New Papers (2014/02/04-2013/02/10)

＜Nature＞

1. Trick of the light

05 February 2014

The Amazon doesn’t absorb extra carbon in the dry season after all. It can become a carbon source.

2. United States tops warming list

Nature506, 9 (06 February 2014) doi:10.1038/506009f

Published online 05 February 2014

The United States is the largest national contributor to global climate warming, followed by China, Russia, Brazil and India.

3.Climate economics: Make supply chains climate-smart

Anders Levermann

05 February 2014

Society's infrastructure is hit hard by extreme weather. Networks of trade, transport and production need to adapt globally, says Anders Levermann.

4. North Sea: Carbon dioxide storage is secure

Vivian Scott

Nature 506, 34 (06 February 2014)

doi:10.1038/506034d Published online 05 February 2014

5. Atmospheric science: Drought and fire change sink to source

Jennifer K. Balch

Nature 506, 41–42 (06 February 2014)

 doi:10.1038/506041a Published online 05 February 2014

Aircraft have captured the 'breath' of the Amazon forest — carbon emissions over the Amazon basin. The findings raise concerns about the effects of future drought and call for a reassessment of how fire is used in the region.

6. Drought sensitivity of Amazonian carbon balance revealed by atmospheric measurements

L. V. Gatti, M. Gloor, J. B. Miller, C. E. Doughty, Y. Malhi, L. G. Domingues, L. S. Basso, A. Martinewski, C. S. C. Correia, V. F. Borges, S. Freitas, R. Braz, L. O. Anderson, H. Rocha, J. Grace, O. L. Phillips & J. Lloyd

Nature 506, 76–80 (06 February 2014)

doi:10.1038/nature12957

Carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide measurements across the Amazon basin for 2010 and 2011 reveal that drought rather than temperature caused the observed halt in forest productivity during the anomalously dry year of 2010

7. Convective forcing of mercury and ozone in the Arctic boundary layer induced by leads in sea ice

Christopher W. Moore, Daniel Obrist, Alexandra Steffen, Ralf M. Staebler, Thomas A. Douglas, Andreas Richter & Son V. Nghiem

Nature 506, 81–84 (06 February 2014)

doi:10.1038/nature12924

Sea-ice leads (open water channels), which increase with an ongoing shift from perennial to seasonal sea ice, are shown to initiate convection in the Arctic boundary layer, thus supplying ozone and gaseous mercury to the surface and possibly leading to additional pollution effects.

8. Pathogens and insect herbivores drive rainforest plant diversity and composition

Robert Bagchi, Rachel E. Gallery, Sofia Gripenberg, Sarah J. Gurr, Lakshmi Narayan, Claire E. Addis, Robert P. Freckleton & Owen T. Lewis

Nature 506, 85–88 (06 February 2014)

doi:10.1038/nature12911

Suppressing fungi in a tropical forest plant community lowers diversity by reducing the negative effects of density on seedling recruitment, and removing insects increases seedling survival and alters plant community composition; this demonstrates the crucial role of pathogens and insects in maintaining and structuring tropical forest plant diversity.

9. Three keys to the radiation of angiosperms into freezing environments

Amy E. Zanne, David C. Tank, William K. Cornwell, Jonathan M. Eastman, Stephen A. Smith, Richard G. FitzJohn, Daniel J. McGlinn, Brian C. O’Meara, Angela T. Moles, Peter B. Reich, Dana L. Royer, et al.

Douglas E. Soltis, Peter F. Stevens,

Nature 506, 89–92 (06 February 2014)

doi:10.1038/nature12872

This large comparative phylogenetic study across angiosperms shows that species that are herbaceous or have small conduits evolved these traits before colonizing environments with freezing conditions, whereas deciduous species changed their climate niche before becoming deciduous.

＜Science＞

10. Heat Wave Forecasts Debut in Scorching Australia

Dyani Lewis

Science 7 February 2014:  Vol. 343 no. 6171 p. 587
DOI: 10.1126/science.343.6171.587

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology thinks it has hit upon a winning formula for converting forecasts of heat into a measure of the likely impact of heat waves on communities.

11. Southern Hemisphere Storms Pulsate to a 25-Day Beat, New Papers Show

Richard A. Kerr

Science 7 February 2014: Vol. 343 no. 6171 p. 588
DOI: 10.1126/science.343.6171.588

This week in Science, researchers report that the storm belt in the Southern Hemisphere throbs powerfully with a 20- to 30-day beat, the manifestation of a pulsating flow of heat from the tropics to high latitudes.

12. As Lionfish Invade, Divers Defend Threatened Ecosystems

Christopher Pala

Science 7 February 2014: Vol. 343 no. 6171 p. 591
DOI: 10.1126/science.343.6171.591

New studies are giving ecologists some hope of controlling red lionfish, a voracious predator that has invaded the Atlantic.

13. Limits of Soil Production?

Arjun M. Heimsath

Science 7 February 2014: Vol. 343 no. 6171 pp. 617-618
DOI: 10.1126/science.1250173

Steep mountain regions can weather faster and produce soil more quickly than previously thought.

14. Next Season's Hurricanes

Gabriel A. Vecchi, Gabriele Villarini

Science 7 February 2014: Vol. 343 no. 6171 pp. 618-619
DOI: 10.1126/science.1247759

Seasonal predictions of hurricane activity remain challenging, especially at a regional scale.

15. Rapid Soil Production and Weathering in the Southern Alps, New Zealand

Isaac J. Larsen, Peter C. Almond, Andre Eger, John O. Stone, David R. Montgomery, and Brendon Malcolm

Science 7 February 2014: Vol. 343 no. 6171 pp. 637-640
DOI: 10.1126/science.1244908

Fast weathering rates in the New Zealand Alps point to a strong influence of tectonic processes on global climate.

16. Periodic Variability in the Large-Scale Southern Hemisphere Atmospheric Circulation

David W. J. Thompson and Elizabeth A. Barnes

Science 7 February 2014: Vol. 343 no. 6171 pp. 641-645
DOI: 10.1126/science.1247660

Large-scale atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere oscillates on a time scale of roughly 20 to 30 days.

＜PNAS＞

17. Importance of a sound hydrologic foundation for assessing the future of the High Plains Aquifer in Kansas

James J. Butler, Jr., Geoffrey C. Bohling, Andrea E. Brookfield, Gaisheng Liu, Donald O. Whittemore, and Blake B. Wilson

PNAS 2014 111 (5) E531; published ahead of print January 27, 2014,doi:10.1073/pnas.1322176111

18. Rough parameter dependence in climate models and the role of Ruelle-Pollicott resonances

Mickaël David Chekroun, J. David Neelin, Dmitri Kondrashov, James C. McWilliams, and Michael Ghil

PNAS 2014 111 (5) 1684-1690; published ahead of print January 17, 2014,doi:10.1073/pnas.1321816111

19. Quantifying the distribution of nanodiamonds in pre-Younger Dryas to recent age deposits along Bull Creek, Oklahoma Panhandle, USA

Leland C. Bement, Andrew S. Madden, Brian J. Carter, Alexander R. Simms, Andrew L. Swindle, Hanna M. Alexander, Scott Fine, and Mourad Benamara

PNAS 2014 111 (5) 1726-1731; published ahead of print January 21, 2014,doi:10.1073/pnas.1309734111

20. Detection of solar wind-produced water in irradiated rims on silicate minerals

John P. Bradley, Hope A. Ishii, Jeffrey J. Gillis-Davis, James Ciston, Michael H. Nielsen, Hans A. Bechtel, and Michael C. Martin

PNAS 2014 111 (5) 1732-1735; published ahead of print January 21, 2014,doi:10.1073/pnas.1320115111

21. China’s international trade and air pollution in the United States

Jintai Lin, Da Pan, Steven J. Davis, Qiang Zhang, Kebin He, Can Wang, David G. Streets, Donald J. Wuebbles, and Dabo Guan

PNAS 2014 111 (5) 1736-1741; published ahead of print January 21, 2014,doi:10.1073/pnas.1312860111

＜Nature Communications＞

22. Large mesopelagic fishes biomass and trophic efficiency in the open ocean 

Xabier Irigoien, T. A. Klevjer, A. Røstad, U. Martinez, G. Boyra, J. L. Acuña, A. Bode, F. Echevarria, J. I. Gonzalez-Gordillo, S. Hernandez-Leon, S. Agusti, D. L. Aksnes, C. M. Duarte, S. Kaartvedt

Nature Communications 5, Article number: 3271

doi:10.1038/ncomms4271 

23. Microbial iron uptake as a mechanism for dispersing iron from deep-sea hydrothermal vents

Meng Li, Brandy M. Toner, Brett J. Baker, John A. Breier, Cody S. Sheik, Gregory J. Dick

Nature Communications 5, Article number: 3192

doi:10.1038/ncomms4192

24. New evidence suggests pyroclastic flows are responsible for the remarkable preservation of the Jehol biota

Baoyu Jiang, George E. Harlow, Kenneth Wohletz, Zhonghe Zhou, Jin Meng

Nature Communications 5, Article number: 3151

doi:10.1038/ncomms4151

25. Photoautotrophic hydrogen production by eukaryotic microalgae under aerobic conditions

Jae-Hoon Hwang, Hyun-Chul Kim, Jeong-A Choi, R.A.I. Abou-Shanab, Brian A. Dempsey, John M Regan, Jung Rae Kim, Hocheol Song, In-Hyun Nam, Su-Nam Kim, Woojung Lee, Donghee Park, Yongje Kim, Jaeyoung Choi, Min-Kyu Ji, Woosik Jung, Byong-Hun Jeon

Nature Communications 5, Article number: 3234

doi:10.1038/ncomms4234

＜Nature Geoscience＞

26. Climate science: Uncertain temperature trend

Judith Curry

Nature Geoscience 7, 83–84 (2014) doi:10.1038/ngeo2078

Global mean surface temperatures have not risen much over the past 15 years, despite continuing greenhouse gas emissions. An attempt to explain the warming slow-down with Arctic data gaps is only a small step towards reconciling observed and expected warming.

27. Cryosphere: Greenland's lurking aquifer

Joel Harper

Nature Geoscience 7, 86–87 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2061

Runoff estimates from the Greenland ice sheet carry uncertainty because the fate of surface melt in permanently snow-covered regions is unconstrained. In situ and airborne observations reveal large-scale liquid water storage in buried layers of aged and compacted snow.

28. Palaeoclimate: Lags within the Younger Dryas 

Ana Moreno

Nature Geoscience 7, 87–88 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2072

A slowing Atlantic overturning circulation during the last deglacial warming caused abrupt cooling in the Northern Hemisphere. Lake sediment records suggest that hydrological change in Europe lagged the temperature drop by almost 200 years.

29. Atmospheric science: Blown with the wind 

Guang Zeng

Nature Geoscience 7, 88–89 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2077

Wind systems determine the transport pathways of air pollutants such as ozone. Simulations with a chemistry-climate model suggest that decadal shifts in atmospheric circulation have helped shape season-specific trends in surface ozone levels in Hawaii since the 1990s.

30. Extensive liquid meltwater storage in firn within the Greenland ice sheet

Richard R. Forster, Jason E. Box, Michiel R. van den Broeke, Clément Miège, Evan W. Burgess, Jan H. van Angelen, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Lora S. Koenig, John Paden, Cameron Lewis, S. Prasad Gogineni, Carl Leuschen & Joseph R. McConnell

Nature Geoscience 7, 95–98 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2043

31. Small influence of solar variability on climate over the past millennium

Andrew P. Schurer, Simon F. B. Tett & Gabriele C. Hegerl

Nature Geoscience 7, 104–108 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2040

Climate variations over the past 1,000 years correspond to solar fluctuations, but the magnitude of the solar variability is unclear. An analysis of numerical simulations and climate reconstructions suggests that the amplitude of solar forcing was small over this interval, with the main climate forcing derived from volcanic eruptions and greenhouse gas concentrations.

32. Delayed hydrological response to Greenland cooling at the onset of the Younger Dryas in western Europe 

Nature Geoscience 7, 109–112 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2053

During the Younger Dryas cold event about 12,800 years ago, environmental change in western Europe seems to occur 170 years after cooling over Greenland. Lake sediment analyses confirm this delay, and suggest European hydrological and vegetation change occurred only after the build-up of sea ice in the North Atlantic pushed the westerly wind system south.

33. Tropospheric ozone trends at Mauna Loa Observatory tied to decadal climate variability

Meiyun Lin, Larry W. Horowitz, Samuel J. Oltmans, Arlene M. Fiore & Songmiao Fan

Nature Geoscience 7, 136–143 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2066

34. Muted change in Atlantic overturning circulation over some glacial-aged Heinrich events

Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Matthew W. Schmidt, L. Gene Henry, William B. Curry, Luke C. Skinner, Stefan Mulitza, Rong Zhang & Ping Chang

Nature Geoscience 7, 144–150 (2014)

doi:10.1038/ngeo2045

Several periods of massive iceberg discharge into the North Atlantic and widespread cooling marked the last glacial period. Reconstructions of northward flow along the Florida margin suggest that not all cold events were associated with a change in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation.