Materials for AGU Fall Meeting 2020
15 December 2020
Powering a sustainable future through lithium extraction from unconventional sources (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Currently, 100% of the lithium that goes into batteries in the U.S. comes from foreign sources. Fortunately, the U.S. has vast reserves of lithium, but accessing those elements and getting them to a usable state will require some work. Berkeley Lab has just launched LiRRIC, the Lithium Resource Research and Innovation Center, to accelerate innovation in lithium extraction from unconventional sources, with the goal of enabling domestic lithium production by 2024. [Media advisory]
14 December 2020
What is NASA’s aerobiology lab? (NASA’s Ames Research Center)
It’s easy to think of our atmosphere as just an empty space above the ground, but it’s home to a wide diversity of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. These tiny life forms may hold clues to big questions, such as where and how life evolved and if it exists elsewhere in the universe. Scientists in the Aerobiology Lab at NASA’s Ames Research Center, in California’s Silicon Valley, are working to develop methods to test how and how well different types of microbes survive in the extreme conditions of the atmosphere. [Background information]
11 December 2020
Impacts of COVID-19 emissions reductions remain murky in the oceans (University of Colorado Boulder)
While greenhouse gas emissions dropped significantly at the start of 2020, new research has found no resulting perceptible change in ocean acidity. But the oceans may respond quickly to COVID-19 emissions reductions in other ways. [Press release]
Modelling Exposure through Earth Observation Routines (METEOR) (British Geological Survey / ImageCat Inc)
The METEOR project is making a step-change in the application of Earth Observation exposure data. Level 1 exposure data for 47 individual countries has recently been released by METEOR. The data will enable policymakers to understand the potential impacts of complex natural hazards and events on the local population, limiting their impacts and allowing for the development of comprehensive Disaster Risk Management plans. The project is the subject of an AGU virtual event on 15 December from 20:30 – 21:30 PST. [Media advisory]
10 December 2020
Exploration to the Extremes: Johns Hopkins APL Space Science at the 2020 AGU Fall Meeting (Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory)
Scientists from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory are discussing new ideas and plans for missions to the Sun, asteroids, ocean worlds and beyond during the American Geophysical Union’s 2020 Fall Meeting, running online until 17 Dec. [Tip sheet]
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reveals upgrades to human-occupied vehicle Alvin submarine
Upgrades will permit Alvin, one of the world’s most prolific research submersibles, to put 99% of the ocean floor within reach of the science community when it relaunches in 2021. [Press release]
How commercial vessels could become tsunami early-warning systems (University of Colorado Boulder)
If a tsunami formed along the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of Oregon, residents might have just 20-30 minutes to get to safety. Scientists have proposed a new forecasting system that could provide seaside towns with critical early warnings. [Press release]
9 December 2020
Researchers get a look at the sun’s dusty environment (University of Colorado Boulder)
Scientists say that the way that dust moves and transforms around the sun may give them new insights to how Earth and its neighboring planets formed more than 4.5 billion years ago. [Press release]
US DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility Presentations and Town Halls Tip Sheet
Highlights of DOE ARM’s 2020 AGU presentations featuring ARM users and ARM data, including town halls and posters for the MOSAiC, CACTI and ACE-ENA field campaigns. [Tip sheet]
Covid-19 Impacts on Inland Fisheries (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
Research on how the pandemic is affecting fish stocks in opposite ways in different parts of the world. [Research paper]
Innovating Food Supply Chains for Covid-19 (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
An article exploring how companies and government can work together to address shifting pressures on food supplies. [Op-ed]
Citizen Astronomers Across the Globe Partner for World-Record Research on a Near-Earth Asteroid (Unistellar)
Backyard astronomers from seven countries collaborated to research and shape Near-Earth Asteroid 1999 AP10; fewer than 70 Near-Earth Asteroids in history have ever been shaped. [Press release]
8 December 2020
NSF-funded deep ice core to be drilled at Hercules Dome, Antarctica (University of Washington)
Antarctica’s next deep ice core, drilling down 1.5 miles to reach 130,000-year-old ice, will be carried out by a multi-institutional U.S. team at Hercules Dome. The remote site, hundreds of miles from the current coastline, could provide key evidence for what scientists believe was the most recent collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. [Press release]
7 December 2020
Media resources: What will we learn from solar cycle 25? (NASA)
Images and videos related to the media roundtable, “What Will We Learn from Solar Cycle 25?” [Multimedia resources]
State of the World Fishery Resources: Inland Fisheries (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
Background information on inland fisheries, published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. [PDF report]
Impacts of Climate Change on Fisheries and Aquaculture (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
A report from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. [PDF report]
UCI, Tsinghua U.: California’s 2018 wildfires caused $150 billion in damages (University of California, Irvine)
For a paper published in Nature Sustainability, researchers from the University of California, Irvine and other institutions quantified the economic impacts of California’s 2018 wildfires. They found that the costs stretched far beyond the borders of the Golden State. [Press release]
1 December 2020
Scientists to cover myriad topics from fine roots and peatbogs to population tracking (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Renowned scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory will cover myriad topics from fine roots and peatbogs to population tracking during the AGU Fall Meeting 2020 and are available for media interviews. [Tip sheet]
AGU 2020: Key Events From The Earth Institute (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
A guide to key talks and other notable events from Columbia University’s Earth Institute. [Tip sheet]
Is Arctic Warming Behind a Monster Saharan Dust Storm? (Scripps Institution of Oceanography)
Amato Evan, an atmospheric scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and colleagues have broken down the conditions that led to what some researchers call the “Godzilla” dust storm of 2020. The study is the subject of an AGU virtual event on 7 December, and the abstract can be found here. [Press release]
30 November 2020
Covid-19, Malnutrition and Climate Change (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
Cynthia Rosenzweig discusses how Covid-19 acts as a threat multiplier in the face of other factors that could cut supplies of food supplies to the most vulnerable. [Commentary]
Covid-19 Disruptions: Understanding Food Security Implications (Earth Institute, Columbia University)
Michael Puma explores the potential effects on food imports and exports to and from six countries in the face of the pandemic. [Blog Q&A]
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Tip Sheet
CIRES highlights at AGU, including press events and talks/posters split into five themes: Emissions and Air Quality, Wildfire/Hazards, Polar Change, Weather and Climate, and Education/Diversity. [Tip sheet]
A selection of new AGU research updated weekly.