Communicating about climate change: What’s politics got to do with it?

In the United States, climate change is controversial, which makes communicating about the subject a tricky proposition. A recent study by Portland State researchers Brianne Suldovsky, assistant professor of communication, and Daniel Taylor-Rodriguez, assistant professor of statistics, explored how liberals…

Tree-ring records reveal Asian monsoon variability

Chinese researchers along with international colleagues recently reported a 6,700-year-long, precisely dated and well-calibrated tree-ring stable isotope chronology from the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau. It reveals full-frequency precipitation variability in the Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) from interannual to multimillennial timescales with…

Changes in Earth’s orbit enabled the emergence of complex life

Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered that changes in Earth’s orbit may have allowed complex life to emerge and thrive during the most hostile climate episode the planet has ever experienced. The researchers – working with colleagues in…

Wildfire detection takes flight

Networks of ground-based sensors paired with airborne drones could give firefighters a critical edge when battling wildfires, KAUST researchers have found. The sensor/unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) network could significantly shorten the time taken to detect a wildfire, giving firefighters a…

Last ice-covered parts of summertime Arctic Ocean vulnerable to climate change

In a rapidly changing Arctic, one area might serve as a refuge – a place that could continue to harbor ice-dependent species when conditions in nearby areas become inhospitable. This region north of Greenland and the islands of the Canadian…