By Penny Paugh The Galápagos Islands off the western coast of South America are renowned as an evolutionary and ecological living laboratory. These Pacific islands can serve as a barometer to gauge how climate and ecosystems interact, and provide a unique window into the relationship between mankind’s rapid development and a continuously changing environment. The […]
Climate Change
Rwandan Drought; Ongoing Climate Concerns
April 25, 2012
by Aura Lawson La Niña has persisted longer than expected this year, and with it comes agricultural uncertainty for many countries across the globe. Rwanda is no exception. Anthony Twahirwa, head of Rwanda’s Meteorological Center, explains that their forecasting agency expected decreased rainfall as a result of La Niña, or abnormally cool waters in the […]
Part 7: Earth’s Carbon Cycle
April 20, 2012
Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa [Note from the editor: This is the seventh 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.] The carbon cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which […]
Recent Solar Storm Floods Earth’s Upper Atmosphere
April 17, 2012
By Pennell Paugh Though the Earth is constantly bombarded by charged particles from the Sun, which emits material in all directions in a process known as the solar wind, sometimes the Sun ramps up magnetic activity on its surface, triggering huge flares of insidious plasma. NASA Science News announced that a huge solar storm occurred […]
Part 6: Water – Earth’s Most Precious Resource
April 12, 2012
Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa [Note from the editor: This is the sixth 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.] One of Earth’s unique and finite resources is water. […]
Should Methane Be Our First Line of Attack to Slow Global Heating?
April 9, 2012
By Penny Paugh Scientist Peter Cox, speaking at the University of Exeter (United Kingdom), recently suggests that the way to win the battle with greenhouse gases is to lower methane emissions. In fact, curbing methane may be the best way to stem dangerous warming. Methane is released in many ways: landfills, livestock, rice paddies, coal […]
Part 5: Energy For Life
April 5, 2012
Luisa Cristini, PhD, University of Hawaii at Manoa [Note from the editor: This is the fifth 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.] Nearly all the energy entering the climate system comes […]
Isolating Climate Change Constraints
April 3, 2012
By Penny Paugh There are many factors that affect the global temperature of the planet, including the rise and fall of greenhouse gases, solar activity, light-scattering atmospheric pollutants, heat transfer among the land, sea, and air, and the presence or absence of forests to process carbon dioxide. Researchers at the University of Oxford tweaked three […]
MetEd’s Weather and Climate Educational Modules
March 29, 2012
Note from the editor: The following is an email sent by COMET, a program within the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) that specializes in outreach and education on a broad range of meteorological topics. Listed are their newest “training modules”, which are free and fun to use and provide outstanding scientific information that can […]
Could Climate Change Have Contributed to the Fall of Rome?
March 26, 2012
By Penny Paugh One form of environmental data, tree rings, has provided evidence of a climate shift that, perhaps not coincidentally, occurred from 250 to 550 A.D., a period that coincides with the fall of the Roman Empire. From ancient wood found in medieval castles and Roman ruins, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, […]