Behind the paper: Zhou et al (2026)

Xin Zhou has written an article describing the backstory to the paper she led on the decay of Hunga stratospheric water vapour (Zhou et al., 2026). The article describes the events surrounding the scientific discovery in the paper, and how these events interlinked with the retirement of coauthor and MLS expert Dr Hugh Pumphrey from the University of Edinburgh. The article is published on the Springer Nature Research Communities pages.

The backstory article:

Behind the paper: A year of decay and transition

The scientific paper:

Zhou, X., Q. Chen, W. Feng, S. Heddell, S.S. Dhomse, G. Mann, H.C. Pumphrey, L. Millan, M.L. Santee, M.P. Chipperfield, Residence time of Hunga stratospheric water vapour perturbation quantified at 9 years, Communications Earth and Environment, xx, xx, doi:10.1038/s43247-026-03216-5, 2026.