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News & Views |
Methane beneath Greenland’s ice sheet is being released
Methane produced in sediments beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet is released to the atmosphere by meltwater in the summer. This suggests that glacial melt could be an important global source of this greenhouse gas.
- Lauren C. Andrews
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Letter |
Greenland melt drives continuous export of methane from the ice-sheet bed
Subglacially produced methane of microbial origin is flushed to the ice margin of the Greenland ice sheet by meltwater, contributing to a previously unaccounted for methane flux to the atmosphere.
- Guillaume Lamarche-Gagnon
- , Jemma L. Wadham
- & Marek Stibal
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News |
Greenland is losing ice at fastest rate in 350 years
Vast ice sheet's dramatic transformation revealed by ice cores, satellite data and climate models.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News Feature |
Why extreme rains are gaining strength as the climate warms
From Atlantic hurricanes to the Indian monsoons, storms are getting worse and becoming more erratic.
- Alexandra Witze
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Letter |
Urbanization exacerbated the rainfall and flooding caused by hurricane Harvey in Houston
Modelling the contribution of urbanization to the impacts associated with hurricane Harvey in August 2017 shows that urbanization worsens rainfall and flooding.
- Wei Zhang
- , Gabriele Villarini
- & James A. Smith
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News Feature |
Fortresses of mud: how to protect the San Francisco Bay Area from rising seas
The race is on to build up wetlands barriers in one of North America’s largest estuaries.
- Erica Gies
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Comment |
How do natural hazards cascade to cause disasters?
Track connections between hurricanes, wildfires, climate change and other risks, urge Amir AghaKouchak and colleagues.
- Amir AghaKouchak
- , Laurie S. Huning
- & Iman Mallakpour
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Letter |
Transience of the North American High Plains landscape and its impact on surface water
The High Plains region of North America is in a transient state, with a younger, efficient network of river channels progressively cannibalizing an older, less efficient region, aiding water retention for wetlands and groundwater recharge.
- Sean D. Willett
- , Scott W. McCoy
- & Helen W. Beeson
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Letter |
Climate-induced changes in continental-scale soil macroporosity may intensify water cycle
Soil macroporosity responds rapidly to climate variations and may induce wide-ranging changes in soil hydraulic conductivity by the end of the century.
- Daniel R. Hirmas
- , Daniel Giménez
- & Cassandra J. Wilson
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Letter |
Sensitivity of atmospheric CO2 growth rate to observed changes in terrestrial water storage
The growth rate of global atmospheric CO2 concentration is faster in drier years, independently of temperature; this relationship is underestimated in current carbon cycle models.
- Vincent Humphrey
- , Jakob Zscheischler
- & Sonia I. Seneviratne
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News |
Mysteries of Indian monsoon probed in Bay of Bengal
A hurricane-hunter plane and research ships aim to gather the most-detailed observations yet of ‘intraseasonal’ variations in rainfall.
- Alexandra Witze
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Analysis |
Emerging trends in global freshwater availability
Analysis of 2002–2016 GRACE satellite observations of terrestrial water storage reveals substantial changes in freshwater resources globally, which are driven by natural and anthropogenic climate variability and human activities.
- M. Rodell
- , J. S. Famiglietti
- & M.-H. Lo
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Nature Podcast |
Human’s influence on the Mississippi and ‘dirty’ mice
Join Benjamin Thompson and Adam Levy for the latest from the world of science.
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Letter |
Climatic control of Mississippi River flood hazard amplified by river engineering
A suite of river discharge, tree-ring, sedimentary and climate data shows that the Mississippi’s flood magnitude has risen by about twenty per cent over the past half-century, largely owing to engineering works.
- Samuel E. Munoz
- , Liviu Giosan
- & Jeffrey P. Donnelly
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News & Views |
Mississippi rising
The Mississippi River is shackled by one of the world’s largest systems of flood control. A palaeohydrological record suggests that those measures might actually be making floods worse.
- Scott St. George
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News |
Mississippi River flooding worse now than any time in past 500 years
Efforts to control the river’s flow with levees and other structures have increased the risk of dangerous floods.
- Emma Marris
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News Feature |
Attack of the extreme floods
As the oceans rise, researchers aim to forecast where severe storms will trigger the worst flooding.
- Alexandra Witze
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Career Q&A |
Saving lives and property with accurate flood forecasts
A hydrologist with the US Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center talks about her job.
- Sarah Boon
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News |
As Cape Town water crisis deepens, scientists prepare for ‘Day Zero’
Researchers make plans to modify studies and prioritize public health as city reservoirs run dry.
- Amy Maxmen
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News & Views |
Martian water stored underground
Why did Mars lose so much of its surface water, whereas Earth retained its? Models of the evolution of minerals on the two planets suggest one explanation: the Martian water was drawn into the planetary interior.
- Tomohiro Usui
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Letter |
Large emissions from floodplain trees close the Amazon methane budget
Methane fluxes from the stems of Amazonian floodplain trees indicate that the escape of soil gas through wetland trees is the dominant source of methane emissions in the Amazon basin.
- Sunitha R. Pangala
- , Alex Enrich-Prast
- & Vincent Gauci
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News & Views |
Mixed up at the sea floor
Circulation of the ocean's densest waters modulates millennial-scale shifts in climate. Contrary to conventional wisdom, a study finds that the shape of the sea floor constrains where these waters rise towards the surface. See Article p.181
- Andrew L. Stewart
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Letter |
Delta progradation in Greenland driven by increasing glacial mass loss
Climate change has the potential to erode coastlines, but a rediscovered archive of aerial photographs from the Second World War shows that in southern Greenland, deltas have recently extended seaward.
- Mette Bendixen
- , Lars Lønsmann Iversen
- & Aart Kroon
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News |
Risk of human-triggered earthquakes laid out in biggest-ever database
Geologists track hundreds of quakes caused by people and the projects that set them off.
- Alexandra Witze
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Nature Podcast |
Podcast: Writing quantum software, and predicting glaciers loss
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Letter |
Impact of a global temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius on Asia’s glaciers
Models show that even if global temperature rise can be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, only about 65 per cent of glacier mass will remain in the high mountains of Asia by the end of this century, and if temperatures rise by more than this the effects will be much more extreme.
- P. D. A. Kraaijenbrink
- , M. F. P. Bierkens
- & W. W. Immerzeel
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Editorial |
Reassess dam building in the Amazon
Brazil and neighbouring nations need a transparent and integrated energy assessment centred on evidence.
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Research Highlight |
Global warming could shift rainfall patterns
Dry areas could become drier while wet areas get wetter.
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News & Views |
Asian glaciers are a reliable water source
The people, economies and agriculture of central Asia and parts of south Asia rely on water from mountains. Modelling suggests that glacier melt, in particular, is a key water source during dry periods in some of these regions. See Article p.169
- Tobias Bolch
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Article |
Asia’s glaciers are a regionally important buffer against drought
Glaciers in the high mountains of Asia provide a uniquely drought-resilient source of water, supplying summer meltwater sufficient for the basic needs of 136 million people.
- Hamish D. Pritchard
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Letter |
Frequency of extreme Sahelian storms tripled since 1982 in satellite observations
Since 1982, extreme daily rainfall in the western Sahel has increased persistently, owing to a warmer Sahara which has led to increased wind shear and an increase in intense storms.
- Christopher M. Taylor
- , Danijel Belušić
- & Gérémy Panthou
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Research Highlight |
River piracy may rise thanks to climate change
Warm temperatures rerouted meltwater from a major Canadian glacier.
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News & Views |
Ice-shelf stability questioned
Surface lakes and streams are forming on Antarctica's ice shelves, making them susceptible to instability and possible collapse. But rivers could mitigate this effect by efficiently exporting meltwater to the ocean. See Letters p.344 & p.349
- Alison Banwell
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Letter |
Antarctic ice shelf potentially stabilized by export of meltwater in surface river
On the Nansen Ice Shelf in Antarctica, a surface river that terminates in a waterfall can drain the ice shelf’s entire annual meltwater in just one week, potentially preventing the meltwater from hastening the catastrophic collapse of the shelf.
- Robin E. Bell
- , Winnie Chu
- & Won Sang Lee
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News |
Mobile-phone signals bolster street-level rain forecasts
Real-time analysis of wireless communications data could improve weather forecasts around the world.
- Jeff Tollefson
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News & Views |
Eating ourselves dry
Do human consumption habits affect groundwater depletion as a result of international food trade? A global analysis indicates that they do, and shows which products and countries have the biggest impact. See Letter p.700
- Maite M. Aldaya
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Letter |
Groundwater depletion embedded in international food trade
Global food consumption drives irrigation for crops, which depletes aquifers in some regions; here we quantify the volumes of groundwater depletion associated with global food production and international trade.
- Carole Dalin
- , Yoshihide Wada
- & Michael J. Puma
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Books & Arts |
Environmental sciences: Troubled waters on the Great Lakes
Anna M. Michalak on the taming and invasion of Earth's largest fresh-water system.
- Anna M. Michalak
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Research Highlights |
Arctic set for rainy future
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Books & Arts |
Water supply: The emptying well
Margaret Catley-Carlson plunges into a study of a dwindling resource — groundwater.
- Margaret Catley-Carlson
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Research Highlights |
Lasting heavy rains to come
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News & Views |
Vast peatlands found in the Congo Basin
The discovery of what is potentially the world's largest continuous tropical peat complex has great implications for global carbon stocks, land management and scientific investment in central Africa. See Letter p.86
- Lola Fatoyinbo
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News & Views |
The resilience of Amazonian forests
Isotope evidence suggests that, during dry periods associated with the most recent ice age, the Amazonian forest survived in a region that is sensitive to rainfall changes — settling a debate about Amazonian aridity. See Letter p.204
- Mark B. Bush
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Letter |
Hydroclimate changes across the Amazon lowlands over the past 45,000 years
Oxygen isotope records derived from stalagmites in the eastern Amazon reveal that rainfall was about half of today’s during the Last Glacial Maximum but half again as much during the mid-Holocene, broadly coinciding with global changes in temperature and carbon dioxide.
- Xianfeng Wang
- , R. Lawrence Edwards
- & Hong-Wei Chiang
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Letter |
Age, extent and carbon storage of the central Congo Basin peatland complex
Field measurements combined with remotely sensed data reveal the Cuvette Centrale in the central Congo Basin to contain the most extensive peatland complex in the tropics, increasing the best estimate of global tropical peatland carbon stocks by approximately one-third.
- Greta C. Dargie
- , Simon L. Lewis
- & Suspense A. Ifo
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Research Highlights |
Smaller monsoon boost predicted
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News & Views |
The dynamics of Earth's surface water
High-resolution satellite mapping of Earth's surface water during the past 32 years reveals changes in the planet's water systems, including the influence of natural cycles and human activities. See Letter p.418
- Dai Yamazaki
- & Mark A. Trigg
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Letter |
High-resolution mapping of global surface water and its long-term changes
A freely available dataset produced from three million Landsat satellite images reveals substantial changes in the distribution of global surface water over the past 32 years and their causes, from climate change to human actions.
- Jean-François Pekel
- , Andrew Cottam
- & Alan S. Belward