By Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa Note from the editor: This is the fifteenth and last in a series of blog entries that focused on introductory topics in climate dynamics and modeling, and served to provide insight into the current understanding of the science.] Given the increasing evidence of climate change, what […]
Ocean acidification and the “short term“ marine carbon cycle
August 1, 2012
By Franziska Kersten, PhD Candidate in Marine Geology and Paleontology – Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven (Germany). The 2007 IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Synthesis Report discusses ocean acidification and its potential to harm marine calcifiers (e.g. corals) in the future. Yet a recent report in Science unequivocally states that parts of the […]
Part 14: How to project climate into the future: Emission scenarios
July 16, 2012
By Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa. [Note from the editor: This is the fourteenth in a series of blog entries that will focus on introductory topics in climate dynamics and modeling, and will serve to provide insight into the current understanding of the science.] Changes in external forcing (e.g., solar forcings, astronomical […]
Carbon Balance in the Arctic under Study
July 3, 2012
By Penny Paugh Over half of the Arctic is covered by forest. Snow blanketing over a forest actually keeps the soil at a fairly high temperature. Most climate models do not account for the size of forestry in that area, but some are models are now beginning to account for this variable. Climate modeler Isabelle […]
Part 13: Holocene and Anthropocene
June 28, 2012
By Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa [Note from the editor: This is the thirteenth in a series of blog entries that will focus on introductory topics in climate dynamics and modeling, and will serve to provide insight into the current understanding of the science.] In addition to the low frequency variability of […]
Protocell Tech, Limestone and the Future of Architecture
June 25, 2012
by Bea Kylene Jumarang These days, words like protocell belong in biology laboratories. Even words like carbon cycle confuse the majority of people. Still, you may be asking, why is protocell being described in relation to architecture? In biology, and as Biology-Online puts it, a protocell is a large, ordered structure enclosed by a membrane, […]
Part 12: The Timescales of Climate Change: Climate since Earth’s formation to the last million years
June 22, 2012
By Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa. [Note from the editor: This is the twelfth in a series of blog entries that will focus on introductory topics in climate dynamics and modeling, and will serve to provide insight into the current understanding of the science.] The study of the climate of the far past […]
Role of Phytoplankton in Atmospheric Regulation
June 19, 2012
By Penny Paugh Scientists have been examining the self-regulating factors of climate and the oceans. A study conducted at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle, WA, has been looking at the role of the tiny organisms and the planet’s atmosphere. “For many years, we thought that chemical emissions from phytoplankton was the major player in […]
Part 11: The Timescales of Climate Change: Internal Climate Variability
June 16, 2012
by Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa [Note from the editor: This is the eleventh in a series of blog entries that will focus on introductory topics in climate dynamics and modeling, and will be a great insight into the current understanding of the science.] Since the beginning of Earth’s history, climate has […]
Abrupt Climate Change: The Danger of the Unforeseen
June 13, 2012
By Jason Klein “Nothing like this has ever happened before.” – Professor Terry Rapson, from the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” The study of climate change is by no means an exact science. It is subject to a large number of variables. Forecast models can employ the most sophisticated machines we have ever built, and […]