January 7th, 2020
Mapping Soil Moisture In High Definition

Trying to gauge soil moisture across large areas—regions, nations, continents—is difficult, yet knowledge of this dimension of our ecosystem is extremely important for farmers, planners, scientists, insurance companies and anyone concerned about preparing for global environmental change. “Understanding these patterns is critical to national and international security,” said Rodrigo Vargas, associate professor of ecosystem ecology

December 16th, 2019
Greenland’s Rapid Melt Will Mean More Flooding

The Greenland Ice Sheet is rapidly melting, having lost 3.8 trillion tons of ice between 1992 and 2018, a new study from NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) finds. The study combined 26 independent satellite datasets to track global warming’s effect on Greenland, one of the largest ice sheets on Earth, and the ice

December 10th, 2019
Gulf Coast Corals Face Catastrophe

If coral reefs are the canary to the ocean’s coal mine, it’s getting awfully bleak in the Gulf of Mexico. A new study by Rice University Earth scientists asserts: Without a rapid and dramatic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, fragile coral reefs in the Gulf of Mexico, like those around the world, face catastrophe.  That

December 3rd, 2019
New Maps of Salinity Reveal the Impact of Climate Variability on Oceans

The salinity of the ocean surface can be monitored from space using satellites to give a global view of the variable patterns of sea-surface salinity across the oceans. Unusual salinity levels may indicate the onset of extreme climate events, such as El Niño. Global maps of sea-surface salinity are particularly helpful for studying the water