AI Predicts More "Super Floods" and "Extreme Droughts" for Pakistan.

Along the coast, waves break with a familiar sound. The gentle swash of the surf on the seashore can lull us to sleep, while the pounding of storm surge warns us to seek shelter.

Yet these are but a sample of the sounds that come from the coast. Most of the acoustic energy from the surf is far too low in frequency for us to hear, traveling through the air as infrasound and through the ground as seismic waves. 

Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have recently characterized these low-frequency signals to track breaking ocean waves. In a study published in Geophysical Journal International, they were able to identify the acoustic and seismic signatures of breaking waves and locate where along the coast the signals came from. The team hopes to develop this into a method for monitoring the sea conditions using acoustic and seismic data.

The rise in global mean sea level (GMSL) is a critical indicator of climate change. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) researchers have utilised advanced space geodetic technologies to deliver the first precise 30-year (1993-2022) record of global ocean mass change (also known as barystatic sea level), revealing its dominant role in driving GMSL rise. Their research further indicates that GMSL has been increasing at an average rate of approximately 3.3 mm per year with a notable acceleration observed, highlighting the growing severity of climate change. The research findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

There are many examples of options to tackle various global challenges that have been implemented in ways that only consider the impact on the challenge they are meant to address. Because of this narrow way of thinking, we are missing out on potential synergies that would help us to deliver to multiple challenges simultaneously. Designing options from the outset to co-deliver to multiple challenges would improve efficiency and reduce total cost. It is vital that we progress beyond narrow ways of thinking, and to adopt a “nexus” approach to tackling global challenges.