New research co-led by the University of Maryland reveals that drought and increased temperatures in a CO2-rich climate can dramatically alter how grasslands use and move water. The study provides the first experimental demonstration of the potential impacts of climate change on water movement through grassland ecosystems, which make up nearly 40% of Earth’s land area and play a critical role in Earth’s water cycle. The study appears in the January 17, 2025, issue of the journal Science.

A research team from the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) has discovered another piece in the puzzle of the formation of the Moon and water on Earth. The prevailing theory was that the Moon was the result of a collision between the early Earth and the protoplanet Theia. New measurements indicate that the Moon formed from material ejected from the Earth's mantle with little contribution from Theia. In addition, the findings support the idea that water could have reached the Earth early in its development and may not have been added by late impacts. The results were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Arizona State University and a team of its collaborators have received $11.2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to begin developing a regional Direct Air Capture (DAC) Hub for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The team will prepare to build a multi-site Direct Air Capture Hub located in the Four Corners area of the Southwestern United States. Additionally, the project will receive $11.2 million in matching funds from the project partners. 

Estimating global precipitation is vital for managing water-related disasters, yet it is often challenging due to sparse rain gauge data in certain areas. To improve these predictions, Assistant Professor Yuka Muto and Professor Shunji Kotsuki, a research duo from Chiba University, developed a new tool using the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter technique for rain gauge observations and reanalysis precipitation. Their method offers promising results for improving disaster management and sustainable water supply strategies.

A paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences revealed that, the geographical distribution of the temperate savanna on the sandy lands of eastern China at the first time by integrating very high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle and satellite imagery.

In a paper published in National Science Review, Prof. Xu proposes a new term "viral aggregation" to more accurately describe the accumulation of lysis products in the soil environment. In addition, he advocates that incorporating soil viruses into existing MCP and MinCP models, namely virus-MCP and virus-MinCP, can substantially improve our understanding of global carbon cycle.