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A field of solar panels in the Chilean desert. Cleaning the grime off stationary solar panels in dusty areas could boost power output more than sun tracking technology, according to a new study. Credit: Antonio Garcia on Unsplash.
Press registration is open for 2026 AGU Annual Meeting
Press registration is now open for AGU’s 2026 annual meeting in San Francisco, California, convening 7 to 11 December 2026 at the George R. Moscone Convention Center.  Staff, freelance and student journalists are eligible to apply for complimentary press registration until the end of the conference on Friday, 11 December. Press officers and institutional writers covering the meeting are also eligible for press registration.
Keeping solar panels clean pays off more than fancy sun-tracking tech
Cleaning solar panels at least once a month can increase their overall capacity by an average of more than 40%, according to recent models of solar panel performance applied to global solar radiation data from 2000 to 2022. Dust and other floaty particles settle on panels, blocking sunlight and dimming their energy output. But regular cleaning, the research found, can recover most of the loss — especially for panels programmed to tilt to always face the sun, which accumulate more grime than stationary panels. In fact, the authors wrote, in dusty regions it may be more cost-effective to simply keep stationary panels clean than to invest in sun-tracking models, which would themselves need regular cleaning. Adding wind turbines to solar fields, they added, can help pick up the slack when panels get dirty, yielding nearly doubled energy output and 50% more stability than solar-only systems. [Earth’s Future study]
Global supply chains hemorrhaging 216 tons of rare metals every year
By tracking the economic flow of platinum group metals like platinum, palladium and iridium around the world from 2011 to 2025, a new study has found that supply of these metals falls almost 1,300 tons short of demand each year, with over 15% of that shortfall due to imperfect recycling. Many times rarer than gold, platinum group metals are vital for everything from hydrogen fuel cells to catalytic converters. Although North America recycles 90% of its share of these metals, all other parts of the world have recycling rates between 20% and 75%. The researchers recommend tweaks to industrial processes to reduce the amount of metals needed in the first place, in addition to improving recycling rates. [Earth’s Future study]
When the rains fail, the trees remember
The piñon pines, Douglas firs, and ponderosa pines of the southwestern U.S. feel the stress of missed monsoon rains for up to four years, according to a new study. Following years where the North American Monsoon brought less than half of its usual rainfall, tree rings showed a 13% average drop in growth rate across all species, with some trees growing as much as 30% slower than before monsoon failure. These trees also stick to their newly reduced growth rates even when conditions become favorable again. Researchers warn that the declining strength of the North American Monsoon under climate change could threaten future tree growth and carbon sequestration throughout the Southwest. [JGR Biogeosciences study]
Global rainfall is concentrating into fewer, more powerful downpours
Across the world, the wettest rainstorms responsible for half of Earth’s annual rainfall are getting shorter and fewer, compressing the same amount of rain into quicker but more extreme events. A study of daily measurements from 1980 to 2022 from over 19,000 rain gauges worldwide found that, on average, these storms delivered half the year’s rain in a cumulative 28 days, spaced out across roughly nine multi-day storms. Since 1980, however, both the average length of storms and their total duration have shortened—by about 0.06 days and 0.4 days per decade, respectively. The more rain falls in concentrated bursts rather than spread out over the year, the worse the resulting flood risks and the longer the dry spells between downpours. [Earth’s Future study]
30-kilometer ripples on Earth’s inner core defy depth measurements
Some 5,100 kilometers (3,200 miles) beneath our feet, a seismic mystery at the solid surface of Earth’s inner core has stumped scientists for decades. Year to year, and perhaps even day-to-day, earthquakes give a different answer for the exact depth of the boundary between the inner core and the liquid outer core around it. Examining seismic signals from the inner core’s surface beneath South America from 2003 and 2024, a new study proposes a reason: 30-kilometer-wide (18.5 mile wide) ripples are traversing the surface of the inner core, raising and lowering the inner core’s solid surface at rates between 0.1 and 1 kilometers (0.06 and 0.6 miles) per year. Researchers suggest these ripples could come from friction between the inner core’s surface and the rapidly flowing liquid outer core. Another possible explanation is that parts of the inner core are alternately growing outwards by solidifying the bottom of the liquid outer core, then melting back again due to temperature fluctuations. [JGR Solid Earth study]
Clouds over the Highest Mountains Dance a Little Differently
Clouds over the Tibetan Plateau and the Andes are growing colder and higher than other clouds in response to climate change. That could affect local hydrology and radiation. [Eos research spotlight][AGU Advances study]
The Ambiguous Costs of Climate Change
To put a price tag on climate change, some approaches focus on whether it made an event more likely, whereas others focus on whether it made an event more severe and damaging. A new study examines the validity of both approaches. [Eos research spotlight][AGU Advances study]
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Tags: AGU Annual Meeting, AGU26, climate, deep Earth, extreme weather and storms, geophysics, natural resources, rain, renewable energy, solar power, trees, wind power
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