is easier, cheaper, and more effective than previous tools. [JGR Atmospheres study]

Mapping global trade’s contributions to air pollution
Global production and supply chains contribute particulate air pollution (PM2.5) to the atmosphere, but the pollution often stays where products are made with little, if any, impact on regions to which products are exported. A new study examines ties between health burdens, consumption, and income in a trade context. Western Europe’s contributions to trade-induced PM2.5 may be underestimated. [Earth’s Future study]

Europe’s 2022 heatwave and power shortage combo, explained
During the extreme heatwaves that struck southern Europe in May-July 2022, energy demand soared while the energy supply shrank. The same weather patterns that caused the heatwaves slowed wind speeds, creating a shortage of wind power, a new study reports. [JGR Atmospheres study] [AGU24 roundtable: “Extreme weather and the grid”]

El Nino and warm oceans led to record-hot 2023
In 2023, the world experienced its hottest global average surface temperature (until 2024, that is). The first half of the year saw gradual ocean warming as a result of El Nino patterns, followed by rapid warming over land masses later in the year, a new study finds. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

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1/29/2025: High-elevation sites get high-energy lightning strikes

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Credit: Tim Trad/unsplash

AGU News

AGU’s 2025 Journalism Awards are open!
Nominate news and feature stories about the Earth and space sciences, published in 2024, for our science journalism awards. The deadline is 31 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Email us at [email protected] with questions about submissions and eligibility. [media advisory][information for News and Features awards][SUBMIT HERE]

Featured Research

High-elevation sites get high-energy lightning strikes
Areas with higher elevations tend to receive more high-energy lightning strikes than sites at lower elevations, a new study finds. The Andes are one of the most likely spots for these high-energy strikes to hit. [Geophysical Research Letters study][see also: research on superbolts]

Dwarf planet Ceres got its organics from afar
Organic material found on the exoplanet Ceres is most likely from asteroids that hit its surface, rather than being from salty brines and cryovolcanism, a new study finds. The findings help scientists understand where and how habitable conditions arose in the solar system. [AGU Advances study][Max Planck press release]

An atmospheric pattern over the pacific influences western US wildfire risk
The West Pacific pattern correlates with high pressure, increased temperature, decreased precipitation, and higher burned area during autumn in the western United States. [Eos research spotlight][Earth’s Future study]

Thawing permafrost helped trigger ancient Icelandic landslides
Warming beginning about 13,000 years ago contributed to a proliferation of landslides in Iceland, a new study finds. As modern warming continues and permafrost thaws, landslide risk could increase. [JGR Earth Surface study][Eos research spotlight]

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1/22/2025: Soaring past goal temperatures could seriously impact water resources

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Hoover Dam. Credit: Tyler Rutherford/unsplash

AGU News

AGU’s 2025 Journalism Awards are open!
Nominate a news or feature story about the Earth and space sciences, published in 2024, for our science journalism awards. The deadline is 31 March 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Email us at [email protected] with questions about submissions and eligibility. [media advisory][information for News and Features awards][SUBMIT HERE]

AGU announces search firm for new executive director/chief executive officer
AGU has partnered with the executive search company Vetted Solutions to lead the Executive Director/CEO search, open to applications now. [press release]

Featured Research

Exceeding temperature goals will impact water resources
Warming temperatures threaten to destabilize the planet’s water cycles, but temperature overshoot — warming beyond goal temperatures and then cooling back down — poses unique risks to water resources, a new study reports. Overshoot could particularly impact glacial melt and groundwater, and policymakers will need to consider this, the authors say. [Water Resources Research study]

Forested parks are effective urban cool spots
Urban parks with high tree densities can cool the surface up to 4 degrees Celsius, according to a new study of temperatures in 2,000 urban parks around the world. Trees are more effective at cooling than other kinds of vegetation, and they make parks more drought-resilient, too. [Geophysical Research Letters study]

Dataset: Water, carbon footprints of US electricity generation
A new study offers a dataset of hourly electricity use mix, water use, and carbon footprint for U.S. electricity users. [Water Resources Research study]

How could solar climate intervention strategies affect agriculture?
Geoengineering approaches such as stratospheric aerosol injection hold the promise of limiting warming, but among the many potential risks and concerns, their impacts on agriculture remain largely unexplored. [Earth’s Future study][Eos research spotlight]

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