Nature Reviews Earth and Environment February 2021
Volume 2 Issue 2, February 2021
Glaciers in the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges provide freshwater and hydropower to millions of people, but are also melting at unsustainably high rates. This Review discusses recent and projected changes in glacier melt and resulting implications for regional water-related hazards and water resources. See Nie et al.
Image: fotoVoyager/Getty images. Cover design: Carl Conway.
Research Highlights
Research Highlight | 22 January 2021
Beneath the glacier
An article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes how glacier–rock interactions could fuel chemosynthetic primary production in Icelandic sediments.
- Kyle R. Frischkorn
Research Highlight | 15 January 2021
Breaking down the NAO–AO connection
An article in Nature Climate Change outlines how the connection between the North Atlantic Oscillation and Arctic Oscillation might break down under a warming climate.
- Graham Simpkins
Research Highlight | 20 January 2021
Dust records mountain growth
An article in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta reports a Nd-isotope record of terrestrial dust from northern Tibetan Plateau sediments since 52 Ma, revealing insight into regional uplift and climate changes from inland Asia.
- Erin Scott
Research Highlight | 15 January 2021
Plants and dune dynamics
An article in Geomorphology examines the role of plants in coastal sand dune formation through wind tunnel experiments and field observations.
- Laura Zinke
Reviews
Review Article | 02 February 2021
Glacial change and hydrological implications in the Himalaya and Karakoram
Glaciers in the Himalaya and Karakoram mountain ranges provide freshwater and hydropower to millions of people but are also melting at unsustainably high rates. This Review discusses recent and projected changes in glacier melt and resulting implications for regional water-related hazards and water resources.
- Yong Nie
- Hamish D. Pritchard
- Xiaoqing Chen
Review Article | 15 January 2021
Anthropogenic intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes
Short-duration rainfall extremes are determined by complex processes that are affected by the warming climate. This Review assesses the evidence for the intensification of short-duration rainfall extremes, the associated drivers and the implications for flood risks.
- Hayley J. Fowler
- Geert Lenderink
- Xuebin Zhang
Review Article | 07 January 2021
Evolution of the structure and impact of Earth’s biosphere
Life on Earth has evolved and impacted Earth’s biogeochemistry for more than 3.5 billion years. This Review examines evidence of major events in the composition and structure of Earth’s biosphere, updates existing viewpoints on the impact of these events and argues for new lines of biogeochemical work to be explored.
- Noah J. Planavsky
- Sean A. Crowe
- Kurt O. Konhauser
Review Article | 19 January 2021
Uniting remote sensing, crop modelling and economics for agricultural risk management
Improvements in earth observation are enabling new approaches to assess agricultural losses, such as those resulting from adverse weather. This Review examines advances in the application of remotely sensed data and crop modelling in index-based insurance as well as opportunities to enhance the quality of index insurance programmes.
- Elinor Benami
- Zhenong Jin
- David B. Lobell
Amendments & Corrections
Publisher Correction | 29 January 2021
Publisher Correction: The generation of large earthquakes
- Aitaro Kato
- Yehuda Ben-Zion
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