Conservation of fish and other marine life migrating from warming ocean waters will be more effective and also protect commercial fisheries if plans are made now to cope with climate change, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Science Advances.
Tag: global warming
Rutgers Expert Can Discuss November and 2020 Warmth, Top Snowfall Seasons in N.J.
New Brunswick, N.J. (Dec. 9, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the extreme warmth in New Jersey in November and 2020 to date, as well as the 10 snowiest and 10 least snowy seasons since…
Assessing the impacts of global climate change on population trends
The European Research Council (ERC) will fund groundbreaking research led by IIASA World Population Program Deputy Director Raya Muttarak, which will comprehensively address the impacts of climate change on population dynamics.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 °C (+0.25 °F) per decade
Global Temperature Report: November 2020
Global warming likely to increase disease risk for animals worldwide
Changes in climate can increase infectious disease risk in animals, researchers found — with the possibility that these diseases could spread to humans, they warn.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 °C (+0.25 °F) per decade
Global Temperature Report: October 2020
Rutgers Experts Available to Discuss Paris Climate Agreement Following 2020 Election
New Brunswick, N.J. (Nov. 4, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick professors Robert E. Kopp and Pamela McElwee are available for interviews on the Paris climate agreement following the 2020 election. In 2017, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the agreement, and…
California Cities Top List of New Report Ranking U.S. Climate Action Plans
A new report evaluating the efficacy of climate action plans and commitments of the 100 largest U.S. cities finds the leadership of these municipalities stands as an important counter to the federal government’s rollback of climate policies and departure from the Paris Agreement. Yet, despite genuine achievements by some, roughly two-thirds of cities are currently lagging in their targeted emissions levels, and, on average, all cities in the report need to cut their annual emissions by 64% by 2050 in order to reach their respective goals.
Hotspots Explorer makes climate risk research accessible
A new interactive online mapping tool allows the public and policymakers to easily explore overlapping and interconnected climate risks around the world.
A renewable solution to keep cool in a warming world
A new study explored the pros and cons of seawater air-conditioning as an alternative cooling solution.
Pinpointing high impact areas for ecosystem restoration
Restoration efforts can potentially be 13 times more cost-effective when it takes place in the highest priority locations, according to a new landmark study.
Cultivating a Healthy Environment for Our Children
In unprecedented times like this, we often reflect on what we as humans can do to better our world. In terms of climate change, there are many ways we can make a difference, whether on a small or large scale, in order to create a sustainable and healthy environment for all.
UCI, others see agriculture as major source of increase in atmospheric nitrous oxide
Irvine, Calif., Oct. 8, 2020 – An international team of researchers – including Earth system scientists at the University of California, Irvine – recently completed the most thorough review yet of nitrous oxide from emission to destruction in the planet’s atmosphere. In addition to confirming that the 20 percent increase in the amount of the greenhouse gas since the start of the Industrial Revolution can be totally attributed to humans, the team expressed doubt about the ability to reduce emissions or mitigate their future impacts.
Global food production poses an increasing climate threat
A new study shows that rising nitrous oxide emissions are putting reaching climate goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement in jeopardy.
UNH Receives NSF Grant to Research Carbon Interactions in Thawing Arctic
The University of New Hampshire will lead research as part of a $1.5 million award from the National Science Foundation to better understand how interactions between plants, microbes and soil minerals in permafrost, a subsurface layer of frozen soil covering a fourth of the Northern Hemisphere, stimulate the release of carbon which adds to the warming Arctic.
Climate-friendly cooling to help ease global warming
A new study shows that coordinated international action on energy-efficient, climate-friendly cooling could avoid as much as 600 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions in this century.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 °C (+0.25 °F) per decade
Global Temperature Report: September 2020
How to Get a Handle on Carbon Dioxide Uptake by Plants
How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It’s a deceptively complicated question, so a Rutgers-led group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question.
Up to 15 inches of sea-level rise from ice sheets by 2100 predicted by international modeling collaboration
Los Alamos National Laboratory, working with three dozen other institutions from around the world, has helped to create the most accurate prediction of how melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland will contribute to global sea-level rise.
Climate change triggers migration
According to a new study, environmental hazards affect populations worldwide and can drive migration under specific conditions, especially in middle-income and agricultural countries.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 C per decade
Global Temperature Report: July 2020
Viruses could be harder to kill after adapting to warm environments
Enteroviruses that make their way into surface waters can be inactivated by heat, sunshine and other microbes, reducing their ability to spread disease. But researchers report that global warming could cause viruses to evolve, rendering them less susceptible to these and other disinfectants, such as chlorine.
Fighting the health effects of climate change is the mission for new UCLA center
In response to the escalating health emergency that is already inflicting substantial damage on people in Southern California and around the world, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health has created the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions.
Devastating hurricanes could be up to five times more likely in the Caribbean if tougher global warming targets are missed
Global warming is dramatically increasing the risk of extreme hurricanes in the Caribbean, but meeting more ambitious climate change goals could up to halve the likelihood of such disasters in the region, according to new research.
Consideration of both the potential and constraints of reforestation is needed to achieve climate mitigation goals: NUS-led study
A recent study led by NUS researchers showed that practical considerations, beyond where trees could be planted, may limit the climate change mitigation potential of reforestation. Hence, there is a need to understand how these constraints operate to inform climate policies.
Trump rollback of methane regulations ‘dangerously reckless’
The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to adopt new rules this week that would rollback regulations for methane-gas emissions — rescinding requirements that oil and gas companies have systems for detecting methane leaks. Robert Howarth is professor of ecology and…
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 C per decade
Global Temperature Report: July 2020
What Happens in Vegas, May Come From the Arctic?
Climate records from a cave in the southern Great Basin show that Nevada was even hotter and drier in the past than it is today, and that one 4,000-year period in particular may represent a true, “worst-case” scenario for the Southwest and the Colorado River Basin — and the millions of people who rely on its water supply.
New international analysis narrows the range in sensitivity of climate to CO2
The most advanced and comprehensive analysis of climate sensitivity undertaken has revealed with more confidence than ever how sensitive the Earth’s climate is to carbon dioxide.
This new research finds that the true climate sensitivity is unlikely to be in the lowest part of the 2.7-8.1˚F range. The analysis indicates that if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels double from their pre-industrial levels and are maintained, the world would be likely to experience eventual warming from 4.1-8.1˚F. There would be less than 5 percent chance of staying below 3.6˚F and a 6-18 percent chance of exceeding 8.1˚F.
Free trade can prevent hunger caused by future shifts in climate patterns
International trade can compensate for regional reductions in agricultural production and reduce hunger when protectionist measures and other barriers to trade are eliminated.
Geoengineering is Just a Partial Solution to Fight Climate Change
Could we create massive sulfuric acid clouds that limit global warming and help meet the 2015 Paris international climate goals, while reducing unintended impacts? Yes, in theory, according to a Rutgers co-authored study in the journal Earth System Dynamics. Spraying sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere at different locations, to form sulfuric acid clouds that block some solar radiation, could be adjusted every year to keep global warming at levels set in the Paris goals. Such technology is known as geoengineering or climate intervention.
Geoengineering’s Benefits Limited for Apple Crops in India
Geoengineering – spraying sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere to combat global warming – would only temporarily and partially benefit apple production in northern India, according to a Rutgers co-authored study. But abruptly ending geoengineering might lead to total crop failure faster than if geoengineering were not done, according to the study – believed to be the first of its kind – in the journal Climatic Change.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 C per decade
Global Temperature Report: June 2020
South Pole Warmed More Than Three Times Global Rate in 30 Years
New Brunswick, N.J. (June 29, 2020) – The South Pole warmed more than three times the global rate from 1989 to 2018 – a record period of warming, according to a Rutgers coauthored study in the journal Nature Climate Change.…
Matching-commitment agreements to incentivize climate action
A new study highlights a different approach to designing an international climate agreement that would incentivize countries to cooperate.
Hydrologists show environmental damage from fog reduction is observable from outer space
A study led by ecohydrologists at IUPUI is the first to show it’s possible to use satellite data to understand how fog reduction from climate change is harming vegetation in ecologically rare regions.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.14 C per decade
Global Temperature Report: May 2020
Making sense of climate scenarios: New toolkit available for decision makers
To make climate scenarios work for decision makers, an international team of researchers have developed a comprehensive interactive online platform.
Long term data show hurricanes are getting stronger
In almost every region of the world where hurricanes form, their maximum sustained winds are getting stronger. That is according to a new study by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Center for Environmental Information and University of WisconsinMadison Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, who analyzed nearly 40 years of hurricane satellite imagery.
Evaporating northern bogs threaten to intensify fires and global warming
A group of 59 international scientists, led by researchers at Canada’s McMaster University, has uncovered new information about the distinct effects of climate change on boreal forests and peatlands, which threaten to worsen wildfires and accelerate global warming.
Exploring the impacts of climate change on hydropower production
A new study investigated the impacts of different levels of global warming on hydropower potential and found that this type of electricity generation benefits more from a 1.5°C than a 2°C climate scenario.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.135 C per decade
Global Temperature Report: April 2020
Five years after the Paris Agreement: The gap between promises and implementation
A new study shows that achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement will require a deep reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions, ideally by around 40% to 50% by 2030.
Amid pandemic, climate scientists imagine Earth Day 2070
Their responses underscore the reality of a world in concurrent crises, an undeniable need for action now and hope for the future.
Atmospheric Scientists Available to Discuss Environmental Impact of a Global Pandemic
ALBANY, N.Y. (April 14, 2020) – With stay-at-home orders in the United States, and around much of the world, the COVID-19 crisis is impacting every part of our lives – including the physical environment. Temporary restraints on air and car…
Precipitation Will Be Essential for Plants to Counteract Global Warming
A new Columbia Engineering study shows that increased water stress—higher frequency of drought due to higher temperatures, is going to constrain the phenological cycle: in effect, by shutting down photosynthesis, it will generate a lower carbon uptake at the end of the season, thus contributing to increased global warming.
Rutgers Expert Available to Discuss Mild March and 2020 Warmth
New Brunswick, N.J. (April 10, 2020) – Rutgers University–New Brunswick climatologist David A. Robinson is available for interviews on the unusually mild March weather in New Jersey and the second warmest start of any year since record-keeping began in 1895. March 2020…
Scientists Develop New Way to Identify the Sex of Sea Turtle Hatchlings
Scientists have developed a new minimally invasive technique that greatly enhances the ability to measure neonate turtle sex ratios. This is the first time that differences in sex-specific protein expression patterns have been identified in blood samples of hatchlings with temperature-dependent sex determination. The technique is a crucial step in assessing the impact of climate change on imperiled turtle species and will enable more accurate estimates of hatchling sex ratios at a population level and on a global scale.
Heat Stress May Affect More Than 1.2 Billion People Annually by 2100
Heat stress from extreme heat and humidity will annually affect areas now home to 1.2 billion people by 2100, assuming current greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Rutgers study. That’s more than four times the number of people affected today, and more than 12 times the number who would have been affected without industrial era global warming.
Global climate trend since Dec. 1 1978: +0.134 C per decade
Global Temperature Report: February 2020