Understanding the planet’s history is crucial if we are to predict its future. While some records are preserved in ice cores or tree rings, other records of the climate’s ancient past are buried deep inside the seafloor. An increasingly popular method to deduce historic sea surface temperatures uses sediment-entombed bodies of marine archaea, one of Earth’s most ancient and resilient creatures, as a 150-million-year record of ocean temperatures.
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Transmission lines that funnel power from hydroelectric dams and wind turbines across Eastern Washington impact sage grouse habitat by isolating fragile populations and limiting movement, a new study by the College of the Environment’s Climate Impacts Group and others finds. The paper looks at how features in the landscape limit the species’ distribution and gene flow, and is the first to show that power-line corridors are an obstacle for sage grouse as they move across the landscape to feed and reproduce.
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What is wilderness? As we sit at our computers or scroll through on tablets or smart phones, perhaps we picture the opposite of our current locales—mountainous terrain, soaring evergreens, and a variety of critters that depend on each other to maintain balanced ecosystems. Maybe thoughts of flora and fauna, untamed and unexposed to an otherwise modern, industrialized, human-centric world swirl around.
Read more »The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) welcomes Joe Casola as its new Deputy Director, effective July 22. He comes to CIG with experience that fits well within their scope, and will also help them grow into new arenas surrounding climate change. “We’re thrilled to have Joe serving as the new Deputy Director,” says Amy Snover, Director of CIG. “Joe has worked with public and private sector decision makers across the nation on climate adaptation, and also has a strong scientific foundation in atmospheric dynamics and Pacific Northwest climate.
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Ahead of major climate talks at COP21 this year in Paris, scientists are offering insights to the far-reaching effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on the ocean. Spearheaded by the Oceans 2015 Initiative, which brought together 22 scientists and policy experts from nine different countries, the results were published this week in the journal Science and focus on how warming waters, rising seas, and ocean acidification drive changes to the global ocean.
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