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Invited perspectives: Thunderstorm intensification from mountains to plains

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences
DOI 10.5194/nhess-25-2629-2025
8 August 2025

Strong thunderstorms have been studied mainly over flat terrain in the past. However, they are particularly frequent near European mountain ranges, so observations of such storms are needed. This article gives an overview of our existing knowledge on this topic and presents plans for a large European field campaign with the goals to fill the knowledge gaps, validate tools for thunderstorm warnings, and improve numerical weather prediction near mountains.

Consequences of the Aral Sea restoration for its present physical state: temperature, mixing, and oxygen regime

The Aral Sea is both an example of large-scale environmental degradation caused by human activity and a message of hope through its partial restoration. Our study shows that the restored part of the Aral Sea is now healthy in terms of vertical mixing and oxygenation. However, small perturbations of water level or transparency could significantly alter the entire ecosystem. The results contribute to understanding the consequences of large-scale lake management worldwide.

Subsurface manifestation of marine heat waves in the southwestern Indian Ocean

Marine heat waves (MHWs) are prolonged periods of extreme ocean temperatures with significant impacts on marine ecosystems. Much research has focused on surface MHWs, but less is known about their subsurface extent. This study uses satellite and in situ data to investigate MHWs in the southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO). We find that MHWs in the SWIO are closely linked to mesoscale eddies and that strong temperature anomalies extend below surface-identified MHWs.

A Bayesian framework for inferring regional and global change from stratigraphic proxy records (StratMC v1.0)

The chemistry of sedimentary rocks is used to reconstruct past changes in Earth's climate and biogeochemical cycles. Reconstructing global change requires merging stratigraphic proxy records from many locations, each of which may be incomplete, time-uncertain, and influenced by both global and local processes. StratMC uses Bayesian modeling to see through this complexity, building more accurate and testable reconstructions of global change from stratigraphic data.

Opinion: The role of AerChemMIP in advancing climate and air quality research

The Aerosol Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP) aimed to quantify the climate and air quality impacts of aerosols and chemically reactive gases. We review its contribution to AR6 (Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the wider understanding of the role of these species in climate and climate change. We identify challenges and provide recommendations to improve the utility and uptake of climate model data, detailed summary tables of CMIP6 models, experiments, and emergent diagnostics.

Characterization of the 1966 Camp Century subglacial core: a multiscale analysis

The Camp Century subglacial core stores information about past climates and glacial and interglacial processes in northwestern Greenland. In this study, we investigated the core archive, making large-scale observations using computed tomography (CT) scans and micron-scale observations observing physical and chemical characteristics of individual grains. We find evidence of past ice-free conditions, weathering processes during warmer periods, and past glaciations.

Quantifying the soil sink of atmospheric hydrogen: a full year of field measurements from grassland and forest soils in the UK

We measured soil hydrogen (H₂) fluxes from two field sites, a managed grassland and a planted deciduous woodland, with flux measurements of H₂ covering full seasonal cycles. We estimate annual H₂ uptake of −3.1 ± 0.1 and −12.0 ± 0.4 kg H₂ ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for the grassland and woodland sites, respectively. Soil moisture was found to be the primary driver of H₂ uptake, with the silt/clay content of the soils providing a physical barrier which limited H₂ uptake.

Leveraging the satellite-based climate data record CLARA-A3 to understand the climatic trend regimes relevant for solar energy applications over Europe

By compositing trends in multiple climate variables, this study presents emerging regimes that are relevant for solar energy applications. It is shown that the favourable conditions for exploiting solar energy are emerging during spring and early summer. The study also underscores the increasingly important role of clouds in regulating surface solar radiation as the aerosol concentrations are decreasing over Europe and the societal value of satellite-based climate monitoring.

asQ: parallel-in-time finite element simulations using ParaDiag for geoscientific models and beyond

Effectively using modern supercomputers requires massively parallel algorithms. Time-parallel algorithms calculate the system state (e.g. the atmosphere) at multiple times simultaneously and have exciting potential but are tricky to implement and still require development. We have developed software to simplify implementing and testing the ParaDiag algorithm on supercomputers. We show that for some atmospheric problems it can enable faster or more accurate solutions than traditional techniques.

Thermal state of permafrost in the Central Andes (27–34° S)

This study presents the first regional compilation of borehole temperature data from high-altitude permafrost sites in the Andes, providing a baseline of ground thermal conditions. Data from 53 boreholes show thermal characteristics similar to other mountain permafrost areas, but uniquely shaped by Andean topo-climatic conditions. The study emphasizes the need for ongoing monitoring and is a notable collaboration between industry, academia, and regulators in advancing climate change research.

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