International Short Course at Tohoku with ANU (9/6 - 9/13)

Last month we joined the annual International Short Trip Course to Tohoku with students from The Australian National University. On the first day, after the Welcome and Greetings from professors and the directors, we immersed ourselves in lectures across a spectrum of disciplines, from geohazards to philosophy, as well as lab tours at AORI. It was exciting to meet new people and make friends with each other.

On the second day, we departed from AORI to Tohoku, heading north along Japan's East Coast, starting our trip with the first visit to the TEPCO Decommissioning Archive Center. We were able to closely learn about the Fukushima nuclear accident. Following the visit, we went to explore the traces and deposits of tsunamis in a soil setting, great thanks to the professors from Tohoku University for their help.

On the third day, we visited the town of Otsuchi, which was devastated by the 2011 big earthquake and tsunami. We had a walking tour and a workshop on tsunami events, response, decision making and recovery. It became particularly important for science communication when we shared different ideas and understood different perspectives from each other at the workshop. We also went to the AORI aquarium exhibit and saw the interesting marine animals in the sea around Otsuchi.

Day 4 started with a hike along the coast at Karakuwa to see some boulders that were shifted by the 2011 tsunami. We took the best group photo at the boulder site with the great view. Following the walk, lunch was an unexpected highlight of the day in a beautiful traditional Japanese house with a garden. We went to the Okawa elementary school after lunch, where they had preserved the destroyed school after the 2011 tsunami for exhibition.

On day 5, we visited the Nakahama elementary school, where 90 lives were saved from the 2011 tsunami and marked as a great success in surviving the catastrophic tsunami event. This visit provided a poignant example of how effective preparation and leadership are essential to survival. We returned back to AORI in the afternoon and enjoyed the delicious BBQ dinner hosted by the whole department.

On the final day, to conclude this international short course, we prepared slides and made group presentations based on what we have learnt from the trip. It was such a pleasure to meet each other from different countries and work as partners. This course ended perfectly with a farewell party at the Fish Club Hama restaurant on the ground floor at AORI. We really enjoyed the fresh fish, sushi and nice dishes prepared by the hospitable chef and staff. Many thanks to all the professors, staffs and teaching assistants that organize the course and help us all the way through the trip, making it a lifetime memorable experience for us all.

New Papers Nature (2026/10/05 - 2026/10/12)

PNAS: M. Henke, Z. Yang, & R. Branch, Improved assessment of Alaskan Arctic coastal wave exposure accounting for landfast ice, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 123 (42) e2612829123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2612829123 (2026).

R. Halonen, Thermodynamic origin of atmospheric new particle formation: Theory for stable nucleating pairs, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 123 (42) e2620565123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2620565123 (2026).

A.G. Fountain, B. Glenn, C. McNeil, & B. Menounos, Extensive glacier loss in the coterminous United States, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 123 (43) e2600941123, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2600941123 (2026).

Nature geoscience: Piao, J., Kug, JS., Chen, W. et al. An abrupt shift towards a hotter and drier climate regime in the Western Eurasian Steppe. Nat. Geosci. (2026).

Rodriguez, AB, Ridge, JT, Bost, MC et al. Sea level-induced oyster reef accretion causes minimal net carbon burial change. Nat. Geosci. (2026).

Qian, F., Wang, Y., Costa, KM et al. Transient variability in global oceanic oxygen during the Last Interglacial Period. Nat. Geosci. (2026).

Nature geology: /

Nature communications: Lee, MU., Park, JY., Kim, HK. et al. Hysteresis of extreme precipitation in East Asia under various CO2 removal pathways. Nat Commun (2026).

Poinelli, M., Rignot, E., Seroussi, H. et al. Sea-level contribution from Thwaites Glacier doubles in an observation-constrained ice-sheet model. Nat Commun 17, 10364 (2026).

Zhang, Z., Chen, P., Jamet, C. et al. Asymmetric bloom lengthening drives high-latitude ocean chlorophyll accumulation imbalance. Nat Commun (2026).

Zheng, Y., Zhai, X., Stevens, DP et al. Intensification of near-inertial currents in the Atlantic Ocean over the past two decades. Nat Commun (2026).

Nature climate change: van Westen, RM, Börner, R. & Dijkstra, HA Failure to track a stable AMOC state under rapid climate change. Nat. Clim. Chang. 16, 1195–1206 (2026).

Nature scientific reports: /

ScienceAdvances: Evi Wubben et al. ,Ocean circulation changes rather than global warming drove temperature trends across the Miocene Climatic Optimum.Sci. Adv.12, eadz2555(2026).

New Papers (Nature, etc.) 2026/07/08 - 2026/07/14

Nature Scientific Reports:

Eriksson, D., Righetti, D., Benedetti, F.  et al.  Nitrogen fixation rates increase with diazotroph richness in the global ocean.  Sci Rep  (2026).

Sato, K., Inoue, J., Yamazaki, A.  et al.  Impact of Antarctic radar on Southern Hemisphere atmospheric river reanalysis and forecast.  Sci Rep  (2026).

Emmanuel, R., Deshpande, M., Kanase, R.  et al.  Suppression of pre-monsoon tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean.  Sci Rep  (2026).

Nature:/

PNAS:/

Geology:/

Nature Geoscience:

Galvez, ME, Wu, S., Garcin, Y.  et al.  Hydroclimate controls Congo peatland net oxygen release over the past 10,600 years.  Nat. Geosci.  (2026).

Xue, W., Najman, Y., Hu, X.  et al.  West versus Central Tibet exhumation difference influenced by Indian slab underthrusting.  Nat. Geosci.  (2026).

Lachowycz, S. Cretaceous oceanic intraplate volcanism.  Nat. Geosci.  19 , 740–742 (2026).

Emerging insights on oceanic intraplate volcanism.  Nat. Geosci.  19 , 739 (2026).

Nature Climate Change: N/A

Nature Communications:

Wang, X., Pohl, A., Rickaby, REM  et al.  Latitudinal manganese gradient dynamics associated with Earth's major ice ages.  Nat Commun  (2026).

Adroli, N., Hayward, A., Strutton, P.  et al.  Southern Ocean regime shift: divergent trends in surface phytoplankton community composition using a diagnostic pigment framework.  Nat Commun  (2026).

Cimoli, L., Mashayek, A., Naveira Garabato, AC  et al.  Climatic reach of small-scale turbulence in the ocean interior.  Nat Commun  17 , 5212 (2026).

Science Advances:

The ocean current that warms Europe may be more resilient than feared. Paul Voosen

Relic of long-vanished ice sheet holds clues to ancient climate. Evan Howell

(sorry I don't know why when I type 'climate change' and 'nature communications', they automatically change to 'climate school/college' and 'nature technology', I have edited several times but it does not work.)