New Earth & climate papers
42 new Earth & climate papers appeared in the last 3 days. Pipette read every one, and these are the 42 with the broadest interest, a real step forward and careful claims. Each shows the sentence of its abstract that states the main result, exactly as its authors wrote it.
The best of the last 3 days
Agricultural liming is a carbon sink in the Mississippi River Basin
Here we show, using century-scale records of agricultural liming and anthropogenic acidity inputs for the Mississippi River Basin, that agricultural liming has acted as a net carbon sink over the past century.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useGlobal dispersal of macroalgae-derived recalcitrant DOC may substantially contribute to deep-ocean carbon storage
The detection of candidate kelp-associated RDOC signals throughout the global ocean provides molecular-level evidence of the long-distance export of macroalgae-derived RDOC to the pelagic and deep ocean, highlighting a major, previously unrecognized pathway of long-term storage of macroalgae-derived DOC in global oceans, although the precise fraction exported to the deep ocean remains to be quantified.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyClaims a big stepSocial structural factors outperform economic assumptions in explaining global municipal waste generation
These results show that waste generation reflects a country’s overall social development and institutions, not just its wealth or degree of urbanization, pointing to targeted levers for waste-reduction policy.
Peer-reviewed journalBroad interestReal-world useEasy to readNationwide recycled steel slag pavements can stimulate sustainable urban transportation
Across assessment horizons accounting for phased deployment and two subsequent 15-year service cycles, replacing 25–100% of urban pavements is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 19% (431–1741 million tonnes), cut fine particulate matter emissions by 13% (303–1229 million kilograms), avert approximately 31,802–128,980 premature deaths, and generate net economic benefits of 3.48–15.01 trillion Chinese Yuan.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useEnglacial authigenesis in deep Antarctic ice: implications for Martian dust oxidation
Here we show that englacial authigenesis is documented across different Antarctic deep ice cores and involves the formation of mineral phases such as goethite/lepidocrocite and hematite/maghemite, in addition to jarosite.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyBroad interestPacific tsunami records suggest similar rupture locations of two great Kamchatka earthquakes only 73 years apart
Tsunami modeling shows that a range of relative rupture locations can produce the waveform similarity, but only nearly colocated ruptures can explain the travel time similarity.
Peer-reviewed journalDivergent trends in post-landfall decay of strong and weak tropical cyclones
Here we identify an intensity-dependent divergence in global trends of tropical cyclone post-landfall decay.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useAn eastward-propagating coupled mode amplifying the early growth of extreme El Niño events
Here, by analyzing the 1982/1983, 1997/1998, and 2015/2016 events together with a large ensemble of climate model simulations, we identify an unusually early and reproducible ocean-atmosphere precursor to extreme El Niño: a slow, eastward-propagating coupled mode that develops in the western-central equatorial Pacific during boreal winter and spring.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useClimate change is projected to widen global inequalities in ocean-derived wellbeing
We find that although the historical assessment reveals an improvement in the global average BWI score from 2000 to 2021, future projections under high-emission climate scenarios (SSP5-8.5) indicate disproportionate losses across 143 countries.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useThermally driven CO 2 adsorption/desorption and its effect on soil respiration
These results, combined with field data from the Mojave Desert, demonstrate that adsorption causes negative nocturnal CO 2 fluxes, while desorption during the day leads to positive fluxes.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyUpscaling sediment source prediction for watershed management
To address this, we compiled a global synthesis of 142 sediment tracing studies across 267 watersheds and developed an explainable machine learning framework that predicts sediment provenance using remotely sensed attributes.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world usePublic support for novel carbon removal hinges on procedural and distributive fairness
We find that support hinges on procedural and distributive fairness: opening planning processes to public and expert scrutiny, benefit sharing and not-for-profit arrangements consistently increase public support for carbon removal across all countries and technologies.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useEasy to readGlobal carbon dioxide flux into the surface ocean intensified by rain-induced dilution
Here we present a global analysis of rain effects on CO2 exchange employing the most realistic available model of rain-induced dilution for high-resolution satellite datasets, yielding a total rain-induced increase in ocean uptake of 13.6% relative to a wind-only effect.
Peer-reviewed journalChina’s changing diets improve human health but increase environmental pressures
China’s dietary transitions improve health outcomes but increase environmental pressures, with faster health gains but rising environmental impacts in urban areas and slower health gains yet higher environmental burdens in rural areas, according to analysis combining environmental and health indicators and scenario modeling
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world usePliny the Younger advances geochronology
The eruption of Vesuvius volcano witnessed by Pliny the Younger in 79 CE is dated by the argon-40/argon-39 ( 40 Ar/ 39 Ar) method to 1938 ± 13 years (SD) before measurement in 2025 CE.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyClaims a big stepFar-right political support and clean technology adoption in Germany
Supporters of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) show significantly lower willingness to adopt EVs and, to a lesser degree, PV systems compared with supporters of the pro-environmental Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen (GRÜNE) party.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useHClimRep-Ocean: A Global Ocean Emulator on an Unstructured Mesh
We present HClimRep-Ocean, an ocean emulator that operates directly on the native unstructured mesh of FESOM2.
PreprintOn-package claims are imperfect signals of overall nutritional quality
These findings indicate that attribute-based claims are imperfect signals of overall nutritional quality, with important implications for food labelling policy and consumer decision-making.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useEasy to readCoupled increases in pelagic fish productivity and export productivity during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum
We find a widespread increase in pelagic fish productivity, particularly in the Pacific and North Atlantic, that closely tracks export productivity in trend and spatial pattern, suggesting this increase was fueled by enhanced carbon export from the surface ocean.
Peer-reviewed journalHypoxia and acidification antagonistically suppress nitrification but enhance its N 2 O production in coastal waters
Here, we demonstrate that along the estuarine-coastal continuum, the co-occurrence of hypoxia and acidification suppresses nitrification rates but stimulates nitrification-derived N 2 O emissions—although their combined effect is lesser than the sum of their individual effects.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useSatellite reveals a world of altered rivers
SWOT is exposing how humans reshape rivers-and challenging models used to predict floods.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useEasy to readCascading magmatic unrest and aseismic faulting in the Aegean Sea enabled by elastic stress relay
We show that the 2025 earthquake swarm in the Christiana-Santorini-Kolumbo complex of the Aegean Sea was driven by elastic stress transfer between two magma reservoirs, a 9-kilometer-long dike, and a 17-kilometer-long, southeast-dipping fault.
Peer-reviewed journalAbrupt pH changes overestimate the responses of Chaetoceros muelleri to ocean acidification
Integrating evolutionary genomics, physiological assays, elemental stoichiometry, and Earth System Modeling, we find that abrupt acidification exaggerates diatom growth and carbon fixation responses by up to 15%, driven by enhanced divergent genomic signals and persistent gene expression changes.
Peer-reviewed journalModel-data synthesis of benthic isotopes suggests a warmer Miocene Climatic Optimum
Our approach yields a maximum likelihood estimate of MCO global mean surface temperature of 7.5∘C above preindustrial, significantly warmer than previous benthic δ18O-based reconstructions, implying a higher MCO-derived estimate of Earth system sensitivity.
Peer-reviewed journalBarrier island geomorphic complexity drives storm and post-storm response
Here, shoreface-inclusive measurements of barrier sediment fluxes over five years following an extreme storm reveal distinct sediment redistribution patterns that vary with island geomorphology.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useElectromethanogenesis underpins the methane production in a Tibetan wetland
Direct interspecies electron transfer drives methane production in Tibetan wetlands and is more efficient than H2-dependent methanogenesis, shown using CO-inhibited microcosms, isotope tracing, electrochemistry, and electron-shuttle amendments.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useThe impact of financing cost differences on global energy and industry decarbonization
Compared with assuming a uniform low-risk CoC, accounting for developing countries’ investment risks increases global mitigation costs through 2100 for staying well below +2 °C by around 9% and shifts cost-effective mitigation efforts to lower-risk regions.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useA River Wave framework to unify river ecosystem concepts and predict ecological change
Our case study contrasted Sweden’s fragmented rivers with modelled free-flowing conditions and found that the observed fragmented rivers may favour specific fish life history strategies, that ecosystem functioning has shifted towards more baseflow-dominated flow compared with free-flowing rivers and that restoring all rivers to free-flowing conditions would result in more similar rivers nationally.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useSPBench: A Multi-Task Evaluation Benchmark for Exploration Seismic Processing
SPBench provides a reproducible basis for comparing learning-based seismic processing methods and characterizes how their relative advantages vary across data settings, degradation strengths, and evaluation criteria.
PreprintNitrogen and intramolecular carbon isotopic measurements of β-alanine in samples from asteroid Bennu and the Murchison meteorite
These differences are difficult to reconcile with recognized parent-body processes and suggest that nitrogen and intramolecular carbon isotopic measurements could provide direct geochemical evidence for spatial heterogeneity in organic synthesis across the protoplanetary disk and new constraints on the chemical environments and precursor reservoirs that gave rise to extraterrestrial amino acids.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyCore formation resolves Earth’s siderophile excess without a late veneer
Multistage accretion models reproduce the observed HSE abundances and ratios in the mantle without invoking a late veneer.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyGrain size and sediment storage explain why postfire debris flows are absent in some mountainous landscapes
These results provide a mechanistic explanation for discrepancies in debris flow occurrence in mountainous landscapes.
Peer-reviewed journalLand use sequestration potential and uncertainties in India’s net-zero pathway
Here we show that scientific and policy uncertainties strongly influence India’s projected land-use sequestration.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useIncorporating landscape context into species distribution models improves predictions for migratory shorebirds
Here we show that incorporating neighborhood variables describing habitat composition and configuration (area proportions, patch densities, and land cover diversity) improves predictive performance for most species.
Peer-reviewed journalReal-world useChromium isotope constraints on deep mantle oxidation from the Early Archean to Paleoproterozoic
These results provide evidence for an oxidation of the mantle from Archean to Paleoproterozoic.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyHeavy boron isotopes reveal deep carbon recycling in hot subduction zones
These results demonstrate that substantial carbon can bypass shallow decarbonation in both modern and Archean hot subduction systems.
Peer-reviewed journalLimited impact of the 2025 Kamchatka tsunami explained by the complex seismic rupture
We also show that a smaller tsunami potential energy due to earthquake magnitude and relatively deep slip explains the moderate far-field impact.
Peer-reviewed journalA strong Pacific Walker Circulation during the Little Ice Age
We present a third line of evidence, the surface-to-thermocline temperature difference in the Indonesian Seas, which was smaller during the LIA than during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (approximately 950 to 1250 CE), suggesting a deeper thermocline, in agreement with hydroclimate evidence for a stronger LIA Walker Circulation.
Peer-reviewed journalRecurrent evacuation of mantle mush in ocean islands revealed by clinopyroxene from La Palma
Combining quantitative trace element mapping, thermobarometry, and cluster analysis, we show that preceding all eruptions, an evolved phonolitic crystal mush resided in the upper mantle (∼18-25 km depth) under relatively cool (1000-1025 °C) conditions.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyExperimental reproduction of a surface-encircling olivine rim in barred olivine chondrules
Our results suggests that BO chondrules form through total melting at high temperature ( > 1700 °C), rapid cooling to ~1300 °C to form olivine bars, and subsequent slow cooling that promotes rim formation and further crystallization.
Peer-reviewed journalBold claims, read criticallyA Survey of Electron Anisotropies in the Magnetosphere: Dependence on Solar Wind Pressure and Kp
Using 161,300 3-s resolution electron measurements from THEMIS A and D, we find that field-aligned anisotropies are most prominent at low energies (30--200 eV) and occur over nearly all and MLT, with the largest values concentrated in the dayside/postnoon plasmasphere, while perpendicular anisotropies dominate at higher energies (1--30 keV) and are largest and most probable in a narrower band from 5--10 with a pronounced dayside/prenoon bias.
PreprintGravitational torque drives multidecadal variations in length of day
Multidecadal fluctuations in Earth’s length of day are shown to be driven by gravitational torque and resisted by electromagnetic and topographic forces, improving our understanding of the material properties and dynamics of Earth’s deep interior.
Peer-reviewed journal