Richard Gordon, the W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geophysics, Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Rice University, has been named the 2025 recipient of the George P. Woollard Award from the Geological Society of America (GSA). The award recognizes a career of outstanding contributions to geology through the application of geophysical principles and techniques. Gordon’s work has transformed our understanding of global plate motions and plate boundary deformation.

Climate modeling leveraged by calibrating the so-called “soil color” parameter to enhance surface albedo simulation in the Weather Research and Forecasting model. This weakens land-atmosphere interactions with attenuated sensible heat and evapotranspiration, and suppresses water vapor flow into the Tibetan Plateau. Eventually, it reduces summertime precipitation wet bias by ~16% on the plateau. This study highlights the promise of enhancing climate modeling through the optimization of key land surface parameters, which is highly affordable through satellite remote sensing.

A new artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa is making it easier for scientists to explore complex geoscience data—from tracking sea levels on Earth to analyzing atmospheric conditions on Mars. Called the Intelligent Data Exploring Assistant (IDEA), the software framework combines the power of large language models, like those used in ChatGPT, with scientific data, tailored instructions, and computing resources.

As climate hazards escalate, communities facing repetitive disasters in high-risk areas must weigh the economic and social trade-offs of rebuilding versus relocating. A Risk Analysis study has found that residents and government officials may have different ideas about how public funds should be spent to adapt to extreme weather events brought on  by climate change.

Anomalies in temperature and salinity that originate in the midlatitude North Atlantic can affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) in the Nordic Seas up to a decade later. The study published in Nature’s journal Communications Earth & Environment shows that the anomalies that travel northward with the Atlantic Water are an important part of the system, and actively modulate both the inflow of warm water into the Nordic Seas and the overflow of dense water back into the deep Atlantic.