An Improved Bio-Physical Parameterization for Ocean Radiant Heating in Conditions of Near-Surface Stratification.

Solar heating of the upper ocean is a primary energy input to the ocean-atmosphere system, and the vertical heating profile is modified by the concentration of phytoplankton in the water, with consequences for sea surface temperature and upper ocean dynamics. Despite the development of increasingly complex modeling approaches for radiative transfer in the atmosphere and upper ocean, the simple parameterizations of radiant heating used in most ocean models can be significantly improved in cases of near-surface stratification. There remains a need for a parameterization that is accurate in the upper meters and contains an explicitly spectral dependence on the concentration of biogenic material, while maintaining the computational simplicity of the parameterizations currently in use.

Increasing Health Risks During Outdoor Sports Due To Climate Change in Texas: Projections Versus Attitudes.

Extreme heat is a recognized threat to human health. This study examines projected future trends of multiple measures of extreme heat across Texas throughout the next century, and evaluates the expected climate changes alongside Texas athletic staff (coach and athletic trainer) attitudes toward heat and climate change. Numerical climate simulations from the recently published Community Earth System Model version 2 and the Climate Model Intercomparison Project were used to predict changes in summer temperatures, heat indices, and wet bulb temperatures across Texas and also within specific metropolitan areas.

Episodes of Early Pleistocene West Antarctic Ice Sheet Retreat Recorded by Iceberg Alley Sediments.

Ice loss in the Southern Hemisphere has been greatest over the past 30 years in West Antarctica. The high sensitivity of this region to climate change has motivated geologists to examine marine sedimentary records for evidence of past episodes of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) instability. Sediments accumulating in the Scotia Sea are useful to examine for this purpose because they receive iceberg-rafted debris (IBRD) sourced from the Pacific- and Atlantic-facing sectors of West Antarctica.

Evaluating expert-based habitat suitability information of terrestrial mammals with GPS-tracking data.

Aim: Macroecological studies that require habitat suitability data for many species often derive this information from expert opinion. However, expert-based information is inherently subjective and thus prone to errors. The increasing availability of GPS tracking data offers opportunities to evaluate and supplement expert-based information with detailed empirical evidence.

Strong Margin Influence on the Arctic Ocean Barium Cycle Revealed by Pan-Arctic Synthesis.

Early studies revealed relationships between barium (Ba), particulate organic carbon and silicate, suggesting applications for Ba as a paleoproductivity tracer and as a tracer of modern ocean circulation. Here, we investigated the Arctic Ocean Ba cycle through a one-of-a-kind data set containing dissolved (dBa), particulate (pBa), and stable isotope Ba ratio (δBa) data from four Arctic GEOTRACES expeditions conducted in 2015. We hypothesized that margins would be a substantial source of Ba to the Arctic Ocean water column.

Evolution of Tropical Cyclone Properties Across the Development Cycle of the GISS-E3 Global Climate Model.

The next-generation global climate model from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, GISS-E3, contains many improvements to resolution and physics that allow for improved representation of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the model. This study examines the properties of TCs in two different versions of E3 at different points in its development cycle, run for 20 years at 0.5° resolution, and compares these TCs with observations, the previous generation GISS model, E2, and other climate models.

Biogeographical Classification of the Global Ocean From BGC-Argo Floats.

Biogeographical classifications of the global ocean generalize spatiotemporal trends in species or biomass distributions across discrete ocean biomes or provinces. These classifications are generally based on a combination of remote-sensed proxies of phytoplankton biomass and global climatologies of biogeochemical or physical parameters. However, these approaches are limited in their capacity to account for subsurface variability in these parameters.

Parsing the Kinetic Energy Budget of the Ocean Surface Mixed Layer.

The total rate of work done on the ocean by the wind is of considerable interest for understanding global energy balances, as the energy from the wind drives ocean currents, grows surface waves, and forces vertical mixing. A large but unknown fraction of this atmospheric energy is dissipated by turbulence in the upper ocean. The focus of this work is twofold.

Improved representation of atmospheric dynamics in CMIP6 models removes climate sensitivity dependence on Hadley cell climatological extent.

The persistent inter-model spread in the response of global-mean surface temperature to increased CO (known as the "Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity," or "ECS") is a crucial problem across model generations. This work examines the influence of the models' present-day atmospheric circulation climatologies, and the accompanying climatological cloud radiative effects, in explaining that spread. We analyze the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models and find that they simulate a more poleward, and thus more realistic, edge of the Hadley cell (HC) in the Southern Hemisphere than the CMIP5 models, although the climatological shortwave cloud radiative effects are similar in the two generations of models.

Well-Switching to Reduce Arsenic Exposure in Bangladesh: Making the Most of Inaccurate Field Kit Measurements.

Well-switching programs in Bangladesh have successfully lowered arsenic exposure. In these programs, households switch from wells that are labeled "unsafe" to nearby wells labeled "safe," but these designations are usually based on inherently inaccurate field kit measurements. Here, we (a) compare the efficacy of field-kit measurements to accurate laboratory measurements for well switching, (b) investigate the potential impact on well switching of the chosen "safe" threshold, and (c) consider the possible benefits of providing more detailed concentration information than just "safe" and "unsafe.

Hydrothermal Alteration of the Ocean Crust and Patterns in Mineralization With Depth as Measured by Micro-Imaging Infrared Spectroscopy.

Processes for formation, cooling, and altering Earth's ocean crust are not yet completely understood due to challenges in access and sampling. Here, we use contiguous micro-imaging infrared spectroscopy to develop complete-core maps of mineral occurrence and investigate spatial patterns in the hydrothermal alteration of 1.2 km of oceanic crust recovered from Oman Drilling Project Holes GT1A, GT2A, and GT3A drilled in the Samail Ophiolite, Oman.

Evaluating Drought Responses of Surface Ozone Precursor Proxies: Variations With Land Cover Type, Precipitation, and Temperature.

Prior work suggests drought exacerbates US air quality by increasing surface ozone concentrations. We analyze 2005-2015 tropospheric column concentrations of two trace gases that serve as proxies for surface ozone precursors retrieved from the OMI/Aura satellite: Nitrogen dioxide (ΩNO NO proxy) and formaldehyde (ΩHCHO; VOC proxy). We find 3.

Fallout of Lead Over Paris From the 2019 Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire.

The roof and spire of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris that caught fire and collapsed on 15 April 2019 were covered with 460 t of lead (Pb). Government reports documented Pb deposition immediately downwind of the cathedral and a twentyfold increase in airborne Pb concentrations at a distance of 50 km in the aftermath. For this study, we collected 100 samples of surface soil from tree pits, parks, and other sites in all directions within 1 km of the cathedral.

Spatial Patterns and Trends of Summertime Low Cloudiness for the Pacific Northwest, 1996-2017.

Summertime low clouds are common in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), but spatiotemporal patterns have not been characterized. We show the first maps of low cloudiness for the western PNW and North Pacific Ocean using a 22-year satellite-derived record of monthly mean low cloudiness frequency for May through September and supplemented by airport cloud base height observations. Domain-wide cloudiness peaks in midsummer and is strongest over the Pacific.

Using Satellites to Track Indicators of Global Air Pollution and Climate Change Impacts: Lessons Learned From a NASA-Supported Science-Stakeholder Collaborative.

The 2018 NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Science Team (HAQAST) "Indicators" Tiger Team collaboration between NASA-supported scientists and civil society stakeholders aimed to develop satellite-derived global air pollution and climate indicators. This Commentary shares our experience and lessons learned. Together, the team developed methods to track wildfires, dust storms, pollen counts, urban green space, nitrogen dioxide concentrations and asthma burdens, tropospheric ozone concentrations, and urban particulate matter mortality.

New Approaches to Identifying and Reducing the Global Burden of Disease From Pollution.

Pollution from multiple sources causes significant disease and death worldwide. Some sources are legacy, such as heavy metals accumulated in soils, and some are current, such as particulate matter. Because the global burden of disease from pollution is so high, it is important to identify legacy and current sources and to develop and implement effective techniques to reduce human exposure.

Does Involving Parents in Soil Sampling Identify Causes of Child Exposure to Lead? A Case Study of Community Engagement in Mining-Impacted Towns in Peru.

Over a million people in Peru may be exposed to lead (Pb) due to past or present mining-related activities; however, neither soil Pb nor blood Pb are routinely monitored throughout the country. Because little is known about Pb contamination in smaller mining-impacted towns, soil Pb was mapped in four such towns with a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer in 2015. The roadside mapping delineated hotspots of highly contaminated soil (1,000-6,000 mg/kg Pb) in two of the towns.

Applying single-image super-resolution to enhancment of deep-water bathymetry.

We present research using single-image super-resolution (SISR) algorithms to enhance knowledge of the seafloor using the 1-minute GEBCO 2014 grid when 100m grids from high-resolution sonar systems are available for training. We performed numerical experiments of x15 upscaling along three midocean ridge areas in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. We show that four SISR algorithms can enhance this low-resolution knowledge of bathymetry versus bicubic or Splines-In-Tension algorithms through upscaling under these conditions: 1) rough topography is present in both training and testing areas and 2) the range of depths and features in the training area contains the range of depths in the enhancement area.

VENM: An Algorithm to Accurately Calculate Neutral Slopes and Gradients.

Mesoscale eddies stir along the neutral plane, and the resulting neutral diffusion is a fundamental aspect of subgrid-scale tracer transport in ocean models. Calculating neutral diffusion traditionally involves calculating neutral slopes and three-dimensional tracer gradients. The calculation of the neutral slope traditionally occurs by computing the ratio of the horizontal to vertical locally referenced potential density derivative.

Rainfall trends in the African Sahel: Characteristics, processes, and causes.

Sahel rainfall is dynamically linked to the global Hadley cell and to the regional monsoon circulation. It is therefore susceptible to forcings from remote oceans and regional land alike. Warming of the oceans enhances the stability of the tropical atmosphere and weakens deep ascent in the Hadley circulation.

The harmful algae, and , elicit stronger transcriptomic and mortality response in larval bivalves () than climate change stressors.

Global ocean change threatens marine life, yet a mechanistic understanding of how organisms are affected by specific stressors is poorly understood. Here, we identify and compare the unique and common transcriptomic responses of an organism experiencing widespread fisheries declines, (bay scallop) exposed to multiple stressors including high CO, elevated temperature, and two species of harmful algae, (aka ) and using high-throughput sequencing (RNA-seq). After 48 hr of exposure, scallop transcriptomes revealed distinct expression profiles with larvae exposed to harmful algae ( and ) displaying broader responses in terms of significantly and differentially expressed (DE) transcripts (44,922 and 4,973; respectively) than larvae exposed to low pH or elevated temperature (559 and 467; respectively).

Effects of Induced Stress on Seismic Waves: Validation Based on Ab Initio Calculations.

When a continuum is subjected to an induced stress, the equations that govern seismic wave propagation are modified in two ways. First, the equation of conservation of linear momentum gains terms related to the induced deviatoric stress, and, second, the elastic constitutive relationship acquires terms linear in the induced stress. This continuum mechanics theory makes testable predictions with regard to stress-induced changes in the elastic tensor.

Developments in the MPI-M Earth System Model version 1.2 (MPI-ESM1.2) and Its Response to Increasing CO.

A new release of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology Earth System Model version 1.2 (MPI-ESM1.2) is presented.

The Ocean's Skin Layer in the Tropics.

We provide a large data set on salinity anomalies in the ocean's skin layer together with temperature anomalies and meteorological forcing. We observed an average salinity anomaly of 0.40 ± 0.