#AGU21 highlights from Wednesday, Dec. 15

Highlights from Wednesday, December 15:  

#AGU21 Day 3 featured an inspirational spoken word speaker along with a wide array of scientific research and events for better understanding our planet and environment.  

Eos coverage of #AGU21 today: 

• Native Super Trees Could Provide Climate Solutions to Houston. A Houston nonprofit identified 14 native “super tree” species that are particularly promising for mitigating climate change and public health concerns. 
• Oldest Pole Reversal Shows Early Earth Was Well Suited for Life. Australian rocks 3.25 billion years old preserved the oldest signs of Earth’s stable magnetic field and quickly moving crust, critical elements of life’s evolution. 
• Tracking Pollution in the Breeze, with Trees. New research outlines how pine needles offer a simple, low-cost means of assessing particulate matter pollution. 

#AGU21 in the news:  

• NASA Mission Could Blast an Asteroid That Once Menaced Earth. New York Times, 15 Dec. The OSIRIS-REX spacecraft is on its way back to Earth, having thwacked — briefly — the surface of an asteroid called Bennu last year to scoop up samples.  
• Perseverance rover makes ‘completely unexpected’ volcanic discovery on Mars. CNN, 15 Dec. Lava once flowed at the site of an ancient lake on Mars. 
• Move boldly to reduce greenhouse gases, perhaps tax carbon, Climate Envoy John Kerry says. NOLA.com, 14 Dec. The world must move boldly over the next decade to reduce greenhouse gases in hopes of keeping global warming at manageable levels, and that might require a return to taxing companies responsible for carbon dioxide emissions. 
• NASA solar probe officially ‘touched the sun’ and survived to tell the tale. CNET, 14 Dec. The Parker Solar Probe enters a region of space no spacecraft had ever been to before. 
• Trends in Arctic Report Card: ‘Consistent, Alarming and Undeniable.’ New York Times, 14 Dec. The changes happening at the top of the planet could unfold elsewhere in the years to come, scientists report. 

Some highlights from Day 3: 

• Sekou Andrews, one of the most successful spoken poets in the world, delivered a plenary lecture in which he asked the scientific community to be wavemakers  
• Scientists from NOAA reflected on the extreme weather events of 2020 from a climate perspective.  
• Scientists from NASA discussed discoveries from 10 months of the Perseverance Rover on Mars.  

What to watch for tomorrow, December 16: 

• Dr. Kelly Mack will give a lecture to launch the LANDInG program, AGU’s new professional development program for developing competencies in DEI leadership. 
• U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm will deliver a plenary lecture.  
• Scientists discuss how the changing climate will affect rising heat, intensifying storms and flooding, and wildfire in a series of press conferences.