Between February 1970 and November 1984 it was named Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics (ISSN 0034-6853).

It integrates summations of previous scientific investigations with active research areas.

Topical coverage includes solid-earth geophysics, cryospheric science, oceans and atmospheric studies, meteorology, and oceanography), along with the physics of the solar system and its processes.

For example, coverage includes processes that tend to concern the public such as rainfall rates, trends in marine fisheries, earthquake probabilities, and volcanic eruption potentials.

The three most highly cited articles published in Reviews of Geophysics are:[1] Mellor, G. L.; Yamada, T. (1982).