USC Annenberg launched the Center for Climate Journalism and Communication to empower journalists and communications professionals to understand climate science, to capture its effects, particularly when felt disproportionately in under-resourced communities, and to drive action that preserves the health of our planet.
Tag: Climate
Johns Hopkins APL Releases First-Ever Global Estimates for Road Transportation Greenhouse Emissions Leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Satellite Images
APL scientists have leveraged the global coverage of satellite imagery and the strengths of machine learning to create the first automated approach for estimating greenhouse gas emissions from the road transportation sector.
Blind spots in the monitoring of plastic waste
Whether in drinking water, food or even in the air: plastic is a global problem – and the full extent of this pollution may go beyond of what we know yet. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with partners from the Netherlands and Australia, have reviewed conventional assumptions for the transport of plastic in rivers.
Electric buses can be ‘mobile batteries’, keeping lights on when power cuts
The Biden administration is awarding grants to school districts around the country, totaling about $1 billion, to purchase about 2500 electric school buses. The administration touts electrifying school buses as an important step for reducing emissions and pollution, but the…
On the Way Towards CO2-neutral Aviation
Within the KEROGREEN Project, Researchers Developed an Innovative Production Process for Sustainable Aviation Fuel and Built a Research Facility
Game Changers in Fighting Climate Change: Refuels Are Suitable for Everyday Use
Synthetic fuels produced from renewable sources, so-called refuels, are deemed potential game changers in fighting climate change. Refuels promise to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 90% compared to conventional fuels and they allow for the continued use of existing vehicle fleets with combustion engines and of the refueling infrastructure, from fuel production to transport to sales. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) carried out extensive fleet tests in a large-scale project with industry partners and proved that refuels can be used in all vehicles and produced in large quantities in the foreseeable future. The results of the research project “reFuels – Rethinking Fuels” were presented on Monday, September 19, in Karlsruhe.
UCI’s School of Education relaunches the Environmental and Climate Change and Literacy Projects
EVENT: The School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, will host a relaunch event for the Environmental and Climate Change Literacy Projects, a partnership between the University of California and California State University systems. The ECCLPs are focused on advancing pre-kindergarten to 12th grade environmental and climate change literacy, justice and action.
The first trees: Preserving ‘the world’s oldest forest’ in Upstate New York
Researchers from Binghamton University are working to preserve the world’s oldest forest, located in researchers from Binghamton UniversityCairo, N.Y.
UAlbany-led study finds exposure to sun, heat and humidity can exacerbate symptoms of mental disorders
New research links information on New York weather and hospital emergency department visits to assess how summer weather conditions impact people living with mental disorders. Findings can inform strategies to mitigate severe symptoms and improve patient care.
Project a model for community-based climate adaptation strategies
As part of the University of Miami multidisciplinary initiative, Hyperlocalism: Transforming the Paradigm for Climate Adaptation, residents from Homestead and Little River devised solutions to combat the effects of climate change in their communities.
GW Expert on EV Tax Credits as part of Inflation Reduction Act
The House is voting on the Inflation Reduction Act Friday, a sweeping bill on climate change, corporate taxes, healthcare, and more. Part of the measure includes electric vehicle tax credits, aimed to help low- and middle-income buyers but has come…
Climate deal promotes ‘car-centric’ system, falls short on transit
As senators gear up to vote on a long-anticipated climate, tax and energy bill as soon as this week, electric vehicles are poised for a boost. One of the landmark provisions in the package is an extension and expansion of…
What’s behind the heat wave in Europe?
Roads, railways, and utilities are at risk during the record-breaking temperatures. Even buildings, many of which lack air-conditioning, provide little relief, putting the health of people in danger. University of Miami experts address the torridness that is wreaking havoc on the area, especially the United Kingdom.
Climate Warming, Water Management Impacts on West Florida’s Continental Shelf
FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and collaborator conducted a study that provides an assessment of the potential effects of climate warming and water management of the West Florida Shelf dynamics during two particular events that affect its hydrology through the lens of a very high-resolution model.
Nitrogen Footprint: Heavy Pollution and Resource Losses Due to Liquid Manure
Factory farming for meat production is harmful to the environment. In addition to its direct emissions of methane, its use of liquid manure releases climate-damaging nitrogen compounds such as ammonia and nitrous oxide into the atmosphere and pollutes the groundwater with nitrates. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have analyzed how the liquid manure produced by livestock farming, which is often used as fertilizer, affects its nitrogen footprint. They showed that the nitrogen pollution caused by liquid manure from the production of beef is three times higher than that for pork and eight times higher than that for poultry
Researchers pulled 700,000 years of glacial history from an Andean lakebed
Our understanding of the ice-age cycles has been limited by a lack of well-dated tropical records to understand the past of climate change. However, a core of mud from Lake Junín discovered by a team of researchers provides the first continuous and independently dated archive of tropical glaciation that reveals more than 700,000 years of glacial records.
UCI study: California’s trees are dying, and might not be coming back
The State of California is banking on its forests to help reduce planet-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But that element of the state’s climate-change solution arsenal may be in jeopardy, as new research from the University of California, Irvine reports that trees in California’s mountain ranges and open spaces are dying from wildfires and other pressures – and fewer new trees are filling the void.
Latest discovery out of Lake Mead highlights unprecedented water levels amid megadrought
A World War II-era vessel recently surfaced amid the shrinking waters of Lake Mead, the latest example of the historically low water levels of the reservoir on the Arizona-Nevada border. The unprecedented decline stems from a prolonged megadrought in the…
GeoLaB: Future with Geothermal Energy
Locally available, emission-free and baseload-capable: geothermal energy is an essential component of the energy transition. With GeoLaB, a new and unique underground research infrastructure, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) and the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) are looking to expedite research and prepare the technology for broad application. The facility is to be built in the Black Forest or the Odenwald range, with the Helmholtz Association providing 35 million euros in funding.
Thin-film Photovoltaic Technology Combines Efficiency and Versatility
Stacking solar cells increases their efficiency. Working with partners in the EU-funded PERCISTAND project, researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have produced perovskite/CIS tandem solar cells with an efficiency of nearly 25 percent – the highest value achieved thus far with this technology. Moreover, this combination of materials is light and versatile, making it possible to envision the use of these tandem solar cells in vehicles, portable equipment, and devices that can be folded or rolled up. The researchers present their results in the journal ACS Energy Letters (DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.2c00707)
Study reveals how climate change can significantly impact one of the world’s most important carbon-rich ecosystems
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth say a ‘one size fits all’ approach to preserving mangrove forests will not work
WVU Extension experts provide guidance for forage and livestock management after flooding
Flooding can be devastating on many levels. Two West Virginia University Extension officials say precautions should be taken so that livestock do not get ill by feeding on materials that have been contaminated by soil, bacteria and flood debris contained in floodwaters.
Bringing back native predators to tackle invasive species crisis
Restoring native predator populations could help to keep in check some of the most problematic invasive species around the world, suggests a new study led by Queen’s University Belfast and Cornell University.
Clouds played an important role in the history of climate
Were Earth’s oceans completely covered by ice during the Cryogenian period, about 700 million years ago, or was there an ice-free belt of open water around the equator where sponges and other forms of life could survive? Using global climate models, a team of researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Vienna has shown that a climate allowing a waterbelt is unlikely and thus cannot reliably explain the survival of life during the Cryogenian. The reason is the uncertain impact of clouds on the epoch’s climate. The team has presented the results of its study in the journal Nature Geoscience (DOI: 10.1038/s41561-022-00950-1).
WHOI-led projects receive UN endorsement as part of Decade of Ocean Science
Four projects led or co-led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists were named on World Ocean Day by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to receive Endorsed Action status as part of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.
Human-triggered California wildfires more severe than natural blazes
Irvine, Calif., June 6, 2022 – Human-caused wildfires in California are more ferocious than blazes sparked by lightning, a team led by scientists from the University of California, Irvine reported recently in the journal Nature Communications. The research could help scientists better understand fire severity and how likely a blaze is to kill trees and inflict long-term damage on an ecosystem in its path.
Emissions tied to the international trade of agricultural goods are rising
Irvine, Calif., May 6, 2022 – Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions have drawn the clearest line yet connecting consumers of agricultural produce in wealthier countries in Asia, Europe and North America with a growth in greenhouse gas emissions in less-developed nations, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
‘Overdrawing the system’: Western water supply lags demand
With severe drought impacting the Western U.S. — including the Colorado River and its reservoirs — the federal government announced this week it is keeping more water in one of the river’s reservoirs, Lake Powell, instead of releasing it downstream…
STUDY WEIGHS THE RISKS OF CLIMATE GEOENGINEERING
To slow down the accelerating pace of climate change, scientists are working on radical geoengineering technologies like space mirrors, ocean iron fertilization, and cirrus cloud thinning to tweak the earth’s climate system. But a new study published in the journal Risk Analysis finds that none of these human interventions are risk free. Instead, “they merely shift risk or redistribute it,” says lead author Benjamin Sovacool, professor of energy policy at the University of Sussex Business School and a professor at Aarhus University and Boston University. “These risk tradeoffs must be evaluated if some of the more radical geoengineering technologies are to be deployed.”
National Zoning Atlas to demystify America’s patchwork of codes
Cornell University’s Legal Constructs Lab has announced the launch of a National Zoning Atlas, which will enable people to better understand zoning codes and the regulatory constraints embedded in them.
Coastal experts get chance to explore new Gulf-wide research tools and information
Over 800 coastal researchers and managers will get the chance to explore more than 25 regional tools on display April 26 at the Gulf of Mexico Conference (#GOMCON) in Baton Rouge, La. The Tools Café gives participants a unique opportunity to access some of the newest and best tools for coastal resilience, data management, and conservation while learning about these resources directly from developers who created each tool.
Can University of Oklahoma Research Team Clear Up Biases in Artificial Intelligence?
An American Meteorological Fellow, Amy McGovern has been studying severe weather phenomena since the late 1990s. During her career, she has witnessed a rapid emergence in the AI field, all while developing what she hopes are trustworthy AI methods to avert weather and climate disasters. Lately, however, McGovern and researchers from Colorado and Washington have noticed grave disparities in AI, noting that the methods are not objective, especially when it comes to geodiversity.
Wind and solar could power the world’s major countries most of the time
With the eyes of the world on the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, strategies for decarbonizing energy infrastructure are a trending topic. Yet critics of renewables question the dependability of systems that rely on intermittent resources. A recent study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine tackles the reliability question head-on.
Prediction of forest parameters and carbon accounting under different fire regimes in Miombo woodlands,
Highlights FORMIND model reproduces the miombo woodlands structure in Niassa Special Reserve. Fires may reduce the miombo capacity to mitigate the effects of climate change. Effective fire management is key to sustaining the miombo woodlands. There is great potential for…
Eureka! A cost effective and quick way to find groundwater in arid regions
Water is a scarce commodity in many countries worldwide, but new cost effective technology pioneered by researchers in Australia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia could ensure sustainable water supplies for decades to come.
White House acknowledges ‘right to stay home’ for climate migrants
The White House released its report on climate change and migration this week, focusing on the drivers of migration due to climate pressure and the U.S. role in working with the international community to address it. Maria Cristina Garcia, professor…
California’s climate crisis examined on UCI special report website
For the past half century, the University of California, Irvine has been home to some of the world’s leading experts on the environment, energy, oceans and atmosphere in the Golden State. To share their stories, UCI today is launching a web special report, “California’s Climate Crisis.”
Ida’s remnants struck idling cold front for historic deluge
The historic and deadly Northeast deluge from Hurricane Ida on Sept. 1 was a result of a calamitous merger between the storm’s remnants and an idling cold front that rapidly turned water vapor into rainfall, according to researchers at Cornell’s NOAA Northeast Regional Climate Center.
Meeting biodiversity, climate, and water objectives through integrated strategies
Managing a strategically placed 30% of land for conservation could safeguard 70% of all considered terrestrial plant and vertebrate animal species, while simultaneously conserving more than 62% of the world’s above and below ground vulnerable carbon, and 68% of all clean water.
@UCIrvine, @UCIESS researcher Michael Prather serves as a review editor on @IPCC_CH reports. He is available for media interviews on the latest document’s pronouncements.
Michael Prather, Distinguished Professor of Earth System Science at the University of California, Irvine, is a review editor with the IPCC and has intimate knowledge of the process for preparing IPCC reports. He is available for media interviews. Please contact…
NAU’s Kaufman lead author on IPCC global climate change report
Team of NAU paleoclimatologists contribute to major report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, forming scientific underpinnings for negotiations to limit carbon emissions worldwide
Family values outweigh politics in U.S. Latinos’ climate beliefs
For many in the U.S., human-caused climate change is a political tug-of-war between the left and the right. But for Latinos in this country, the issue hits much closer to home.
New Study Finds Emperor Penguins Increasingly Threatened by Climate Change
Woods Hole, MA (August 3, 2021) – A new study published today in Global Change Biology provides valuable new data that highlights how species extinction risk is accelerating due to rapid climate change and an increase in extreme climate events, such as glacial calving and sea ice loss. The study, led by Stephanie Jenouvrier, associate scientist, and seabird ecologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and co-authored by an international team of scientists, policy experts, ecologists, and climate scientists, provided pivotal research and projections tailored for use by the U.S Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS). Their work proposed that emperor penguins be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and this week, USFWS submitted that listing proposal.
Decline in CO2 cooled earth’s climate over 30 million years ago, scientists find
New research led by the University of Bristol demonstrates that a decline in the concentration of atmospheric CO2 played a major role in driving Earth’s climate from a warm greenhouse into a cold icehouse world around 34 million years ago. This transition could be partly reversed in the next centuries due to the anthropogenic rise in CO2.
STUDY: Nearly 20 Percent of Globally Important Intact Forest Landscapes Overlap with Concessions for Extractive Industries
A new study from WCS and WWF reveals that nearly 20 percent of tropical Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) overlap with concessions for extractive industries such as mining, oil and gas.
Delivering Clean Power to Disaster Scenes, Without Compromise
The H2Rescue is an innovative new truck that can bring power to a disaster scene, with zero emissions.
SLAC hosts Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm for a virtual visit
Highlights of the two-hour visit included behind-the-scenes looks at one of the most powerful X-ray sources on the planet and at the construction of the world’s largest digital camera for astronomy. She also joined presentations of the lab’s research in machine learning, quantum technology and climate science and engaged in discussions about diversity, equity and inclusion at SLAC.
Emissions Cause Delay in Rainfall
Rising greenhouse gases and declining aerosols have triggered an approximate four-day delay in rainfall over tropical land and the Sahel.
Single gene boosts climate resilience, yield and carbon capture in crops
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants to pull more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
South Pole and East Antarctica warmer than previously thought during last ice age, two studies show
University of Washington glaciologists are co-authors on two papers that analyzed Antarctic ice cores to understand the continent’s air temperatures during the most recent glacial period. The results help understand how the region behaves during a major climate transition.