Volume 17 Issue 5, May 2024

Observations, theory, and modelling reduce the uncertainty in high cloud feedbacks, suggesting a higher climate sensitivity than previously thought.

The trace-element compositions of mantle-derived basalts suggest that the asthenosphere has two distinct melt layers, with unique chemical compositions and physical properties.

Hydrous minerals within the Earth affect volatile cycling and mantle geodynamics. Jun Tsuchiya explains how stable phases of these minerals are being uncovered at increasingly high pressures.

Aerosol–cloud interactions are the largest uncertainty in radiative forcing. We combined machine learning and long-term satellite observations to quantify aerosol fingerprints on tropical marine clouds, using degassing volcanic events in Hawaii as natural experiences, and found that cloud cover increased relatively by 50% in humid and stable atmosphere, leading to strong cooling radiative forcing.

There are no good models for the chemical evolution of the Earth’s surface over the planet’s lifetime, because models typically overlook the progressive build-up of carbonate rocks in the crust. A new model that includes this accumulation enables the reconstruction of major oxygen and temperature trends throughout Earth’s history.

A study using multiple satellite observations shows that the land-surface warming due to tropical forest loss is stronger than the cooling due to tropical forest gain. This effect should be included in Earth system models, particularly as tropical afforestation is considered to be a natural climate solution.

The causes of symmetrical changes in climate between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere are poorly understood. A geological reconstruction of Patagonian glacial extent reveals that changes in Pacific-wide atmospheric circulation (linked to variations in Earth’s orbit and teleconnections between hemispheres) may have led to nearly synchronous global ice sheet evolution.

In a part of the Apennines, where the Earth’s crust is thin and heat flow is high, production of CO₂ from deep below the mountains dominates over near-surface weathering processes that consume this greenhouse gas. Ultimately, the magnitude of deep CO₂ release tips the balance towards a landscape that is a net carbon emitter.

Strike-slip motion along the tiger stripe fracture zones of Enceladus may act to modulate quasi-periodic jet activity, according to finite-element simulations of diurnal tidal deformation on the moon’s icy shell.

Tight physical and observational constraints suggest the anvil cloud area feedback is weak, but the anvil cloud albedo feedback remains highly uncertain.

Changes in anvil clouds with warming do not produce a negative feedback on climate sensitivity as previously thought, according to an ensemble of cloud-resolving models.

Satellite observations from volcanic eruptions suggest that aerosols induce substantial cooling due to the reflectivity of increased tropical marine cloud cover, implying a high climate sensitivity.

The interaction between aerosol and meteorology amplifies the positive effects on air quality, health and renewable energy under China’s carbon neutrality target for 2060, according to an integrated modelling analysis.

Mooring observations and hydrographic data suggest the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation abyssal limb has weakened over the past two decades in the North Atlantic, most likely due to reduced Antarctic Bottom Water formation rates.

The impact of forest loss on land surface temperature in the tropics is five times greater than the response to forest gain, according to satellite observations of temperature and land cover.

A global gauge-corrected monthly river flow and storage dataset suggests that residence time is a key driver of water storage and variability and indicates substantial freshwater discharge to the ocean from the Maritime Continent.

The size and shape of the North American ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum was set by atmospheric moisture transport feedbacks during summer, not by the geometry of the earlier intermediate-sized ice sheet, according to a coupled climate–ice sheet model.

Patagonian ice sheet changes largely mirrored those of the Northern Hemisphere over the last glacial cycle owing to displacements of the southern westerly winds, according to beryllium isotope constraints.

The accumulation and subsequent recycling of carbonate in the crust may have helped to drive the oxygenation of the early Earth, according to an ocean and atmosphere box model incorporating the inorganic carbon cycle.

The regional geodynamic gradient controls metamorphic carbon release during mountain building and regulates the inorganic carbon budget, according to carbon estimates in two river catchments of Italy’s central Apennines.

The accumulation of partial melt at two distinct depth ranges in the asthenosphere is widespread, including in areas of mantle upflow, according to a study of Y/Yb compositions of oceanic and continental basalts.