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Un repositorio de núcleos de coral diseñado para la transparencia y accesibilidad

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 12:02

This is an authorized translation of an Eos article. Esta es una traducción al español autorizada de un artículo de Eos.

Los arrecifes de coral son ecosistemas vitales que sustentan la vida marina, el ecoturismo y la protección costera. Ellos también guardan algo valioso bajo su superficie: registros del pasado del océano. Bajo la capa exterior viva de los corales masivos se encuentran estructuras esqueléticas tipo roca que contienen bandas anuales, similares a los anillos de árboles. Los científicos pueden estudiar las condiciones en el momento en que estas bandas se formaron mediante la perforación, recuperación y análisis de núcleos, algunos de los cuales representan siglos de crecimiento coral.

Daren Coker (izquierda) y Thomas DeCarlo perforan un núcleo de coral en el Mar Rojo. Crédito: Morgan Bennett-Smith

Desde la década de 1970, los estudios de núcleos de coral pueden determinar patrones de crecimiento pasados, un campo conocido como esclerocronología coralina, han producido descubrimientos científicos notables. Knutson et al. [1972] encontraron que las bandas anuales están compuestas por bandas de alta y baja densidad que reflejan patrones de crecimiento estacional. Hudson [1981] descubrió que, por lo general, las bandas de alta densidad se forman durante el crecimiento invernal más lento, mientras que las de baja densidad se forman durante el crecimiento del verano más rápido y que el crecimiento variable a largo plazo de corales están influenciadas por la calidad del agua y los efectos del desarrollo costero. Algunos núcleos también contienen “bandas de estrés” de alta densidad, formadas debido a eventos de blanqueamiento de corales u otros desafíos medioambientales [Lough, 2008]. En conjunto, estas bandas proporcionan información sobre la historia del crecimiento de coral, lo que permite a los científicos construir modelos de edad confiables de las condiciones oceánicas y climáticas pasadas.

Hoy en día, los métodos usados para investigar núcleos de corales han avanzado considerablemente. Junto con otros métodos, como los análisis de isótopos estables y de radio elementales, la tomografía computarizada (CT) desempeña un rol fundamental en la obtención de datos que ayudan a revelar los parámetros de crecimiento coralino. Los científicos pueden escanear rayos X en 2D y escaneo CT 3D para examinar las estructuras internas de núcleos coralinos, incluyendo sus bandas de densidad anual [Knutson et al., 1972; Hudson, 1981; Lough, 2008; DeCarlo et al., 2025]. En algunos casos, este análisis involucra incluso la visita de un científico a un hospital local para usar su equipo de CT – un paciente inesperado para el técnico de radiología.

Esta animación de una tomografía computarizada muestra un corte transversal de un núcleo de coral. Los pequeños círculos dentro del núcleo son coralitos, las estructuras esqueléticas individuales formadas por pólipos de coral. Crédito: USGS, Dominio público Un núcleo coralino se encuentra en la mesa de examen de un equipo de tomografía computarizada en un hospital antes de ser escaneado. Crédito: Thomas DeCarlo

Sin embargo, no se había realizado un archivo sistemático de datos de imágenes de núcleos coralinos, en parte debido a la falta de un repositorio adecuado. Esta brecha presenta el riesgo de perder imágenes valiosas e impide un intercambio ágil y transparente de las interpretaciones científicas de estas imágenes. Por lo tanto, un repositorio centralizado, virtual y de acceso abierto de imágenes de núcleos coralinos es crucial para fomentar la transparencia científica y preservar estos recursos para investigaciones futuras.

Una aplicación para organizar un repositorio

La aplicación CoralCT se desarrolló para consolidar y organizar escáneres de núcleos coralinos en un repositorio virtual que permite el archivo digital y el análisis de imágenes [DeCarlo et al., 2025]. Actualmente, el repositorio contiene más de 1,000 escaneos de corales recolectados en una amplia gama de regiones de arrecifes coralinos, que incluye la Gran Barrera de Coral, el Caribe y el Mar Rojo. Estos escaneos coralinos han sido aportados por individuos y agencias, como el Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos (USGS, por sus siglas en inglés) y la Oficina Nacional de Administración Oceánica y Atmosférica (NOAA, por sus siglas en inglés).

Investigadores coralinos suben escaneos de rayos X o de CT a CoralCT y, cuando están listos, pueden hacer que sus datos estén públicamente disponibles para cualquier persona con una computadora y conexión a internet. Este enfoque de transparencia fomenta la colaboración entre investigadores de núcleos coralinos, quienes pueden consultar el directorio de núcleos de la aplicación y ver quién más ha recolectado núcleos en sus áreas de interés. Esto también ayuda a evitar la duplicación innecesaria de esfuerzos de investigación, lo cual es especialmente importante dada la necesidad de reducir el impacto del muestreo en los corales, muchos de los cuales son especies en peligro de extinción.

Utilizando las herramientas analíticas de la aplicación, los observadores pueden mapear las bandas de densidad anuales en núcleos coralinos para extraer datos sobre la tasa de crecimiento y la densidad esquelética. Tal como en estudios de anillos de árboles, este tipo de análisis ofrece información sobre las condiciones medioambientales pasadas, ya que el crecimiento de corales puede responder con sensibilidad a la variabilidad climática.

Por ejemplo, Barkley et al. [2018] utilizaron CoralCT para visualizar bandas de estrés de alta densidad y reconstruir la historia del blanqueamiento de corales a lo largo de seis décadas en un arrecife remoto del Océano Pacífico ecuatorial, donde el monitoreo de datos es escaso. Rodgers et al. [2021] midieron las tasas de crecimiento anual en CoralCT para rastrear la recuperación de corales frente a Kaua’i, Hawaii, en los 15 años posteriores a un evento de inundación devastadora. Más recientemente, DeCarlo et al. [2024] aprovecharon la amplitud de núcleos en CoralCT para reconstruir patrones de crecimiento coralinos en las décadas y siglos recientes a lo largo de miles de kilómetros en el Indo Pacífico.

Rescatando registros antiguos y recolectando nuevos

Archivar datos valiosos que de otro modo podrían perderse es el propósito fundamental de CoralCT. Un destacable ejemplo de cómo cumple este propósito involucra el rescate y la digitalización de imágenes de rayos X de más de 20 núcleos recolectados en el Océano Pacífico entre la década de los 1980 y principios de 2000. Las películas de rayos X, previamente guardadas por un científico jubilado, ahora están archivadas y disponibles para su análisis en CoralCT.

Colecciones más antiguas como estas pueden proporcionar información valiosa sobre el crecimiento coralino antes de que las perturbaciones medioambientales, como el blanqueamiento masivo por estrés térmico, comenzaran a afectarlos.

En un esfuerzo similar, la USGS escaneó recientemente núcleos coralinos en TC que datan de finales de la década de los 1960, algunos de los núcleos más antiguos jamás recolectados [Hudson et al., 1976]. Estos escaneos se están incorporando al repositorio para que puedan ser reanalizados por investigadores ahora y en el futuro. Colecciones más antiguas como estas pueden proporcionar información valiosa sobre el crecimiento coralino antes de que las perturbaciones medioambientales, como el blanqueamiento masivo por estrés térmico, comenzaran a afectarlos.

Además, a estas contribuciones históricas, el repositorio CoralCT continúa creciendo con la incorporación de nuevos datos. Una contribución reciente incluye escaneos de núcleos de arrecifes recolectados en la costa de Hawai’i en 2023 durante la Expedición 389 del Programa Internacional Ocean Discovery. Los núcleos de arrecifes difieren de los núcleos coralinos en composición y estructura, pero también son cruciales para entender la historia oceánica y el cambio medioambiental. Durante la expedición 389, se recolectaron núcleos de arrecifes sumergidos que una vez crecieron cerca de la superficie del océano, pero que dejaron de calcificarse a medida que se sumergían en aguas profundas. Estos núcleos de arrecifes contienen coral fragmentado, algas coralinas, microbialitos y otros materiales constructores de arrecifes, cuyas composiciones permiten a los científicos mirar milenos hacia el pasado y descubrir registros valiosos del nivel del mar y el cambio climático.

Análisis repetibles, resultados verificables

Cuando no se archivan imágenes de núcleos coralinos originales, sin procesar, el valor de las mediciones de crecimiento y otros análisis es limitado porque otros científicos no pueden verificarlos fácil e independientemente. Esto es problemático ya que la ciencia se basa fundamentalmente en la capacidad de repetir experimentos y verificar resultados, sobre todo considerando que investigadores individuales pueden introducir subjetividad y posibles sesgos incluso en interpretaciones de datos altamente sistemáticas y rigurosas. A medida que los conjuntos de datos se hacen más grandes, complejos y numerosos, mantener la transparencia es cada vez más importante, pero también cada vez más difícil.

En esta captura de pantalla de un núcleo coralino analizado en la aplicación CoralCT, las líneas naranjas en la imagen del núcleo indican dónde un observador ha mapeado las bandas de densidad anual. Crédito: Avi Strange

CoralCT aborda estos desafíos garantizando que toda la información y el contexto de un núcleo estén completamente documentados, accesibles y descargables. Esta información incluye metadatos esenciales tales como el origen del núcleo, los detalles de propiedad, la fecha de recolección, la profundidad y la identificación de especies. Y lo que es más importante, CoralCT archiva los mapas de bandas anuales definidos el usuario para derivar datos de la tasa de crecimiento [DeCarlo et al., 2025], asegurando que estos datos e interpretaciones sean totalmente reproducibles y estén abiertos a la verificaciones de otros.

Esta transparencia también se comparte entre los observadores dentro de la aplicación. Cuando un usuario mapea las bandas de un núcleo, este puede agregar notas y captura de pantalla que otros usuarios pueden ver mientras analizan dicho núcleo. Más aún, cuando un usuario termina de mapear las bandas de un núcleo y procesa los datos, esta información se almacena y se puede descargar para que otros científicos la consulten. Esta capacidad permite a los científicos realizar estudios con múltiples observadores, lo que puede reducir posibles sesgos introducidos por la observación individual.

Un desafío que hemos encontrado en nuestros esfuerzos para ampliar CoralCT ha sido la reticencia en algunos investigadores y programas a compartir datos.

A pesar de estas ventajas, un desafío que hemos encontrado en nuestros esfuerzos para ampliar CoralCT ha sido la reticencia en algunos investigadores y programas a compartir datos debido a la preocupación por las infracciones de propiedad intelectual y la “apropiación indebida” de datos prepublicados. Esta reticencia, que es entendible considerando la falta de transparencia y protección para los propietarios de los datos en las prácticas previas de gestión de datos, puede lamentablemente limitar los avances científicos y las colaboraciones que podrían ayudar a abordar el cambio climático, la degradación de arrecifes coralinos y otros desafíos complejos.

Para abordar estas preocupaciones, CoralCT ofrece controles privados a los propietarios de núcleos, que pueden usar para restringir el acceso a sus escaneos y a los datos derivados. Estos controles son particularmente útiles cuando los núcleos son parte de una investigación en curso que aún no se ha publicado o están sujetos a una moratoria posterior al crucero, lo que garantiza que datos sensibles permanezcan protegidos hasta que la investigación esté lista para ser compartida. Además, cada núcleo está identificado con el propietario de los datos, agradecimientos y citas relevantes.

Avanzando hacia la accesibilidad y colaboración

CoralCT también representa un camino para hacer la ciencia más inclusiva y accesible. La aplicación está diseñada con una interfaz fácil de usar e incluye recursos tales como videotutoriales y una guía de usuario paso a paso para ayudar a presentar sus funciones a un público amplio. Recientemente, también se crearon planes de clase para estudiantes de educación media y básica que guían a los estudiantes en el mapeo de las bandas de núcleos de coral en la aplicación, ofreciendo maneras accesibles de explorar las ciencias marinas.

Un estudiante de secundaria que visita el Laboratorio de Esclerocronología de la Universidad de Tulane usa un casco de realidad virtual para interactuar con núcleos coralinos en 3D durante el evento “Boys at Tulane in STEM 2025” de la universidad. Crédito: Danielle Scanlon Estudiantes de secundaria aprenden sobre núcleos de coral gracias a un holograma en un taller de la Universidad del Pacífico de Hawái. Crédito: Thomas DeCarlo

El potencial educacional de la aplicación se demostró en recientes eventos de divulgación. Utilizando tecnología de realidad virtual, estudiantes de secundaria en Nueva Orleans visualizaron escaneos 3D de núcleos de corales desde CoralCT y practicaron la identificación de bandas de densidad anual. En un evento similar, estudiantes de sexto grado en Hawái interactuaron con núcleos holográficos 3D coralinos y aprendieron cómo los científicos los extraen y estudian para comprender los patrones de crecimiento a lo largo del tiempo. Las experiencias positivas de estudiantes y profesores durante estos eventos demostraron cómo CoralCT brinda la oportunidad de interactuar de forma práctica con datos científicos reales.

La integración de IA también podría, y esto es importante, facilitar que todos los usuarios contribuyan al análisis de núcleos coralinos, independientemente de su formación académica o experiencia de campo.

De cara al futuro, existe la posibilidad de integrar inteligencia artificial (IA) en CoralCT para la identificación automatizada de patrones de bandas de coral. Si un sistema de IA se entrenara con interpretaciones humanas existentes, podría sugerir automáticamente marcas de bandas que los usuarios podrían revisar y verificar. Este avance ofrece la posibilidad de realizar análisis de núcleos coralinos más precisos y eficientes, manteniendo la supervisión humana. La integración de IA también podría, y esto es importante, facilitar que todos los usuarios contribuyan al análisis de núcleos coralinos, independientemente de su formación académica o experiencia de campo. Cada nueva contribución o análisis de un núcleo mejora la base de datos CoralCT y amplía nuestro conocimiento de los arrecifes de coral y las condiciones oceánicas pasadas.

La esclerocronología coralina es vital para comprender los cambios medioambientales en los ecosistemas de arrecifes coralinos y los impactos que estos cambios han provocado. Gracias a esta investigación, obtenemos información sobre el pasado del océano y mejoramos nuestra comprensión de los arrecifes de coral actuales. A medida que se intensifican las amenazas a los arrecifes, los grandes conjuntos de datos de acceso abierto son cada vez más esenciales para monitorear la salud de los arrecifes y predecir los impactos futuros.

Por lo tanto, CoralCT desempeña un papel importante en la preservación de valiosos registros del crecimiento de los corales y su historia medioambiental, a la vez que promueve el intercambio colaborativo, accesible y transparente de datos. Al poner la ciencia de los arrecifes de coral a disposición de investigadores y del público en general, conecta datos, ideas y personas para abordar cuestiones cruciales sobre nuestro mundo cambiante.

Agradecimientos

CoralCT se desarrolló con el apoyo de la subvención OCE-2444864 de la National Science Foundation. El uso de nombres comerciales, de empresas o de productos se realiza únicamente con fines descriptivos y no implica su respaldo por parte del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Agradecemos al Equipo Científico de la Expedición IODP 389, al personal de apoyo del Operador Científico de ECORD (ESO), al equipo de perforación bentónica, a los topógrafos del MMA y al capitán y la tripulación del MMA Valour. La Expedición 389 del Programa Internacional de Ocean Discovery (IODP) contó con el apoyo financiero de las diversas agencias nacionales de financiación de los países participantes en el IODP. También agradecemos a todos los contribuyentes de datos hasta la fecha, entre ellos Giulia Braz, Jessica Carilli, Leticia Cavole, Ben Chomitz, Travis Courtney, Ian Enochs, Thomas Felis, Ke Lin, Malcolm McCulloch, Haojia Ren, Riccardo Rodolfo-Metalpa, Natan Pereira y al Programa de Recursos de Riesgos Costeros y Marinos del Servicio Geológico de los Estados Unidos.

Referencias

Barkley, H. C., et al. (2018), Repeat bleaching of a central Pacific coral reef over the past six decades (1960–2016), Commun. Biol., 1, 177, https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-018-0183-7.

DeCarlo, T. M., et al. (2024), Calcification trends in long-lived corals across the Indo-Pacific during the industrial era, Commun. Earth Environ., 5, 756, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01904-8.

DeCarlo, T. M., et al. (2025), CoralCT: A platform for transparent and collaborative analyses of growth parameters in coral skeletal cores, Limnol. Oceanogr. Methods, 23(2), 97–116, https://doi.org/10.1002/lom3.10661.

Hudson, J. H. (1981), Growth rates in Montastraea annularis: A record of environmental change in Key Largo Coral Reef Marine Sanctuary, Florida, Bull. Mar. Sci., 31(2), 444–459, www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/1981/00000031/00000002/art00014.

Hudson, J. H., et al. (1976), Sclerochronology: A tool for interpreting past environments, Geology, 4(6), 361–364, https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1976)4<361:SATFIP>2.0.CO;2.

Knutson, D. W., et al. (1972), Coral chronometers: Seasonal growth bands in reef corals, Science, 177(4045), 270–272, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.177.4045.270.

Lough, J. M. (2008), Coral calcification from skeletal records revisited, Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser., 373, 257–264, https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07398.

Rodgers, K. S., et al. (2021), Rebounds, regresses, and recovery: A 15-year study of the coral reef community at Pila‘a, Kaua‘i after decades of natural and anthropogenic stress events, Mar. Pollut. Bull., 171, 112306, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112306.

Información de los autores

Avi Strange y Oliwia Jasnos, Universidad de Tulane, Nueva Orleans, Luisiana; Lauren T. Toth, Centro de Ciencias Costeras y Marinas de San Petersburgo, Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos, Florida; Nancy G. Prouty, Centro de Ciencias Costeras y Marinas del Pacífico, Servicio Geológico de Estados Unidos, Santa Cruz, California; y Thomas M. DeCarlo (tdecarlo@tulane.edu), Universidad de Tulane, Nueva Orleans, Luisiana.

This translation by Daniela Navarro-Perez was made possible by a partnership with Planeteando and Geolatinas. Esta traducción fue posible gracias a una asociación con Planeteando y Geolatinas.

Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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Glacier Monitoring from Space Is Crucial, and at Risk

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 12:00

Shrinking glaciers present some of the most visible signs of ongoing anthropogenic climate change. Their melting also alters landscapes, increases local geohazards, and affects regional freshwater availability and global sea level rise.

Worldwide observations show that global glacier decline through the early 21st century has been historically unprecedented. Modeling research suggests that 16 kilograms of glacier ice melt for every kilogram of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted, and other studies indicate that every centimeter of sea level rise exposes an additional 2–3 million people to annual flooding.

Science has benefited from a diverse set of spaceborne missions and strategies for estimating glacier mass changes at regional to global scales.

For more than 130 years, the World Glacier Monitoring Service and its predecessor organizations have coordinated international glacier monitoring. This effort started with the worldwide collection, analysis, and distribution of in situ observations [World Glacier Monitoring Service, 2023]. In the 20th century, remote sensing data from airborne and spaceborne sensors began complementing field observations.

Over the past 2 decades, science has benefited from a diverse set of spaceborne missions and strategies for estimating glacier mass changes at regional to global scales (see Figure 2 of Berthier et al. [2023]). However, this research is challenged by its dependence on the open accessibility of observations from scientific satellite missions. The continuation and accessibility of several satellite missions are now at risk, presenting potential major gaps in our ability to observe glaciers from space.

We discuss here the history, strengths, and limitations of several strategies for tracking changes in glaciers and how combining studies from the multiple approaches available—as exemplified by a recent large-scale effort within the research community—improves the accuracy of analyses of glacial mass changes. We also outline actions required to secure the future of long-term glacier monitoring.

The Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise

Glaciological observations from in situ measurements of ablation and accumulation, generally carried out with ablation stakes and in snow pits, represent the backbone of glacier mass balance monitoring. For more than 30 years, glaciologists have undertaken this work at 60 reference glaciers worldwide, with some observations extending back to the early 20th century.

Researchers conduct glaciological fieldwork, using ablation stakes and other tools, on Findelengletscher in Zermatt, Switzerland, in October 2024. Credit: Andreas Linsbauer, University of Zurich

These observations provide good estimates of the interannual variability of glacier mass balance and have been vital for process understanding, model calibration, and long-term monitoring. However, because of the limited spatial coverage of in situ observations, the long-term trends they indicate may not accurately represent mass change across entire glacial regions, and some largely glacierized regions are critically undersampled.

Airborne geodetic surveys provide wider views of individual glaciers compared with point measurements on the ground, and comparing ice elevation changes in airborne data allows researchers to identify and quantify biases in field observations at the glacier scale [Zemp et al., 2013]. Meanwhile, geodetic surveys from spaceborne sensors enable many opportunities to assess glacier elevation and mass changes at regional to global scales.

The Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE), launched in 2022, combined observations from in situ and remote sensing approaches, compiling 233 regional glacier mass change estimates from about 450 data contributors organized in 35 research teams.

The results of the Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise show that since 2000, glaciers have lost between 2% and 39% of their mass depending on the region and about 5% globally.

The results of this community effort, published in February 2025, show that since 2000, glaciers have lost between 2% and 39% of their mass depending on the region and about 5% globally [The GlaMBIE Team, 2025]. These cumulative losses amount to 273 gigatons of water annually and contribute 0.75 millimeter to mean global sea level rise each year. Compared with recent estimates for the ice sheets [Otosaka et al., 2023], glacier mass loss is about 18% larger than the loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet and more than twice the loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet.

GlaMBIE provided the first comprehensive assessment of glacier mass change measurements from heterogeneous in situ and spaceborne observations and a new observational baseline for global glacier change and impact assessments [Berthier et al., 2023]. It also revealed opportunities and challenges ahead for monitoring glaciers from space.

Strategies for Glacier Monitoring from Space

GlaMBIE used a variety of technologies and approaches for studying glaciers from space. Many rely on repeated mapping of surface elevations to create digital elevation models (DEMs) and determine glacier elevation changes. This method provides multiannual views of glacier volume changes but requires assumptions about the density of snow, firn, and ice to convert volume changes to mass changes, which adds uncertainty because conversion factors can vary substantially.

Optical stereophotogrammetry applied to spaceborne imagery allows assessment of glacier elevation changes across scales. Analysis of imagery from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on board Terra from 2000 to 2019 yielded elevation changes at 100-meter horizontal resolution for almost all of Earth’s glaciers [Hugonnet et al., 2021]. At the regional scale, finer spatial resolution is possible with the ongoing French Satellite pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) mission series and with satellites like GeoEye, Pléiades, and WorldView.

The Glacier Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (GlaMBIE) used data from a fleet of satellites that monitor glaciers worldwide using optical, radar, laser, and gravity measurements. Clockwise from left in this image are illustrations of Terra, CryoSat, ICESat-2, and the twin GRACE spacecraft above a map of elevation change for the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland. Credit: ESA/NASA/Planetary Visions

Two spaceborne missions applying synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry have been used to assess glacier elevation changes. In February 2000, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) produced a near-global DEM at a spatial resolution of 30 meters. The second mission, TerraSAR-X add-on for Digital Elevation Measurement (TanDEM-X), has operated since 2010, providing worldwide DEMs at a pixel spacing of 12 meters.

Data from both missions can be used to assess glacier elevation changes in many regions [Braun et al., 2019], capitalizing on the high spatial resolution and the ability of radar signals to penetrate clouds. However, measurements using C- and X-band radar—as both SRTM and TanDEM-X have—are subject to uncertainties because of topographic complexity in high mountain terrain and because the radar signals can penetrate into snow and firn.

Laser and radar altimetry allow us to determine glacier elevation changes along ground tracks or swaths, which can be aggregated to produce regional estimates. Laser altimetry has been carried out by NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellites (ICESat and ICESat-2) and the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) on board the International Space Station (ISS) [Menounos et al., 2024; Treichler et al., 2019].

Spaceborne gravimetry offers an alternative to elevation-focused methods, allowing scientists to estimate mass changes by measuring changes in Earth’s gravitational field.

Spaceborne radar altimetry has a long tradition of measuring ocean and land surfaces, but these missions’ large detection footprints and the challenges of mountainous terrain hampered the use of early missions (e.g., ERS, Envisat) for glacier applications. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat-2, which launched in 2010, offered improved coverage of the polar regions, denser ground coverage, a sharper footprint, and other enhanced capabilities that opened its use for monitoring global glacier elevation changes [Jakob and Gourmelen, 2023].

Both laser altimetry and radar altimetry provide elevation change time series at monthly or quarterly resolution for regions with large ice caps and ice fields (e.g., Alaska, the Canadian Arctic, Svalbard, and the periphery of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets). However, assessing mountain regions with smaller glaciers (e.g., Scandinavia, central Europe, Caucasus, and New Zealand) remains challenging because of the complex terrain and limited spatial coverage.

Spaceborne gravimetry offers an alternative to elevation-focused methods, allowing scientists to estimate mass changes across the ocean and in water and ice reservoirs by measuring changes in Earth’s gravitational field. Two missions, the NASA/German Aerospace Center Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and the NASA/GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-on mission (GRACE-FO), have provided such measurements almost continuously since 2002.

Gravimetry offers more direct estimates of glacier mass change than other methods [Wouters et al., 2019]. However, the data must be corrected to account for effects of atmospheric drag and oceanic variability, glacial isostatic adjustment, nonglacier hydrological features, and other factors [Berthier et al., 2023].

Estimates from the GRACE and GRACE-FO missions are most relevant for regions with large areas of glacier coverage (>15,000 square kilometers) because of the relatively coarse resolution (a few hundred kilometers) of the gravity data and because of issues such as poor signal-to-noise ratios in regions with small glacier areas and related small mass changes.

Securing Glacier Monitoring over the Long Term

The work of GlaMBIE to combine observations from the diverse approaches above points to several interconnected requirements and challenges for improving the comprehensiveness of global glacier change assessments and securing the future of long-term glacier monitoring.

First, we must extend the existing network of in situ glaciological observations to fill major data gaps. Such gaps remain in many regions, including Central Asia, Karakoram, Kunlun, and the Central Andes, where glaciers are vital for freshwater availability, as well as in the polar regions, where glaciers are key contributors to sea level rise. These networks also need to be updated to provide real-time monitoring, which will improve understanding of glacier processes and help calibrate and validate remote sensing data and numerical modeling.

A sequence of aerial photographs taken in 1980 from about 11,000-meter altitude of Grey Glacier in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field (top) was used to generate a 3D model of the glacier (bottom). Credit: 3D reconstruction by Livia Piermattei and Camilo Rada using images from the Servicio Aerofotogramétrico de la Fuerza Aérea de Chile (SAF)

Second, we must continue unlocking historical archives of airborne and spaceborne missions to expand the spatiotemporal coverage of the observations used in glacier mass change assessments. Data from declassified spy satellites, such as CORONA and Hexagon, have provided stereo observing capabilities at horizontal resolutions of a few meters and offer potential to assess glacier elevation changes back to the 1960s and 1970s. Aerial photography has provided unique opportunities to reconstruct glacier changes since the early 20th century, such as in Svalbard, Greenland, and Antarctica. Beyond individual and institutional studies, we need open access to entire national archives of historical images to safeguard records of past glacier changes on a global scale.

We must ensure the continuation of space-based glacier monitoring with open-access and high-resolution sensors.

Third, we must ensure the continuation of space-based glacier monitoring with open-access and high-resolution sensors, following the examples of the Sentinel missions, SPOT 5, and Pléiades. For optical sensors, there is an urgent need for new missions collecting open-access, high-resolution stereo imagery. The French space agency’s forthcoming CO3D (Constellation Optique en 3D) mission, scheduled for launch in 2025, will help meet this need if its data are openly available. But with the anticipated decommissioning of ASTER [Berthier et al., 2024] and the suspended production of new ArcticDEM and REMA (Reference Elevation Model of Antarctica) products from WorldView satellite data as a result of recent U.S. funding cuts, additional replacement missions are needed to observe elevation changes over individual glaciers.

For radar imaging and altimetry, the SAR mission TanDEM-X and the radar altimeter CryoSat-2 are still operating with expected mission extensions into the late 2020s, and ESA’s SAR-equipped Harmony mission is expected to launch in 2029. With the planned launch of the Copernicus Polar Ice and Snow Topography Altimeter (CRISTAL) in 2027, ESA aims to establish a long-term, cryosphere-specific monitoring program.

The challenge with CRISTAL will be to ensure that its sensor and mission specifications are tailored for application over glaciers—a difficult task because of glaciers’ relatively small sizes, steep slopes, and distribution in mountain terrain. In the event of a gap between the end of CryoSat-2 and the start of CRISTAL, a bridging airborne campaign, similar to NASA’s Operation IceBridge between ICESat and ICESat-2, will be needed.

Grosser Aletschgletscher in Switzerland, seen in October 2015. Credit: Jürg Alean, SwissEduc, Glaciers online

For laser altimetry, we may face gaps in observations as well, as no follow-on is planned for the current ICESat-2 and GEDI science missions. ICESat-2, which measures Earth’s glacier topography and provides validation and coregistration points for other altimetry missions, is projected to run until the early to mid-2030s, but continuing missions must be initiated now. Future missions should combine high accuracy with full coverage over individual glaciers. Proposed concepts with swath lidar, such as EDGE (Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer) and CASALS (Concurrent Artificially-Intelligent Spectrometry and Adaptive Lidar System), could be game changers for repeated mapping because they would provide full coverage of glacier topography. Advancing Surface Topography and Vegetation (STV) as a targeted observable for NASA missions, as recommended by the National Academies’ 2017–2027 Decadal Survey, could extend such observations beyond the current science missions.

For gravimetry, we also face a potential gap in observations, depending on when GRACE-FO is decommissioned and when approved follow-up missions—GRACE-C and NGGM (Next Generation Gravity Mission)—launch. Regardless of launch dates, the usefulness of future missions for monitoring glacier mass changes across regions will strongly depend on the spatial resolution of their data and on the ability to separate glacier and nonglacier signals. Cofounded gravity missions such as the Mass-Change and Geosciences International Constellation (MAGIC), a planned joint NASA-ESA project with four satellites operating in pairs, could significantly improve the spatial and temporal resolution of the gravity data and their utility for glacier monitoring.

Bringing It All Together

Glaciers worldwide are diminishing at alarming rates, affecting everything from geohazards to freshwater supplies to sea level rise.

Glaciers worldwide are diminishing with global warming, and they’re doing so at alarming rates, affecting everything from geohazards to freshwater supplies to sea level rise. Understanding as well as possible the details of glacier change from place to place and how these changes may affect different communities requires combining careful observations from a variety of field, airborne, and—increasingly—spaceborne approaches.

In light of major existing and impending observational gaps, the scientific community along with government bodies and others should work together to expand access to relevant historical data and extend present-day monitoring capabilities. Most important, space agencies and their sponsor nations must work rapidly to replace and improve upon current satellite missions to ensure long-term glacier monitoring from space. Given the climate crisis, we also call for open scientific access to data from commercial and defense missions to fill gaps and complement civil missions.

As the work of GlaMBIE reiterated, the more complete the datasets we have, the better positioned we will be to comprehend and quantify glacier changes and related downstream impacts.

Acknowledgments

We thank Etienne Berthier, Dana Floricioiu, and Noel Gourmelen for their contributions to this article and all coauthors and data contributors of GlaMBIE for constructive and fruitful discussions during the project, which built the foundation to condense the information presented here. This article was enabled by support from ESA projects GlaMBIE (4000138018/22/I-DT) and The Circle (4000145640/24/NL/SC), with additional contributions from the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences (IACS).

References

Berthier, E., et al. (2023), Measuring glacier mass changes from space—A review, Rep. Prog. Phys., 86(3), 036801, https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6633/acaf8e.

Berthier, E., et al. (2024), Earth-surface monitoring is at risk—More imaging tools are urgently needed, Nature, 630(8017), 563, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02052-x.

Braun, M. H., et al. (2019), Constraining glacier elevation and mass changes in South America, Nat. Clim. Change, 9(2), 130–136, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0375-7.

Hugonnet, R., et al. (2021), Accelerated global glacier mass loss in the early twenty-first century, Nature, 592(7856), 726–731, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03436-z.

Jakob, L., and N. Gourmelen (2023), Glacier mass loss between 2010 and 2020 dominated by atmospheric forcing, Geophys. Res. Lett., 50(8), e2023GL102954, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL102954.

Menounos, B., et al. (2024), Brief communication: Recent estimates of glacier mass loss for western North America from laser altimetry, Cryosphere, 18(2), 889–894, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-889-2024.

Otosaka, I. N., et al. (2023), Mass balance of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets from 1992 to 2020, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15(4), 1,597–1,616, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1597-2023.

The GlaMBIE Team (2025), Community estimate of global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023, Nature, 639, 382–388, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08545-z.

Treichler, D., et al. (2019), Recent glacier and lake changes in high mountain Asia and their relation to precipitation changes, Cryosphere, 13(11), 2,977–3,005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-2977-2019.

World Glacier Monitoring Service (2023), Global Glacier Change Bulletin No. 5 (2020–2021), edited by M. Zemp et al., 134 pp., Zurich, Switzerland, https://wgms.ch/downloads/WGMS_GGCB_05.pdf.

Wouters, B., A. S. Gardner, and G. Moholdt (2019), Global glacier mass loss during the GRACE satellite mission (2002–2016), Front. Earth Sci., 7, 96, https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2019.00096.

Zemp, M., et al. (2013), Reanalysing glacier mass balance measurement series, Cryosphere, 7(4), 1,227–1,245, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-7-1227-2013.

Author Information

Michael Zemp (michael.zemp@geo.uzh.ch), University of Zurich, Switzerland; Livia Jakob, Earthwave Ltd., Edinburgh, U.K.; Fanny Brun, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France; Tyler Sutterley, University of Washington, Seattle; and Brian Menounos, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada

Citation: Zemp, M., L. Jakob, F. Brun, T. Sutterley, and B. Menounos (2025), Glacier monitoring from space is crucial, and at risk, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250290. Published on [DAY MONTH] 2025. Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

The challenges of the valley blocking landslide in the Matia’an Valley in Wanrong township, Taiwan

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 06:30

The 21 July 2025 rock avalanche is generating a lake that could have a volume of 86 million cubic metres at the point of overtopping. This poses a threat to at least seven downstream communities in east Taiwan.

Yesterday, I posted about the enormous 21 July 2025 rock avalanche in the Matia’an valley, in Wanrong township in eastern Taiwan. Coincidentally, etaiwan.news has posted an article about the landslide that includes some images of it, and that highlights the growing concerns about the potential hazard from the landslide dammed lake.

So, let’s start with the images. This is the headscarp area:

The headscarp area of the 21 July 2025 landslide in the Matia’an valley in Taiwan. Image by etaiwan.news.

The large source area is clear in the upper left of the image. Note the dust cloud from continued rockfall activity. The initial track of the landslide has left a complex topography that includes bare rock and some landslide material (especially on the right side of the image).

This image captures the lake that is forming:-

The barrier lake of the 21 July 2025 landslide in the Matia’an valley in Taiwan. Image by etaiwan.news.

Note the very substantial height difference between the lake and the top of the landslide deposit. Given that this valley was free draining before the landslide occurred, this must all be landslide material. As such it is erodable in the event of overtopping.

Finally, this is a view of the whole length of the landslide:-

The entire track of the 21 July 2025 landslide in the Matia’an valley in Taiwan. Image by etaiwan.news.

Again, note the height of the saddle formed from landslide material. The deposit appears on first inspection to be steep, which suggests it might be quite erodible.

The etaiwan.news article highlights work being undertaken by the Hualien Branch of the Forestry Conservation Department to understand the hazard. The statistics of the dam are concerning:

As of 7 August 2025At overtoppingLake volume23 million m386 million m3Lake length1,770 m2,900 m

The current freeboard is 79 m. Current inflow into the lake is 920,000 m3 per day, giving an overtopping date of mid-October at current rates (but see below).

A key issue is then the assets at risk downstream. This is a Google Earth image of the channel entering the Longitudinal Valley:-

Google Earth image of downstream assets from the landslide dam in the Matia’an Valley in Taiwan.

The article mentions that the risk will extend to:-

“will include the Matai’an Creek Bridge on the downstream Taiwan Line 9 [this is main highway on the eastern side of Taiwan], public and private river defence facilities and settlements on both sides of the river, and the administrative area covers Mingli Village, Dama Village, Daping Village, Dongfu Village in Wanrong Township, and Changqiaoli, Darongli and Shanxingli in Fenglin Township.”

Taiwan is well-placed to manage this hazard, but it is going to be a major issue in the coming weeks. Finally, as noted above, the overtopping date is estimated from current inflow rates. But, the next few weeks are the peak of the typhoon season, which can bring exceptional rainfall.

And, right on cue, Tropical Storm Podul has formed to the east of Taiwan, and is now moving westward. It is too early to tell whether this will bring heavy rainfall to the Matia’an valley (it is likely to pass by Taiwan on about 13 – 14 August), but if it does then this will accelerate the filling of the lake. Even if it does not bring heavy rainfall, the development of another typhoon that affects this area in the next two months would not be a surprise.

Return to The Landslide Blog homepage Text © 2023. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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Can Microorganisms Thrive in Earth’s Atmosphere, or Do They Simply Survive There?

Thu, 08/07/2025 - 13:07
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

Earth’s atmosphere transports tiny forms of cellular life, such as fungal spores, pollen, bacteria, and viruses. On their journeys, these microorganisms encounter challenging conditions such as cold temperatures, UV radiation, and a lack of nutrient availability. Previous research showed that certain microorganisms can withstand these harsh conditions and potentially reside in dormancy until being deposited in a more favorable environment. But could the atmosphere itself also be the site of an active microbial system, harboring growing, adapted, and resident microorganisms?

The study of these floating life-forms is called aerobiology, but progress in the field is difficult to make: No standardized method exists for sampling the aeromicrobiome, it’s common for microbe samples to become contaminated, and it’s challenging to replicate atmospheric conditions in a laboratory setting.

Martinez-Rabert et al. suggest that computer modeling and theoretical approaches could help to improve understanding of the aeromicrobiome. Using known information about the metabolism and bioenergetics of microbial life—especially in harsh environments—as well as the chemistry and physics of the atmosphere, specialized modeling frameworks may be able to provide insight into the aeromicrobiome.

That bottom-up modeling approach, the researchers propose, could allow them to test how changing individual elements of Earth’s atmosphere would affect the proliferation of the microbial life it contains. For instance, are microbes better suited to a “free-living” lifestyle in atmospheric gases, inside droplets, or attached to solid particles? What energy sources are available to these microorganisms? How does the acidity of atmospheric aerosols affect the ability of atmospheric microorganisms to thrive?

The group suggests that combined with data generated through sampling measurements, experiments, and observations, theoretical modeling could help researchers to assess our atmosphere’s capacity to sustain a microbial biosphere and even to learn more about how microorganisms influence the atmosphere’s chemical makeup. This work could also someday be useful for modeling how life may exist in other planetary atmospheres, the researchers say. (Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JG009071, 2025)

—Rebecca Owen (@beccapox.bsky.social), Science Writer

Citation: Owen, R. (2025), Can microorganisms thrive in Earth’s atmosphere, or do they simply survive there?, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250293. Published on 7 August 2025. Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

Coral Cores Pinpoint Onset of Industrial Deforestation

Thu, 08/07/2025 - 13:06

In Malaysian Borneo, demand for timber, land, and palm oil has caused profound levels of deforestation. But the lack of historic data on the region’s rainforests has left scientists without much understanding of these forests’ baseline—what did they look like before industrial logging began?

Researchers have now found records hidden in an unexpected place. A new study, published in Scientific Reports, used corals from three reefs off the coast of Malaysian Borneo to build a timeline of deforestation and erosion on the island. The timeline provides valuable information for researchers and policymakers about how coral reefs are affected by deforestation as well as what Malaysian forests looked like in Earth’s past.

The study “allows us to have an idea of what the system looked like when it was relatively undisturbed,” said Walid Naciri, a geologist and lead author of the new study; he completed the research during his doctoral studies at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom.

Coral Clues

Scientists can track deforestation trends with satellite imagery, but no such records exist before the onset of the satellite era around 1973.

Corals can be used as a proxy: They build themselves in alternating dark and light bands that, like trees, correspond to seasonal changes. As they grow, they absorb elements from seawater.

Corals’ ratio of barium, an element mostly found on land, to calcium, a common element in the ocean, can indicate the sediment content in river discharge that has reached a reef. Increased river discharge is an indicator of excess erosion, a consequence of deforestation. By analyzing the ratio of barium to calcium in a given band, scientists can determine the seawater composition in a given year.

“It’s a very well known impact of deforestation that you have less soil stability and more soil erosion ultimately arriving into the coastal ecosystem.”

Previous work by Naciri indicated that the barium-calcium ratio in corals matched river discharge data from the Baram River in Malaysian Borneo from 1985 to 2015. “We thought, okay, this is a pretty good analogue…so let’s have a look at the entirety of the record,” Naciri said.

The research team wanted to see whether they could use that ratio to construct a record of deforestation before 1985. They selected three separate reefs in the Miri-Sibuti Coral Reef National Park off the coast of Borneo. The three reefs, named Eve’s Garden, Anemone Garden, and Siwa, were located at different distances from the main sources of sediment: the Baram and Miri Rivers.

The team took cores of each reef and analyzed the ratios of barium to calcium. The resulting records were almost exactly what Naciri expected—cores from each of the three reefs showed a relatively flat trend until barium spiked beginning in the mid-20th century. The spike showed up later in the reefs farther from the island.

“We were pretty sure this was due to deforestation, because it’s a very well known impact of deforestation that you have less soil stability and more soil erosion ultimately arriving into the coastal ecosystem,” Naciri said. “But we needed a bit more proof.”

The team found archival forestry records that matched the mid-20th-century spike, indicating that the onset of industrial deforestation occurred around 1955. A previous analysis of land use across all of Southeast Asia from 1700 to 1990 showed a similar trend.

Naciri and his colleagues also ruled out other potential causes of the barium spike. They analyzed seawater at various distances from the Baram River to show that the barium was coming from the river rather than from leaching groundwater, for example.

The study’s authors did careful analytical work to rule out other interpretations of the data, said Dominik Fleitmann, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Basel in Switzerland who was not involved in the new study. Having three sites at varying distances from the island “adds confidence to the general reconstruction,” he said. 

The Far-Reaching Effects of Deforestation

The findings highlight how the impacts of on-land ecosystem degradation trickle down to coral ecosystems. Coral reefs rely on photosynthesis. Any influx of sediment into a reef clouds the water and harms coral’s ability to grow and even affects its ability to fight off diseases. 

“This is one more impact of deforestation that is really not talked about.”

“This is one more impact of deforestation that is really not talked about,” Naciri said. 

He urged other scientists studying deforestation to think outside of their usual study spaces and consider how marine ecosystems might be affected. “It’s an even worse problem than we think it is,” he said. 

Fleitmann said the results clearly show that “we are well above the natural variability in terms of soil erosion increases” and that the data could be useful to show policymakers the impacts of deforestation. 

The study could also be the beginning of a larger network of coral cores that could be used to build a more systematic reconstruction of deforestation records across larger areas of interest, such as the Australian or East African coast, he said. “What is the natural baseline, and how far away are we?”

—Grace van Deelen (@gvd.bsky.social), Staff Writer

Citation: van Deelen, G. (2025), Coral cores pinpoint onset of industrial deforestation, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250289. Published on 7 August 2025. Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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How Flexible Enhanced Geothermal Systems Control Their Own Seismicity

Thu, 08/07/2025 - 12:00
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors. Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth

Previous studies of the microearthquakes (MEQs) produced from Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGSs) have focused on the initial phase of high‑pressure “stimulation.” Chamarczuk et al. [2025] track what happens during normal operation, the phase in which plants will spend most of their lives.

Using a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) cable in a monitoring well and on‑site processing, the authors built a two‑month MEQ catalog through stimulation, crossflow testing, and five load‑following cycles. During those cycles, seismicity rose and fell with subsurface fluid pressure, then settled toward an equilibrium between injections. Event locations formed a cloud whose growth matched a simple diffusion model, which points to pressure migration as the main earthquake triggering mechanism.

These observations suggest that operators have the ability to control seismicity through careful management of injection rates and fluid pressure. They also demonstrate that affordable, real‑time monitoring is feasible for future commercial projects.

Citation: Chamarczuk, M., Ajo-Franklin, J., Nayak, A., Norbeck, J., Latimer, T., Titov, A., & Dadi, S. (2025). Insights into seismicity associated with flexibly operating enhanced geothermal system from real-time distributed acoustic sensing. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 130, e2025JB031634. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JB031634

—David Dempsey, Associate Editor, JGR: Solid Earth

Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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The 21 July 2025 giant rock avalanche in Wanrong township, Taiwan

Thu, 08/07/2025 - 06:55

On 21 July 2025, a very large rock avalanche occurred in the mountains of Hualien County, Taiwan. Initial measurements suggest that this ran out over about 6 km.

On 21 July 2025, an extremely large rock avalanche occurred in the administrative area of Wanrong Township in Hualien Count in Taiwan. This event was detected on seismic data and it has been described on Facebook by Chen-Yu Chen. In the days before the landslide, southern Taiwan had been affected by heavy rainfall associated with the passage of Tropical Storm Wipha.

The crown of the landslide is at [23.72645, 121.29021]. A rough measurement suggests that it is in the order of 6 km long and 2 km wide. The location is steep and rugged – this is a Google Earth image of the site of the landslide:-

Google Earth image of the site of the 21 July 2025 landslide in Wanrong township, Taiwan.

As the image above shows, the area affected by the rock avalanche is exceptionally steep (even by Taiwan standards) and deeply dissected, suggesting regular landslide activity. I will return to this theme in a future post.

This is a Planet Labs image of the site, draped onto the Google Earth DEM, captured on 25 July 2025. So far, this is the only image of the site that I have been able to access – this part of Taiwan is exceptionally cloudy at this time of the year. Whilst some of the landslide is covered in cloud, most is visible.

Planet Labs image, draped onto the Google Earth DEM, showing the site of the 21 July 2025 landslide in Wanrong township, Taiwan. Satellite image copyright Planet Labs, used with permission. Image dated 25 July 2025.

Of particular note is the large-scale of the event, the long runout and the large amount of dust on the adjacent slopes. Note also the lake that has started to develop – it is reported on Facebook that the hazard associated with this is being managed.

The crown of the landslide is at about 2,450 metres and the toe is at roughly 700 metres, so this has a vertical extent of about 1,750 metres.

Here is an initial slider of the before and after images of the landslide:-

This is probably the largest landslide in Taiwan by volume since the Tsaoling rock avalanche and the Chiufengershan rock avalanche, both triggered by the Ch-Chi earthquake in 1999. However, the runout of the Wanrong landslide is, I think, larger than both of these landslides. I do not have a volume estimate at this point.

In the autumn, it is likely that clear imagery will become available of this exceptional landslide. However, Taiwan is likely to be affected by further heavy rainfall in the coming weeks, so the landslide might evolve further.

Reference and acknowledgement

Many thanks to Brian Yanites of Indiana University Bloomington for highlighting this event, and for his work on the landslide.

Planet Team 2025. Planet Application Program Interface: In Space for Life on Earth. San Francisco, CA. https://www.planet.com/

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California’s Getting an Earlier Start to Wildfire Season

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 18:33

Climate change warps the timing of natural processes. Scientists have evidence that flowers are blooming, trees are dropping their leaves, and animals are emerging from hibernation earlier than they did years prior.

“We’re seeing a trend towards an earlier onset.”

Now, there’s new evidence of another climate-related shift: California’s wildfire seasons are beginning as much as 46 days earlier than the typical onset 3 decades ago. The analysis, published in a paper in Science Advances, found that the trend was similar in almost all of California’s varied ecosystems.

The study defined wildfire season onset as the day when 5% of that season’s fires have occurred. “We’re seeing a trend towards an earlier onset,” said Gavin D. Madakumbura, a hydroclimatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles and lead author of the new study. “We wanted to understand what’s causing this.”

Previous work, including one landmark 2006 study, indicated that in some western U.S. forests, the wildfire season has both lengthened and started earlier.

To quantify the role of climate change in those trends, Madakumbura and his colleagues first analyzed U.S. Forest Service fire occurrence data and season start dates from 1992 to 2020 in California’s 13 ecoregions, from mountains in the north to deserts in the south. They found that since 1992, fire season has started earlier in all but one ecoregion (the Sonoran Basin and Range). The Cascades ecoregion shifted the most, with its 2020 onset occurring 46 days earlier than in 1992.

“The fact that they can see [the shift] across a broad array of ecosystems, most of them statistically significant, is noteworthy,” said LeRoy Westerling, a climate scientist at the University of California, Merced who was the lead author of the 2006 study that first indicated the shift. Westerling was not involved in the new study.

Though the shift in onset timing has been suspected for years, its magnitude is “much larger” than anticipated and “truly surprising,” wrote Virginia Iglesias, a climate scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder who was not involved in the new study, in an email.

Northern California ecoregions showed stronger trends than southern ecoregions, with the Eastern Cascades, Cascades, Central California Foothills, and Coastal Mountains showing the most significant changes. Madakumbura said the north-south difference exists because northern ecoregions’ fire seasons are more sensitive to changes in winter snowpack, which has also dwindled as the climate warms.

Climate Change’s Role

The team then evaluated the role of climate change as a driver of each ecoregion’s fire season start dates.

For each ecoregion, they determined how strongly climate-related drivers, such as how dry fuels were, influenced fire season start date compared with drivers that were not directly related to climate change, such as vegetation type. Then they compared changes observed for each of those drivers through time.

“The calendar-based boundaries we’ve long relied on for fire preparedness may no longer hold.”

The result suggested that although natural variability and severe droughts in the mid-2010s contributed to earlier fire seasons, climate change was a major driver of the earlier season in 11 of the 13 ecoregions.

“The climate, and the aridity of fuel, is the main controlling factor,” Madakumbura said.

“The paper presents compelling evidence that anthropogenic climate change is a dominant and quantifiable driver of the earlier wildfire season onset,” Iglesias wrote. “The logic is clear and the conclusions are well supported.”

As the climate continues to warm, fire seasons in California will likely start even earlier, the authors wrote. Knowing that fire seasons are trending earlier can help emergency managers prepare for longer fire seasons that burn more area, Madakumbura said.

“An earlier start to the season just taxes all these resources that much earlier,” Westerling said. “It’s the same people, the same equipment, and the same budgets that are under stress.” Fire season in California is extending later into the fall as well, he said, creating a much longer period when communities need to stay prepared for fires.

The asymmetry between northern and southern trends “highlights the need for regionally tailored fire management and climate adaptation strategies,” Iglesias wrote.

“The calendar-based boundaries we’ve long relied on for fire preparedness may no longer hold.”

—Grace van Deelen (@gvd.bsky.social), Staff Writer

Citation: van Deelen, G. (2025), California’s getting an earlier start to wildfire season, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250297. Published on 6 August 2025. Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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Arctic Rivers Trade Inorganic Nitrogen for Organic

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 13:26
Source: Global Biogeochemical Cycles

Human activity is shifting the type of nitrogen flowing out of Arctic rivers and into the Arctic Ocean, a new publication shows. The amount of organic nitrogen, which is derived from living things, is going up. Meanwhile, the amount of inorganic nitrogen, which is produced from nitrogen in the air through chemical reactions, is going down.

Ruyle et al. sampled water from sites at six Arctic rivers: the Kolyma, Lena, Ob, and Yenisey in Russia; the Mackenzie in Canada; and the Yukon in the United States. Together, these watersheds cover about two thirds of the land area that drains into the Arctic Ocean. From 2003 to 2023, researchers collected samples from the rivers five to six times per year and measured the abundance of various forms of nitrogen. In four of the six rivers (Lena, Ob, Yenisey, Mackenzie), the ratio of dissolved organic nitrogen to total nitrogen (i.e., the sum of organic and inorganic nitrogen) increased significantly during that period at a rate between 1% and 2% per year.

The team applied newly developed models to these measurements to identify environmental and climate conditions associated with changes in nitrogen composition. The amount of water flowing through rivers, the extent to which surrounding permafrost has thawed, and the prevalence of burned landscape are all key drivers of the shift from inorganic to organic nitrogen, they found. Climate change is intensifying all of these conditions, so the trend is likely to continue.

Photosynthetic organisms such as algae and cyanobacteria typically use inorganic nitrogen to fuel their growth, whereas organisms that eat other living things can use organic nitrogen. The microbes that cause harmful algae blooms are typically photosynthetic.

So in the coming years, a decrease in inorganic nitrogen in these rivers could lead to fewer harmful blooms in coastal regions where river inputs are most important. However, the overall effects of a shift from inorganic to organic nitrogen are not completely understood, and the authors suggest the shifts should be the subject of future research. (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025GB008639, 2025)

—Saima May Sidik (@saimamay.bsky.social), Science Writer

Citation: Sidik, S. M. (2025), Arctic rivers trade inorganic nitrogen for organic, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250292. Published on 6 August 2025. Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

Iron Emissions Are Shifting a North Pacific Plankton Bloom

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 13:25

Smelting metals and burning coal vaporize small amounts of iron. Some of this iron wafts out of East Asia and into the North Pacific Ocean, where it supercharges phytoplankton growth, a new study found.

The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, used isotope analysis to estimate that around 39% of the iron in seawater sampled from the North Pacific during the springs of 2016, 2017, and 2019 came from human activities. This added iron is helping phytoplankton consume marine nitrogen faster, causing a long-term northward shift in a North Pacific algal bloom.

“The nitrogen is like a paycheck that they get every year, and when they have more iron, they spend through it faster.”

“The nitrogen is like a paycheck that they get every year, and when they have more iron, they spend through it faster,” said the study’s first author, Nick Hawco, a marine geochemist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Strong winds churn the waters of the North Pacific every winter, lifting nitrogen and other nutrients to the surface. As ocean currents carry the nutrients south toward a region of mixing gyres called the North Pacific Transition Zone, they fuel a phytoplankton bloom that extends from California to Japan. Tuna, humpback whales, and other sea creatures come to feast on the animals supported by the phytoplankton.

Over the spring and summer, the phytoplankton exhaust the nutrients brought south by currents. This depletion causes the southern extent of the bloom, called the transition zone chlorophyll front, to shift north each year, toward the nutrient-rich subarctic.

Have Iron, Will Travel

Hawco and his colleagues studied the metabolisms of phytoplankton captured from the North Pacific and found signs of iron deficiency. Iron is a limiting factor for phytoplankton growth in the region, the authors argued.

Though desert dust carried long distances by winds historically brought iron to the North Pacific, previous research has shown that industrial activities in East Asia—especially burning coal and melting metals—are a new and growing source of iron.

Between 1998 and 2022, steel production in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan quadrupled, and coal use more than tripled, according to data from the Global Carbon Project and the World Steel Association. During the same period, the southern edge of the bloom in April shifted north by about 325 miles (520 kilometers), according to satellite measurements of chlorophyll.

“This extra iron is leading to the nitrogen being drawn down earlier in the season, and it’s pushing these waters that eventually become nitrogen limited further to the north.”

In the northern parts of the phytoplankton bloom, chlorophyll concentrations increased, suggesting that the added iron is driving a more intense bloom, according to the authors. As a consequence, the southern edge of the bloom does not reach as far south during the spring, Hawco said. The nutrients that used to fuel it are likely being consumed by the more intense bloom up north, he said.

“This extra iron is leading to the nitrogen being drawn down earlier in the season, and it’s pushing these waters that eventually become nitrogen limited further to the north,” said Peter Sedwick, a chemical oceanographer at Old Dominion University in Virginia who was not involved in the study.

Northward movement of the bloom could have wide-ranging effects. Because the ecosystem supports abundant marine life, many anglers from Hawaii travel there to fish, Hawco said. As it shifts north, that trip is becoming longer and more expensive, he said.

Chlorophyll concentrations, a proxy for phytoplankton, shift seasonally. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

In addition, research suggests that climate change will reduce the amount of nutrients brought from the depths to the surface of the North Pacific. That will reduce the supply of nutrients brought south by currents, causing the southern extent of the bloom to move even farther north, Hawco and his colleagues said. Iron emissions and climate change are having synergistic effects on the transition zone chlorophyll front, they concluded.

Further research is needed to understand the impacts of this extra metal. The phytoplankton bloom sucks up carbon and helps maintain the balance of carbon dioxide between the ocean and the atmosphere, Sedwick said. Any change to the ecosystem could alter that balance, he added.

—Mark DeGraff (@markr4nger.bsky.social), Science Writer

Citation: DeGraff, M. (2025), Iron emissions are shifting a North Pacific plankton bloom, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250286. Published on 6 August 2025. Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

地震如何改变湖泊微生物群落

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 13:25
Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences

This is an authorized translation of an Eos article. 本文是Eos文章的授权翻译。

当地震引起滑坡、泥石流或侵蚀时,它可以通过引入颗粒更大的沉积物来改变附近湖泊的组成,导致沉积物堆积更快,并影响碳封存。堆积在湖底的沉积物就像一个历史档案,记录了湖泊的生物、物理和化学变化,以及它们如何影响硅藻(微小的玻璃状藻类)等微生物。然而,人们对于地震引发的突然扰动会如何影响湖泊生态系统知之甚少。

Xue等人观察了喜马拉雅地区措普湖(Lake Tsopu)的长期变化。1900年至2017年期间,措普湖周围200公里半径内发生了63次5级以上地震。这里的高海拔、高寒气候和低人类活动使得措普湖成为研究这些地震引起的微生物和地球化学变化的理想场所。

2017年,研究人员从措普湖中心水深14米处采集了一个45厘米长的沉积物岩芯。然后,他们将岩芯分成41个1厘米长的样本进行分析。研究人员发现了1900年至1923年间发生的两次大地震(7.09级和7级)的标志。一个标志是深度为28到35厘米处的砂粒含量增加,另一个标志是,与较浅处(1到23厘米)相比,深度较深处(28到35厘米)的颗粒大小中位数增加。

研究人员按照两个时间段对沉积物岩芯进行划分,第一阶段包含地震事件(1886-1917),第二阶段包括地震后的几十年(1923-2017)。他们注意到,地震后硅藻数量急剧减少,这可能是因为沉积物和氮的增加。在第一阶段,硅藻的多样性暂时增加,而后在第二阶段减少,这可能是由于沉积物的横向运输。此外,底栖物种在地震后减少,而漂浮物种则激增。

根据措普湖的研究结果,研究人员估计,全球大约有15000个湖泊——约占全球湖泊数的1.1%和湖泊面积的1.7%——在大地震之后经历了类似的剧烈变化,改变了水面以下以及周围景观的生态系统平衡。(Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JG008723, 2025)

—科学撰稿人Rebecca Owen (@beccapox.bsky.social)

Read this article on WeChat. 在微信上阅读本文。

This translation was made by Wiley. 本文翻译由Wiley提供。

Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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Early-Career Book Publishing: Growing Roots as Scholars

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 12:00
Editors’ Vox is a blog from AGU’s Publications Department.

Some may think writing or editing a scholarly book is something scientists only do later in their careers after several decades of research, teaching, and other professional experience. On the contrary, two scientists who completed book projects with AGU as early-career researchers found the years right after earning their PhD to be the ideal time to pursue this opportunity. In the first installment of three career-focused articles, these scientists reflect on the positive outcomes the experience had on their professional development.

Matthew Currell co-edited the book Threats to Springs in a Changing World: Science and Policies for Protection, which explores the causes of spring degradation and strategies to safeguard them. Rebekah Esmaili authored Earth Observation Using Python: A Practical Programming Guide, a book on basic Python programming to create visualizations from satellite data sets. We asked Currell and Esmaili about why they chose to complete book projects as early-career researchers, the unique strengths early-career researchers bring to such endeavors, and the impacts their books had on their careers.

How would you describe the early-career researcher stage in a scientist’s career?

MC: The first decade of a researcher’s career is a time of great discovery, when the world opens up in front of you. This period can also have its challenges and be quite daunting. It is when responsibility to identify the big research questions of our time, design quality research projects, and start supervising other researchers in training is handed to you all at once. Staying true to the motivations and passion that led you into research in the first place—and making sure you take time to keep listening and learning from those with experience, insight, and knowledge in your field—are key to success. 

Even though early-career contributions differ from those of senior researchers, they are still incredibly important for the community to continue thriving.

RE: Early-career researchers are the fresh growth on the knowledge tree, branching out in new directions. They have novel ideas and the enthusiasm to share them, and are quick to learn and adopt new concepts and technologies, so they help the tree gather nutrients and grow. It’s an exciting time to work alongside senior researchers who are astoundingly knowledgeable. A challenge is that early-career researchers may struggle to find their voice; but even though early-career contributions differ from those of senior researchers, they are still incredibly important for the community to continue thriving.

Why did you decide to write or edit a book?

RE: I did not plan on writing a book until I presented a scientific workshop, “Python for Earth Observation,” at an AGU annual meeting. I was inspired to simultaneously teach Python skills while showcasing the visually stunning, publicly available imagery produced by Earth satellites. I initially planned to offer the workshop only once, but the participants’ feedback showed strong interest in the material. Since then, I have presented the workshop every year that I could attend AGU. I decided to write the book to amplify my workshops and to make the content accessible to those unable to travel to conferences. Writing a book appealed to me because books can be widely shared and referenced, and can provide greater detail than is possible during a 4-hour workshop.

MC: The idea for the book first came in an email from my co-editor on the project, Dr. Brian Katz. As soon as I saw the suggested topic on freshwater springs, I was hooked and quickly became determined to make the book a reality. Having spent time with many people, including Aboriginal Traditional Owners from my home country, Australia, I knew how important springs are as a source of water but also a source of life, culture, and connection to the land. I also knew firsthand how many springs were under threat, and how urgent the task was of promoting good science and good policy in the way we manage these springs.

What impact did your book have on your career?

The biggest value and benefit from the book was all the fantastic people and relationships that it helped to build.

MC: I think the biggest value and benefit from the book was all the fantastic people and relationships that it helped to build. For example, the chapter on springs in the Great Artesian Basin at Kati Thanda was very well received by the Arabana Rangers, who are the custodians of the springs and the lands of northern South Australia. This relationship has grown, and now the Arabana Rangers are set to come and present their story of the springs at the upcoming International Association of Hydrogeologists Congress, where I’m organizing the program through the conference technical committee. 

RE: Writing a book was a huge project, but doing so helped me master the subject matter, as I had to think deeply about the content and consider how digestible it would be to a new programmer. It also gave me the confidence to take on challenges at work. For example, learning to break down tasks into smaller pieces during the publication process empowered me to apply for larger grants and projects. Project management at work felt less overwhelming because after writing a book, I had experience writing proposals, developing milestones, creating reasonable schedules, collaborating with multiple partners, and delegating chapter reviews.

What were the benefits of completing a book as an early-career researcher, as opposed to doing so at another point in your career? 

RE: Early-career scientists can have more empathy for the reader because they have more recent experiences learning new concepts built upon knowledge they have not mastered yet. My awareness of the audience was a strength, and I ended up writing the book I wished I had when I was getting started. I was sensitive to using dense, discipline-specific language that was challenging to understand. Instead, I made a conscious choice to use clear, kind, and encouraging language. If I had written the book later in my career, it might have resembled a traditional textbook, many of which make assumptions about what the reader should already know.

MC: The book helped me to get in touch with many fantastic people around the world working in freshwater springs research, and I had the chance to learn a huge amount from editing the different chapters that present case studies from around the world. These relationships have inspired new ideas and collaborations, and the circle keeps growing —for example, through the global network of researchers called “the Fellowship of the Spring.” Finally, completing a book and seeing it published also brought a huge sense of accomplishment.

—Matthew Currell (m.currell@griffith.edu.au, 0000-0003-0210-800X), Griffith University, Australia; and Rebekah Esmaili (rebekah.esmaili@gmail.com, 0000-0002-3575-8597), Atmospheric Scientist, United States

This post is the first in a set of three. Stay tuned for posts about leading a book project in the mid-career stage and as an experienced researcher.

Citation: Currell, M., and R. Esmaili (2025), Early-career book publishing: growing roots as scholars, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO255025. Published on 6 August 2025. This article does not represent the opinion of AGU, Eos, or any of its affiliates. It is solely the opinion of the author(s). Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

Nearly 94 Million Boulders Mapped on the Moon Using Deep Learning

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 12:00
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors. Source: Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets

Boulders are ubiquitous on the lunar surface. However, the lifetime of boulders on the surface is relatively short, lasting no longer than a few hundred million years, as the boulders are broken down and eroded in the space environment. Therefore, the presence of rocks indicates relatively recent activity. The rock abundance and size distribution can provide information on the evolution of the lunar surface and the development of the dust and rock fragments that comprise the regolith.

Rock abundance maps have been generated in the past by fitting models to thermal data. However, the rock abundance derived from the images provides greater detail about the size distribution of the rocks and their locations. Manually identifying and measuring the sizes of boulders on the lunar surface using images from orbiting spacecraft is very time consuming and laborious. As a result, a global map of boulders identified from images requires automated methods.

Aussel et al. [2025] use a deep learning algorithm to identify and measure the size of approximately 94 million boulders, providing the first near-global map of boulders larger than 4.5 meters across the lunar surface between 60° S and 60° N. The data show boulders are concentrated around impact craters and steep slopes. Distinct differences occur between the maria and highlands, with maria having higher densities of boulders, but with smaller average sizes. However, a significant variation in abundances is observed on different mare units suggesting differences in the properties of the volcanic rocks. The study also quantifies the size distribution of boulders and how the largest boulder sizes ejected by impact craters scale with crater size. While this study finds general agreement with the thermally derived maps, local differences are observed likely due to the sensitivity of the techniques to different rock sizes and geologic settings.

The study highlights how cutting-edge machine learning techniques can push the boundaries of what can be done in planetary science and can open up new avenues in research that previously were intractable. The end result is a rich dataset that has the potential to yield continued insights into the lunar environment, and the processes that shape that environment, as the research community studies the data further.  

Citation: Aussel, B., Rüsch, O., Gundlach, B., Bickel, V. T., Kruk, S., & Sefton-Nash, E. (2025). Global lunar boulder map from LRO NAC optical images using deep learning: Implications for regolith and protolith. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 130, e2025JE008981. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025JE008981

—Jean-Pierre Williams, Editor, JGR: Planets

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The possible causes of the Dharali (Tharali) debris flow in Uttarakhand, India

Wed, 08/06/2025 - 07:19

A possible cause of the 5 August 2025 landslide is the failure of a large body of glacial material high in the valley above the village.

The imagery that is emerging after the 5 August 2025 debris flow in Dharali (Tharali), in Uttarakhand, northern India make very somber viewing. Melaine Le Roy posted this comparison to BlueSky, which illustrates the scale of the flow that has struck the village:-

BEFORE/AFTER the Dharali village debris flow today!

NASA Planning for Unauthorized Shutdown of Carbon Monitoring Satellites

Tue, 08/05/2025 - 18:10
body {background-color: #D2D1D5;} Research & Developments is a blog for brief updates that provide context for the flurry of news regarding law and policy changes that impact science and scientists today.

For the past month, the Trump administration, via NASA’s Acting Administrator Sean Duffy, has been directing NASA employees to implement workforce adjustments and plan for the shutdown of dozens of missions and programs slated for cuts under in the President’s Budget Request to NASA. Doing so ahead of a Congressionally-approved budget for fiscal year 2026 (FY26) is tantamount to illegal impoundment of federal funds appropriated for the current fiscal year (FY25), according to an 18 July letter to Duffy signed by 64 members of Congress.

Now, despite warnings that their actions are illegal, NPR reports that Duffy and other senior NASA officials have continued to secretly direct NASA employees to draw up plans to end at least two major satellite missions specifically designed to monitor global carbon dioxide. Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO)-2, a free-orbiting satellite, and OCO-3, which is attached to the International Space Station, are slated for defunding in the 2026 President’s Budget Request (PBR).

David Crisp, a retired NASA atmospheric physicist who was the principal investigator of the original OCO mission and was OCO-2’s science team leader, told NPR that he was contacted by several NASA employees who asked him pointed questions about the satellites that added up to mission termination plans.

 
Related

“What I have heard is direct communications from people who were making those plans, who weren’t allowed to tell me that that’s what they were told to do. But they were allowed to ask me questions,” Crisp said. “They were asking me very sharp questions. The only thing that would have motivated those questions was [that] somebody told them to come up with a termination plan.” (Crisp is also a Fellow of AGU, which publishes Eos.)

Two current NASA employees confirmed to NPR that NASA leaders were told to make plans to terminate projects that would lose funding should Trump’s PBR be enacted. The employees, who requested anonymity, also told NPR that agency leadership is seeking private backers to keep the OCO satellites running should they lose federal funding.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatories were designed specifically to monitor and map the global carbon budget, and they have provided valuable data about the drivers of climate change. The satellites also exhibited a surprising ability: monitoring plant growth. The mission has provided maps of photosynthesis around the world that have proved valuable tools for farmers and the agricultural industry, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Experts warn that farmers could lose access to those tools if the satellites are privatized or decommissioned.

“Just from an economic standpoint, it makes no economic sense to terminate NASA missions that are returning incredibly valuable data,” Crisp said.

Growing plants emit a form of light detectable by OCO-2 and OCO-3. Here, red, pink, and white indicate areas of growth and gray indicates areas of little growth. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio Budgets Pending

Both the Senate and House appropriations committees recently released FY26 funding bills for NASA for consideration by Congress. The House does seek to cut NASA’s overall budget, though far less than requested by the Trump administration. The House’s draft bill does not break down appropriations by NASA’s subdivisions or programs, so there is little information about whether OCO would be defunded should the House’s budget be adopted.

The draft budget from the Senate appropriations committee, which also doesn’t mention OCO by name, nonetheless offers more details about what funding they would approve. Under that budget framework, NASA would receive $24.9 billion total (up from $24.8 billion in FY25). NASA’s Science Mission Directorate would lose a modest amount of funding ($7.3 billion, down from $7.5 billion), and the Earth Science division, which operates OCO, would also lose some funds ($2.17 billion, down from $2.2 billion).

The Senate committee’s more detailed explanation may shed light on its plans for OCO and other Earth-observing missions:

  • “The Committee rejects the mission terminations proposed in the fiscal year 2026 budget request for Earth Science, Planetary Science, Astrophysics, and Heliophysics.” That’s about as explicit as they can be.
  • “In advancing the U.S. national interest, NASA should seek, to the extent practicable, to retain public ownership of technologies, scientific data, and discoveries made using public funds.” This directive runs counter to NASA’s plans to privatize satellites that Trump seeks to defund.
  • “Earth Science missions could help to understand the efficacy of carbon dioxide removal proposals, including to track carbon stocks and carbon cycling in aboveground biomass and coastal marine ecosystems.” The committee recognizes that Earth-observing satellites are important to the future of the planet.

Neither the House nor Senate appropriations bills have been taken up by either chamber of Congress. The bills still need to be passed by their respective chambers, reconciled into a single budget bill that passes both chambers of Congress, and signed into law by the president before FY25 ends on 30 September.

—Kimberly M. S. Cartier (@astrokimcartier.bsky.social), Staff Writer

Correction 5 August 2025: David Crisp’s position with NASA and his association with AGU have been corrected.

These updates are made possible through information from the scientific community. Do you have a story about how changes in law or policy are affecting scientists or research? Send us a tip at eos@agu.org. Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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A very initial perspective on the 5 August 2025 debris flow at Tharali / Dharali in northern India

Tue, 08/05/2025 - 16:40

A massive landslide has destroyed a remote Himalayan village. Fifty or more people may have died.

Astonishing and terrifying footage has appeared today of a dreadful debris flow that struck the village of Tharali (also called Dharali in some places) in Uttarakhand today. The video has been widely shared on social media. This is a version on Youtube (the footage starts at about 6 seconds):-

There is confusion about the location of this event, but i believe it is at: [31.0406, 78.7811]. This is a Google Earth view of the village in question:-

Google Earth view of the site of the 5 August 2025 debris flow at Tharali in northern India.

News reports indicate that four people are known to have died and that about 50 people are missing, although there will be huge uncertainty in those numbers.

Whilst this event has been variously described as a flood or a flash flood, it is without doubt a debris flow (i.e. a landslide). The trigger appears to have been a cloudburst event. The exact mechanism to generate the debris flow is unclear at present, but the valley above Tharali is steep and rugged:-

Google Earth view of the valley that generated the 5 August 2025 debris flow at Tharali in northern India.

Note the marker that delineates Tharali – it is the valley above the village that has generated the flow. Possible causes could be multiple landslides that have combined to create a channelised debris flow, a single large landslide that transitioned into the flow, or a valley blocking landslide that collapsed. We won’t know until satellite or aerial imagery is available.

Rescue operations are going to be hampered by the blockage of other roads by the same rainfall event, the remote location and the low survivability of such debris flows.

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Exoplanet Triggers Stellar Flares and Hastens Its Demise

Tue, 08/05/2025 - 13:06

As giant planet HIP 67522 b orbits its host star, it triggers its own doom. The planet orbits HIP 67522, a young star slightly larger than the Sun, in just 7 Earth days. At just 17 million years old, the star is far more active than our Sun, regularly flaring and releasing massive amounts of energy and stellar material.

By using observations from three exoplanet telescopes, scientists have found that these flares don’t occur at random times and locations like on our Sun. Instead, they are concentrated at a particular time in the planet’s orbit, which suggests that the planet itself could be triggering the flares. What’s more, the flares are also pointed at the planet, bombarding it with nearly 6 times more radiation than it would experience if the flares occurred at random.

“We want to understand the space weather of these systems in order to understand how planets evolve over time, how much high-energy radiation they get, how much wind they’re exposed to, what consequences that has on the evolution of their atmospheres, and, down the line, habitability,” said Ekaterina Ilin, lead researcher on the discovery and an astronomer at the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON) in Dwingeloo.

Magnetic Interactions

Space weather is common in our solar system. At Earth’s relatively safe distance from the Sun, space weather manifests as aurorae and enhanced solar wind that, nonetheless, can wreak havoc on navigation and communication systems.

But in exoplanet systems, space weather can be far more deadly. Stars have strong magnetic fields, which are even stronger and more turbulent when stars are young. A star’s magnetic field lines stretch out from its surface, carrying superheated plasma along with them. Field lines regularly twist and tangle and coil until they eventually snap back into place, releasing stored energy and stellar material in a flare or coronal mass ejection (CME).

Astronomers have observed exoplanets orbiting so close to their stars that their atmospheres or even rocky surfaces are being blasted away by intense stellar radiation, winds, and flares. But for decades, astronomers have theorized that the connection between stars and close-in planets can go both ways.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory detected this X1-class solar flare from the Sun on 22 March 2024. This video was taken in extreme-ultraviolet light that highlights hot material in the flare. Credit: NASA/SDO

According to the theory, some planets orbit so close to their star that they are inside the star’s magnetic boundary, the so-called sub-Alfvénic zone. Such a so-called short-period planet could gather up magnetic energy like a windup toy as it orbits and release it in waves along the star’s magnetic field lines. When the energetic waves reach the star’s surface, they could trigger a flare back toward the planet.

The idea was born after the discovery of the first exoplanet—51 Pegasi b—in 1995 showed astronomers that planets could orbit extremely close to their host stars (51 Pegasi b has a 4.23-day orbit). Ilin said that although the theory has existed since the early 2000s, it has taken a while to find even one exoplanet that might fit the bill because most planets discovered thus far orbit much older stars with few flares and weak magnetic fields.

Too Close for Comfort

Ilin and her colleagues combed through thousands of confirmed and candidate exoplanets detected by the now-retired Kepler Space Telescope and the extant Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). They looked for young, flaring stars with close-in giant planets—a very broad search with hundreds of results—and narrowed their search down by looking for planets that might orbit within the sub-Alfvénic zone and for stars with strange flare timings.

“It was really a shot in the dark,” Ilin said.

After a long, tedious search, the team homed in on HIP 67522 and its two planets: planet HIP 67522 b, with its 7-day orbit, and a second giant planet with a 14-day orbit. The star’s flares were clustered together, but only barely within the margin of significance.

“The expectation was that it would have one of the strongest magnetic interactions based on how close the star is to the [inner] planet, how big the star is, how big the planet is, how young it is, [and] how strong a magnetic field we expect,” Ilin said. Despite the marginal significance, she thought, “Oh, actually, it might be worth a second look.”

“Statistically, almost impossible.”

The researchers observed the star with the European Space Agency’s Characterising Exoplanets Satellite (CHEOPS) for 5 years. They characterized 15 stellar flares during that period, a typical number for this size and age of star, but found that the flares clustered together when the innermost planet passed between the star and the telescope’s vantage point at Earth.

“When the planet is close to transit, the flaring goes up by a factor of 5 or 6, and that should not happen,” Ilin explained. “Statistically, almost impossible.”

“It is fascinating to see clustered flaring following the planet as it orbits its star,” said Evgenya Shkolnik, an astrophysicist at Arizona State University in Tempe who was not involved with this research. Some of Shkolnik’s past work investigated enhanced stellar activity in Sun-like stars with hot Jupiters, but those stars were much older and did not flare as much as HIP 67522. “It makes sense that more flares could be triggered through the same type of magnetic star-planet interactions we observed,” she said.

“It makes its life even worse by whipping up this interaction…and firing all these CMEs directly into the planet’s face.”

Like other short-period giant planets, HIP 67522 b likely would have been losing its atmosphere to stellar radiation no matter what because of how closely its orbits—indeed, the planet is about the size of Jupiter but just 5% its mass. But because the flares are synced with HIP 67522 b’s orbital period, Ilin’s team calculated that HIP 67522 b is experiencing roughly 6 times the stellar radiation that it would if the flares were randomly distributed, and the corresponding CMEs are pointed directly at it.

The team’s simple estimates show that because of this increased radiation, the planet is losing its atmosphere about twice as fast as it would otherwise.

“It makes its life even worse by whipping up this interaction…and firing all these CMEs directly into the planet’s face,” Ilin said. These results were published in Nature.

“This discovery is extremely exciting,” said Antoine Strugarek, an astrophysicist at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission in Paris who was not involved with the research. “Such magnetic interactions are clearly the prime candidate to explain the observed phenomenon, and no other theories are really convincing to explain these observations, to the best of my knowledge.”

Expanding the Search

Strugarek explained that the magnetic interaction observed in the HIP 76522 system has a few analogs in our own solar system. The Sun experiences “sympathetic flares,” he said, in which a solar flare in one spot can trigger another one nearby—they account for about 5% of solar flares. And in the Jupiter system, the Galilean moons Io, Ganymede, and Europa propagate waves along their orbits that trigger polar aurorae on Jupiter.

For HIP 76522, “the theory is that the perturbation originates from the exoplanet. This is definitively a possibility, and extremely exciting for future research,” Strugarek said. He added that he would like to see future work constrain the geometry of HIP 76522’s magnetic field to better understand the star-planet connection.

“We need to scrutinize all the compact star-planet systems with large flares for such occurrences. This should be ubiquitous for very compact systems.”

He also wants to go back into the archives to look for more exoplanets like this. “Now that we have one tentative system, we need to scrutinize all the compact star-planet systems with large flares for such occurrences,” Strugarek said. “This should be ubiquitous for very compact systems.

Shkolnik added, “I would love to see dedicated observing programs at both higher- and lower-energy wavelengths, namely, in the far-ultraviolet, submillimeter, and radio wavelengths.” The far ultraviolet is more sensitive to flares, and finding more flares might confirm the theory that the planet is triggering them.

Thus far, HIP 76522 b is the only planet discovered to be magnetically influencing its star. Ilin said that when her team started looking into HIP 76522 b, it was the youngest short-period planet in their catalogs. TESS has since observed several more, and Ilin’s team is ready to investigate them.

The researchers also hope to flip the script on star-planet interactions. Instead of starting with an exoplanet and looking for clustered stellar flares, they want to first look for flare patterns and then find the planet causing them. The untested technique could detect exoplanets around stars that other detection methods struggle with: young, active stars.

“It is a bit of a statistically tough cookie,” she said, “but it will be quite exciting if we can make that happen.”

—Kimberly M. S. Cartier (@astrokimcartier.bsky.social), Staff Writer

Citation: Cartier, K. M. S. (2025), Exoplanet triggers stellar flares and hastens its demise, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250284. Published on 5 August 2025. Text © 2025. AGU. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

Eight Ways to Encourage Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Discussions at Conferences

Tue, 08/05/2025 - 13:06

Conferences are key enablers of community building within and outside academic ecosystems, bringing together broad groups of individuals with different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. They can also provide safe and constructive environments for open discussions of cultural issues important to scientific communities, including those related to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI, also known as DEI) [Hauss, 2021; Zierath, 2016].

These discussions, which likely would not otherwise occur on a broad scale outside of meetings [Oester et al., 2017; Barrows et al., 2021], are particularly valuable in geoscience and climate research. Those fields are notably lacking in diversity, and within them, hearing the voices of marginalized groups is crucial for guiding effective evidence-informed public policy [Standring and Lidskog, 2021; Bernard and Cooperdock, 2018; Colquhoun and Fernando, 2020; Dowey et al., 2021]. Involvement in conference EDI programming by a wide swath of the scientific community can also help to ameliorate the academic “minority tax” that often disproportionately burdens scientists from underrepresented groups with the responsibility for driving change.

Many conferences now include EDI-related sessions [e.g., Fiedler and Brittani, 2021]. However, encouraging broad engagement with EDI- and community culture–focused sessions—both those looking inward within academia and those looking outward at how science affects society—at conferences remains a challenge. On the basis of our experiences organizing these types of sessions and the current literature on best practices, we propose eight changes that organizers and convenors can implement to boost attendance in, engagement with, and useful outputs from such discussions. These approaches group into three themes: focusing attention on EDI programming, facilitating open and productive discussion, and emphasizing evidence and solutions.

Focusing Attention on EDI Programming

A key part of generating wider engagement with equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) sessions at conferences is indicating that they are priorities for organizers and all attendees.

1. Be thoughtful about time-tabling. A key part of generating wider engagement with EDI sessions is indicating that they are priorities for organizers and all attendees (especially those in leadership roles), rather than ancillary topics of interest only to marginalized groups. Meeting convenors can signal this importance through effective time-tabling of EDI sessions, which can enhance attendance and engagement [Burnett et al., 2020].

Specifically, we advise against holding these sessions at the start or end of the day, when attendance tends to be lowest, especially for those with caregiving responsibilities. Likewise, organizers should be cognizant of how placing these sessions at the very end of conference programs may result in sparse attendance, unintentionally portray the session topics as less valuable to the community, and reduce their effectiveness in influencing change. Instead, we suggest that convenors schedule EDI-related sessions during the main program alongside prominent scientific programming and use plenary and keynote talks to highlight and support discussions of EDI.

2. Optimize physical placements. In addition to careful time-tabling of EDI sessions, organizers should consider how to maximize attendees’ opportunities to engage with related posters and talks by designating optimal locations for content sharing. EDI-related issues have an advantage over many scientific topics in that they are relevant to all attendees; hence, placing them in central, easily accessible locations where they are more visible can spur additional attention and discussion. Additional suggestions for placing EDI posters include displaying them outside main poster halls (e.g., in reception areas), allowing them to be presented multiple times (e.g., once in an “EDI” session and once in a “science” session), and fully integrating them into scientific poster sessions to help normalize conversations around culture in science.

Facilitating Open and Productive Discussion

3. Create welcoming and respectful spaces. Considering how personal issues related to EDI can be, it is crucial that conferences establish robust and agreed-upon codes of conduct and norms for related discussions, as well as mechanisms to enforce them if needed [e.g., Favaro et al., 2016]. Such frameworks help to ensure that conferences are spaces where attendees can present their ideas freely while being accountable for their contributions. The code of conduct and norms should also make clear that reasonable and respectful challenges of ideas (and recognition of how the conduct of these discussions affects others) are encouraged when discussing issues of community culture, in the same way they are in discussions of scientific ideas. Common terminologies for use within EDI discussions can also help to overcome differences in the meanings of words or concepts among countries and languages [Fernando et al., 2024], which can be especially important at climate and geoscience research conferences, given their international attendance.

Many conferences group all EDI-related contributions into large catchall sessions, which can make it challenging for attendees to identify best practices relating to specific aspects of EDI.

4. Avoid additional costs for attendees. Many conferences limit attendees to giving a single oral presentation, which can force them to choose between presenting their science (which often is more highly rewarded in academic systems) or their EDI-related work or experiences. Best practice has been showcased by some organizations, such as AGU, which now allows presenters to contribute two abstracts to its Annual Meeting. Nonetheless, the costs of submitting an additional abstract to a conference can impose a significant financial constraint on a researcher, especially if they must pay for poster printing in cases where only one oral contribution is permitted. When reviewing EDI- and community-focused abstracts, organizers should consider dispensing with single oral abstract submission rules, issuing fee waivers for these abstracts, or issuing small rebates in registration fees (e.g., $50) to partially cover poster printing costs.

5. Group EDI contributions by topic. EDI encompasses a wide range of specific subtopics, from school education to inclusion in graduate programs and beyond. However, many conferences group all EDI-related contributions into large catchall sessions, which can make it challenging for attendees to identify best practices relating to specific aspects of EDI. Organizers should solicit enough EDI contributions that they can group them by theme. Especially at larger conferences, having themes will help organizers reach the critical mass of posters and talks needed to hold parallel sessions focusing on different issues (e.g., one about geoscience education in schools and another about accessible fieldwork), hence maximizing the potential for useful discussions. The United Kingdom’s Royal Astronomical Society, for example, has demonstrated best practice in its larger meetings by soliciting contributions to specifically organized EDI sessions that are integrated into the main conference program but have different focuses (e.g., outreach, supporting students and postdocs).

Emphasizing Evidence and Solutions

6. Encourage sharing of data and applicable lessons. A major benefit of conferences is the opportunities they offer to develop new ideas in groups and to identify and optimize existing solutions that can be applied in new settings. Science departments and institutions often run dedicated programs to widen participation, increase diversity, and improve inclusivity, many of which include elements for monitoring and evaluating their success. However, these programs—and the qualitative and quantitative data they produce—are rarely discussed or presented in conference settings, limiting chances for shared identification of lessons learned and where else such lessons can be applied.

To call attention to the scientific basis behind effective EDI interventions, organizers should explicitly encourage contributions that showcase institutional programs and their evaluations. This encouragement might include asking presenters to share data reflecting how their intervention had positive outcomes or, conversely, why it was ineffective (and what lessons can be learned as a result). Organizers could also provide guidelines for how to present EDI work and outreach programs such that intervention successes and best practices can be shared clearly and potentially scaled for use in other institutions (e.g., by explicitly addressing issues of funding, time and added labor costs, and other logistical requirements). Furthermore, organizers should consider optimal formats for engagement around this information. Standard lecture-style talks, for example, may be less effective than town halls, open discussions, or breakout working groups.

Making an effective case for the need for broad interventions often requires providing quantitative evidence linking individual experiences to systemic and problematic issues.

7. Encourage presenters to link experience and evidence. Issues relating to EDI, scientific culture, and the academic community are naturally rooted in individuals’ lived experiences, and hence, presentations on these experiences often form a substantial portion of EDI sessions. As powerful as these presentations typically are, making an effective case for the need for broad interventions to scientists and decisionmakers (e.g., funding bodies) often requires providing quantitative evidence linking individual experiences to systemic and problematic issues.

Encouraging presenters in EDI sessions to frame their discussions in a scientific light when possible—for example, by presenting a clear synthesis of background literature and an evidence base for the work—can help foster positive reactions and productive decisionmaking for implementing change. Professional associations and conference hosts could, again, provide presenters with best-practice guidelines for discussing EDI topics (for example, encouraging the use of quantitative evaluation and significance testing), given that many EDI presenters are not social scientists by training.

8. Provide space and funding for additional community events. Society and conference leadership should also support their community members and attendees in organizing affiliated EDI-related events that do not fall within traditional conference programs of talks and posters. This support could include providing space or other accommodations (e.g., free refreshments) for groups to arrange meetups or social events that encourage community building and a sense of belonging. Or it could entail offering groups the opportunity to add their events to the main conference program, rather than organizing them on the periphery. When possible, support should also be offered for these groups to write and publish summaries of observations and outcomes from their EDI-related sessions—for example, through small grants funding the publication of white papers—to extend the reach and impact of their discussions.

Progressing Toward Greater Engagement

Enacting many of the above suggestions will come with financial, logistical, or workload costs for conference organizers. Waiving or reducing abstract fees for EDI-related abstracts, for example, would reduce revenue and must be balanced against other financial constraints and commitments, such as providing financial support to people who would otherwise be unable to attend.

These suggestions for change need not all be acted upon simultaneously. Gradual change, such as tackling the simplest improvements first, still represents progress.

Nonetheless, some suggestions (e.g., optimizing scheduling and physical placement of sessions and soliciting more EDI-related abstracts) should incur little to no additional financial cost and could be acted upon immediately. Others, such as developing guidelines for effective presentation of EDI talks and posters, will likely require more sustained effort over multiple conference cycles. Outside experts in EDI, for example, from the diversity committees of professional societies, may be able to help here.

Ideally, conference organizers would adopt all the outlined approaches—and perhaps find additional ways to spotlight and support EDI research and discussions at their events. Considering the many challenges and constraints of conference planning, though, it is important to note that these suggestions for change need not all be acted upon simultaneously. Gradual change, such as tackling the simplest improvements first, still represents progress and should encourage broader engagement in EDI sessions and conversations at scientific conferences. This engagement is especially vital in geoscience and climate science, where research often has inherent and significant implications for communities and, hence, where the presence of diverse voices is key to producing effective change.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Emily Ward and Becca Edwards for their helpful suggestions in compiling this article.

References

Barrows, A. S., M. A. Sukhai, and I. R. Coe (2021), So, you want to host an inclusive and accessible conference?, FACETS, 6(1), 131–138, https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2020-0017.

Bernard, R. E., and E. H. Cooperdock (2018), No progress on diversity in 40 years, Nat. Geosci., 11(5), 292–295, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0116-6.

Burnett, N. P., et al. (2020), Conference scheduling undermines diversity efforts, Nat. Ecol. Evol., 4, 1,283–1,284, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1276-5.

Colquhoun, R., and B. Fernando (2020), An audit for action, Astron. Geophys., 61(5), 5.40–5.42, https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/ataa075.

Dowey, N., et al. (2021), A UK perspective on tackling the geoscience racial diversity crisis in the Global North, Nat. Geosci., 14(5), 256–259, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-021-00737-w.

Favaro, B., et al. (2016), Your science conference should have a code of conduct, Front. Mar. Sci., 3, 103, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2016.00103.

Fernando, B., et al. (2024), Evaluation of the InSightSeers and DART Boarders mission observer programmes, Nat. Astron., 8, 1,521–1,528, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02434-1.

Fiedler, B. P., and S. Brittani (2021), Conference critique: An analysis of equity, diversity, and inclusion programming, paper presented at 2021 ALA Virtual Annual Conference, Assoc. of Coll. and Res. Libr.

Hauss, K. (2021), What are the social and scientific benefits of participating at academic conferences? Insights from a survey among doctoral students and postdocs in Germany, Res. Eval., 30(1), 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvaa018.

Oester, S., et al. (2017), Why conferences matter—An illustration from the International Marine Conservation Congress, Front. Mar. Sci., 4, 257, https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00257.

Standring, A., and R. Lidskog (2021), (How) does diversity still matter for the IPCC? Instrumental, substantive and co-productive logics of diversity in global environmental assessments, Climate, 9(6), 99, https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9060099.

Zierath, J. R. (2016), Building bridges through scientific conferences, Cell, 167(5), 1,155–1,158, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.11.006.

Author Information

Benjamin Fernando (bfernan9@jh.edu), Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.; and Mariama Dryák-Vallies, Center for Education, Engagement and Evaluation, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder

Citation: Fernando, B., and M. Dryák-Vallies (2025), Eight ways to encourage equality, diversity, and inclusion discussions at conferences, Eos, 106, https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EO250291. Published on 5 August 2025. This article does not represent the opinion of AGU, Eos, or any of its affiliates. It is solely the opinion of the author(s). Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Except where otherwise noted, images are subject to copyright. Any reuse without express permission from the copyright owner is prohibited.

Balancing Comparability and Specificity in Sustainability Indicators

Tue, 08/05/2025 - 12:00
Editors’ Highlights are summaries of recent papers by AGU’s journal editors. Source: Community Science

Evaluating progress toward sustainable agriculture is essential for assessing a country’s commitment to sustainability but remains highly complex, particularly given the varying socioeconomic conditions and natural endowments of countries worldwide.

Rich picture created by one of the breakout groups during the stakeholder workshop in Austria. Participants were asked to draw relevant elements of a sustainable agricultural system from the perspective of Austria and then add notes to the existing Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM) indicator wheel with suggestions for relevant sustainability indicators. Credit: Folberth et al. [2025], Figure S15

A recent study by Folberth et al. [2025] represents one of the first attempts to address the critical challenge of balancing global comparability and national specificity in agricultural sustainability indicators. Leveraging the Sustainable Agriculture Matrix (SAM), an indicator system that provides consistent evaluations across countries, the authors co-evaluate the framework with Austrian stakeholders. This process reveals the limitations of current global indicator systems in capturing context-specific social, economic, and environmental nuances.

The study highlights the value of engaging diverse national stakeholders to identify gaps and proposes strategies to regionalize indicators without compromising global coherence. By advancing methods for co-creating regionally tailored frameworks, this research provides a roadmap for enhancing the relevance and applicability of sustainability assessments worldwide.

Citation: Folberth, C., Sinabell, F., Schinko, T., Hanger-Kopp, S., Lappöhn, S., Mitter, H., et al. (2025). Integrating global comparability and national specificity in agricultural sustainability indicators through stakeholder-science co-evaluation in Austria. Community Science, 4, e2024CSJ000092.  https://doi.org/10.1029/2024CSJ000092

—Xin Zhang, Guest Associate Editor, Community Science

Text © 2025. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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The 15 July 2025 quick clay landslide at Portneuf in Canada

Tue, 08/05/2025 - 06:58

A quick clay landslide in the Quebec region has destroyed most of a farm and a local road.

Over the next few days I will try to bring the blog up to date with some of the major landslides that have occurred whilst I have been on leave.

To start, on 15 July 2025 an interesting quick clay landslide occurred at the Rivière-Blanche Est range, in Saint-Thuribe, in Portneuf, Canada. Radio Canada has an excellent piece on this event (in French) that includes images and videos. They have also posted this video (again, in French) that includes some very good aerial imagery of the site:-

This includes the still below:-

The 15 July 2025 quick clay landslide at Portneuf in Canada. Still from a video posted to Youtube by Radio Canada.

The location of this landslide is, I think, [46.69818, -72.15138]. This is a Google Earth image of the site collected in July 2024:-

Google Earth image of the site of the 15 July 2025 quick clay landslide at Portneuf in Canada.

The news reports that I have read do not highlight an obvious trigger for this landslide, but it is interesting to note that the toe is located on the outside of the river bend, where erosion is high. There had been a period of rainfall prior to the landslide, but this does not seem to have been exceptional.

No-one was killed or injured in the landslide, but there is substantial loss of farmland and, in all probability, the farm buildings. The road has also been destroyed. Quick clay landslides are a known hazard in this part of Quebec, but interestingly this site was not classified as being potentially exposed to landslides.

Acknowledgement

Thanks to loyal reader Maurice, and others, for highlighting this event.

Return to The Landslide Blog homepage Text © 2023. The authors. CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
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