News – UCI

Up-trending farming and landscape disruptions threaten Paris climate agreement goals

Written on January 27, 2021.

UCI-led team tracked global land-use greenhouse gas emissions from 1961 to 2017 January 27, 2021 — One of President Joe Biden’s first post-inauguration acts was to realign the United States with the Paris climate accord, but a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine demonstrates that rising emissions from human land-use will jeopardize the agreement’s goals without substantial changes in agricultural practices. In a paper published today in Nature, the...

Increasing ocean temperature threatens Greenland’s ice sheet

Written on January 25, 2021.

UCI and NASA JPL scientists study impact of warm, salty water beneath glaciers January 25, 2021 — Scientists at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have for the first time quantified how warming coastal waters are impacting individual glaciers in Greenland’s fjords. Their work is the subject of a study published recently in Science Advances. Working under the auspices of the Oceans Melting Greenland mission for the past five years, the researchers...

UCI researchers: Climate change will alter the position of the Earth’s tropical rain belt

Written on January 18, 2021.

Difference by the year 2100 expected to impact global biodiversity, food security January 18, 2020 – Future climate change will cause a regionally uneven shifting of the tropical rain belt – a narrow band of heavy precipitation near the equator – according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions. This development may threaten food security for billions of people. In a study published today in Nature Climate Change, the interdisciplinary team...

UCI Engineers Evaluate Snow Drought in Different Parts of the World

Written on August 3, 2020.

Deficit in Western United States found to be of increased intensity in recent years August 3, 2020 – Environmental engineers at the University of California, Irvine have developed a new framework for characterizing snow droughts around the world. Using this tool to analyze conditions from 1980 to 2018, the researchers found a 28-percent increase in the length of intensified snow-water deficits in the Western United States during the second half of the study period. Results from...

Advanced Power and Energy Program Releases California Renewable Hydrogen Production Roadmap

Written on June 23, 2020.

Roadmap provides guidance on actions needed to launch and scale the California renewable hydrogen production sector to advance state policy goals IRVINE, Calif., June 23, 2020 – The Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) recently completed a roadmap for the scaling and build-out of the renewable hydrogen, or RH2, production sector in California to serve a broad range of applications in the energy and transportation sectors. RH2 can be a key foundation in decarbonization strategies,...

UCI Earth system scientist helps quantify drop in carbon emissions during pandemic

Written on May 20, 2020.

Scientists who normally study how human activities impact the planet have been given a rare opportunity over the past few months to observe what happens when industry, transportation and other sources of carbon emissions are curtailed. Steve Davis, UCI associate professor of Earth system science, is part of an international cohort of researchers measuring the unprecedented dip in CO2 pollution during the worldwide lockdown made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic. An article in Nature describing...

East Antarctica’s Denman Glacier has retreated almost 3 miles over last 22 years

Written on March 23, 2020.

UCI, NASA scientists assess ice sheet with potential to raise global sea levels nearly 5 feet Irvine, Calif., March 23, 2020 – East Antarctica’s Denman Glacier has retreated 5 kilometers, nearly 3 miles, in the past 22 years, and researchers at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are concerned that the shape of the ground surface beneath the ice sheet could make it even more susceptible to climate-driven collapse. If fully thawed, the ice in Denman...

UCI-led project seeks to combat wildfires

Written on February 14, 2020.

A University of California, Irvine-led team has received $3.6 million over three years for a project that uses science and engineering to help California fight wildfires. The funding comes from the University of California Laboratory Fees Research Program competition, a contest designed to promote the development of multicampus projects and collaborations that advance the missions of the national laboratories and University of California. As wildfires in California grow more frequent and severe,...

Western Energy Hub Poised for Pivotal Role Supplying California Markets with Green Energy

Written on February 3, 2020.

February 3, 2020 – Renewable energy infrastructure now under development at the Western Energy Hub, in Millard County, Utah, can be integral in helping Los Angeles and California achieve their goals of 100% zero-carbon electricity, according to a white paper published by the Advanced Power and Energy Program (APEP) at the University of California, Irvine. The paper builds on over a decade of research at APEP regarding the role of renewable hydrogen and related solutions as key...

Contradicting prevalent view, UCI oceanographers predict increase in phytoplankton

Written on January 27, 2020.

Machine learning Earth system model projects growth in lower latitudes by 2100 Irvine, Calif., Jan. 27, 2020 – A neural network-driven Earth system model has led University of California, Irvine oceanographers to a surprising conclusion: Phytoplankton populations in low-latitude waters will expand by the end of the 21st century. The unexpected simulation outcome runs counter to the longstanding belief by many in the environmental science community that global climate change will make tropical...