Rapidly melting glaciers are surging water volume in at least 10% of rivers in High Mountain Asia, including large rivers like Yangtze, Amu Darya and Syr Darya, according to a comprehensive new study of the region published today in AGU Advances. In parts of upstream rivers, water flow nearly doubled over the course of a decade. Communities that depend on the rivers for power could benefit from the increase in river power, but additional sediment carried in the water may clog infrastructure.

Specially adapted drones successfully use a "tap and go" approach to apply monitoring tags to whales, speeding up the process and avoiding human interference

Harvard SEAS and University of Chicago researchers have tested and validated lightweight nanofabricated structures that can passively float in the mesophere, which is about 45 miles above Earth’s surface. The devices levitate via photophoresis, or sunlight-driven propulsion, which occurs in the low-pressure conditions of the upper atmosphere.

A team led by researchers from the University of Washington used a fiber-optic cable to capture calving dynamics across the fjord of the Eqalorutsit Kangilliit Sermiat glacier in South Greenland. Data collected from the cable allowed them to document — without getting too close — one of the key processes that is accelerating the rate of glacial mass loss and in turn, threatening the stability of ice sheets, with consequences for global ocean currents and local ecosystems.  

An international study has revealed that tiny planktonic crustaceans carry a unique microbial signature that better reflects ocean currents and environmental gradients than microbes found freely in seawater. As surface oceans become warmer and more nutrient-depleted, these host-associated microbes, especially those adapted to oligotrophic conditions as in the Mediterranean Sea, may offer early warning signs about the health of marine ecosystems.

An international team of researchers led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst has tracked changes in more than 114,000 rivers in High-mountain Asia over a 15-year period. The paper, published in AGU Advances, reported that nearly 10% of these rivers saw an increase in flow, with an increasing proportion of that water coming from glacial ice melt compared to precipitation.