carbon dioxide emissions
Mapping human vulnerability to climate change
Researchers already study how various species of plants and animals migrate in response to climate change. Now, Jason Samson, a PhD candidate in McGill University’s Department of Natural Resource Sciences, has taken the innovative step of us…
The race to bring biofuels to the pump
Poised at the starting gate are palm oil, sugar cane, corn cobs, and switch grass. On your mark, get set… This is not a race among fruits and vegetables, but instead a real-life contest to decide which biofuel raw materials and technologies make i…
Research helps drivers cut fuel use
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — Ever wonder how much fuel you can save by avoiding stop-and-go traffic, closing your window, not using air conditioning or coasting toward stops?
Research at the University of California, Riverside’s College of E…
Earth’s hot past: Prologue to future climate?
The magnitude of climate change during Earth’s deep past suggests that future temperatures may eventually rise far more than projected if society continues its pace of emitting greenhouse gases, a new analysis concludes.
The study, by National…
Rising greenhouse gases profoundly impact microscopic marine life
MERCED, Calif. — The prolonged, extensive emission of greenhouse gases over the next several decades could have significant impacts on ocean life, according to a study by UC Merced marine biologist Michael Beman.
Increases in carbon dioxide e…
Earthshaking possibilities may limit underground storage of carbon dioxide
Storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide underground in an effort to combat global warming may not be easy to do because of the potential for triggering small- to moderate-sized earthquakes, according to Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback.
While …
Emissions from consumption outstrip efficiency savings
Emissions from consumption growth have exceeded carbon savings from efficiency improvements in the global supply chain of products consumed in the UK, according to new research by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York and t…
Geo-engineering and sea-level rise over the 21st century
Scientific findings by international research group of scientists from England, China and Denmark just published suggest that sea level will likely be 30-70 centimetres higher by 2100 than at the start of the century even if all but the most aggr…
Limiting ocean acidification under global change
Emissions of carbon dioxide are causing ocean acidification as well as global warming. Scientists have previously used computer simulations to quantify how curbing of carbon dioxide emissions would mitigate climate impacts. New computer simulation…
New Climate Model Predicts Greater 21st Century Warming
For the first time, scientists have incorporated multiple human and natural factors into a climate projection model. They predict that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, due to changes in the carbon cycle, combined with a decrease in human-produced sulphates, may cause accelerated global warming during the 21st century, as compared with simulations without these feedback effects.
Surprises from Past Could Spell Longer Droughts, Rising Sea Levels
Abrupt climate changes could lead to decade-long droughts and massive sea-level rise, according to a University of Arizona geoscientist who studies the climate of the distant past. Factors that influence the climate system, such as natural changes in the Earth’s orbit or rising carbon dioxide emissions from cars and power plants, can result in dramatic climate shifts, says Jonathan Overpeck, a professor of geosciences and director of the UA Institute for the Study of Planet Earth. Scientists studying natural climate records, such as the variations in tree rings and gas bubbles trapped in the polar ice caps, find ample evidence of these types of rapid changes in the past — sometimes occurring in a decade or less.