American Geophysical Union
American Geophysical Union is a other that is part of the pulse of the water sector. Here we bring together everything it publishes on Smart Water Magazine: its news, its blogs and the events it takes part in.
Researchers find water storage in dams has caused minute shifts in Earth’s poles
Over the past two centuries, humans have locked up enough water in dams to shift Earth’s poles slightly away from the planet’s axis of rotation, according to new research. Earth’s outermost solid layer sits atop goopy molten rock, so it can move relative to the magma below it. Anytime mass is redistributed around the planet’s […]
‘Thirstwaves’ are growing more common across the United States
As the climate warms, the atmosphere is getting thirstier. Scientists define this atmospheric thirst, or evaporative demand, as the amount of water that could potentially evaporate from Earth's surface in response to weather. Standardized short-crop evapotranspiration (ETos) is a metric that estimates how much water would evaporate and transpire across a uniform, well-watered grass surface. […]
The rivers that science says shouldn’t exist
Rivers join downstream, flow downhill, and eventually meet an ocean or terminal lake: These are fundamental rules of how waterways and basins are supposed to work. But rules are made to be broken. In the journal Water Resources Research, Sowby and Siegel lay out nine rivers and lakes in the Americas that defy hydrologic expectations. All exhibit instances […]
Seeping groundwater can be a hidden source of greenhouse gases
A new study in the Farmington River watershed shows that groundwater seeps can release 20% of dissolved emissions into the atmosphere before the water joins streams.
As seas rise, marshes may still trap carbon and cool planet
Coastal wetlands have long been seen as one of the casualties of climate change, doomed by the rising seas that are steadily swallowing their ecosystems. New research offers a surprising twist, suggesting that marshes aren't just adapting to the tides—they may even be helping to cool the planet as sea levels rise. New research by […]
Flood disasters associated with preterm births and low birth weights
Floods can shape someone’s health before they’re even born, according to new research. The findings will be presented on Tuesday, 10 December at AGU’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where more than 30,000 scientists will gather to discuss the latest Earth and space science research. A new analysis of more than 3,000 studies from around […]
Staggering temperature rise predicted for the Middle East and North Africa
Some parts of the region, which is already warming at the same rapid rate as the Arctic, could see up to 9 degrees Celsius of warming.
Shallow waters make the best carbon sinks, researchers find
Marine phytoplankton take up atmospheric carbon and carry it to the seafloor when they die and sink (a process known as organic carbon sedimentation). This biological carbon pump is a powerful part of Earth's carbon cycle, yet scientists don't have a complete picture of marine organic carbon sedimentation rates. In a paper published in the journal AGU Advances, […]
US water reservoirs are shrinking and becoming less reliable, new study finds
Major water reservoirs across the continental United States are experiencing longer, more severe, and more variable periods of low storage than several decades ago, a new study reports. The problems are most severe in the western and central United States, but reservoirs in the eastern and southeastern United States are not immune, the study finds. […]