Water science news, explainers, and statistics covering freshwater, hydrology, lakes, rivers, groundwater, ice, and Earth’s connected water systems.
A study in One Earth found that the same large-scale reforestation effort can push global water availability in opposite directions depending on future warming. Under milder warming, forests add a small amount of water to the land surface. Under hotter conditions, the same trees reduce it. Researchers led by Tao Tang, a climate scientist at…
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A study in Nature Communications found that atmospheric rivers, long bands of moisture that stream across the sky, can help shape marine heatwaves in the North Pacific and North Atlantic. The work, led by Suqiong Hu and Shineng Hu at Duke University, points to an overlooked link between weather in the air and dangerous warmth…
A study in Polar Biology found that historical weapon fragments recovered from bowhead whales can help scientists estimate the animals’ remarkable lifespans. One fragment, found in a bowhead harvested near Barrow, Alaska, in 2007, pointed back to the late 1800s and suggested the whale had survived for more than a century after an earlier strike.…
A study in Communications Earth & Environment has revealed a hidden part of marine heatwaves along U.S. coastlines. The extreme days that appear on official charts are often surrounded by weeks of unusual warmth, meaning coastal ecosystems may be absorbing far more heat than standard measurements suggest. Researchers led by Ricardo U. Nardi at the…
