News – Page 17

Warm Ocean Drives Most Antarctic Ice Shelf Loss, UC Irvine and Others Show

Written on June 13, 2013.

Findings are a game changer for future forecasts about thawing continent Janet Wilson, UC Irvine News Ocean waters melting the undersides of Antarctic ice shelves, not icebergs calving into the sea, are responsible for most of the continent’s ice loss, a study by UC Irvine and others has found. The first comprehensive survey of all Antarctic ice shelves discovered that basal melt, or ice dissolving from underneath, accounted for 55 percent of shelf loss from 2003 to 2008 – a rate much...

China is Outsourcing Carbon Within Its Own Borders, UCI and Others Find

Written on June 10, 2013.

Interior produces 80 percent of CO2 related to goods used in richer coastal areas Janet Wilson, UC Irvine News Just as wealthy nations like the United States are outsourcing their dangerous carbon dioxide emissions to China, rich coastal provinces in that country are outsourcing emissions to poorer provinces in the interior, according to UC Irvine climate change researcher Steve Davis and colleagues. The findings, to be published the week of June 10 in Proceedings of the National...

Upcoming Amazon Wildfire Season Risk is High, UCI and NASA Researchers Find

Written on June 7, 2013.

Janet Wilson, UC Irvine News This year’s wildfire season could be a rough one in already ravaged Amazon rain forests, particularly in Brazil, according to new predictions by UC Irvine and NASA scientists. Across South America, the risks will range from average to considerably higher than average, they found. UC Irvine researchers Yang Chen and James Randerson and NASA colleagues arrived at the predictions using a unique methodology–measuring Pacific and Atlantic ocean surface temperatures,...

UCI Chemistry Professor Sergey Nizkorodov Receives AGU Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award

Written on June 4, 2013.

Professor Sergey Nizkorodov is honored with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award. This award recognizes exceptional mid-career scientists in the fields of atmospheric and climate sciences who have demonstrated excellence in research and leadership. “I am really honored to receive this award from the AGU,” says Professor Nizkorodov. “I got involved into atmospheric chemistry research relatively late in my career. This award is a good sign that...

Chasing clean air

Written on June 3, 2013.

Led by Donald Blake, UCI scientists have been on a decades-long global quest to measure atmospheric pollution Conditions couldn’t be worse. The air is dead, not a leaf stirring on the trees lining the dusty Mexican highway. Farmers are burning grapevines, garbage and weeds. Acrid smoke billows upward, then settles like a grimy blanket across miles of hills. Exhausted after driving since 2 a.m. from suburban Irvine to this northern Baja stretch, UC Irvine atmospheric chemist Tai Chen ’87,...

Water Officials Meet to Address Colorado River Drought

Written on May 28, 2013.

Take Two, KPCC There’s no shortage of bad news about the water supply here in the Southwest. The region has seen one of the driest seasons in recent history. That drought is putting a big strain on the Colorado River, which supplies water to about 40 million people in seven different states. Federal officials have called a meeting today in San Diego to try to address the issue. Jay Famiglietti, Director of the UC Center for Hydrologic Modelling at UC Irvine, joins the show to explain. Click...

UCI Undergrads’ Work Key to Global Ocean Algae Count

Written on May 28, 2013.

UCIrvine News A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that identifies critical marine life relies on work done by UC Irvine undergraduates, according to lead author Adam Martiny, a UC Irvine associate professor of Earth system science. The students’ analysis helped an international consortium of scientists determine that the world’s oceans contain an octillion (that’s 27 zeroes) cyanobacteria. This blue-green algae is a primary food source for other life, and its current...

Frozen Flows

Written on April 29, 2013.

UCI research shows glaciers are moving faster than once thought. Brittany Hanson, Orange County Register Glaciers are fast – much faster than scientists previously thought – and their speeds are increasing, according to a UC Irvine research team mapping ice movement in Antarctica for NASA. “When they (speed up), it’s not a trickle,” said Eric Rignot, a UC Irvine professor of Earth System Science and lead project researcher. They increase in speed by three, or eight – sometimes...

Earth in Crisis: H2 Uh-Oh

Written on April 21, 2013.

UCI professor is a messenger of the coming global water shortage. Pat Brennan, Orange County Register Peering down on the Earth from space, through the “eyes” of PAT satellites, Jay Famiglietti just might be able to tell you where the next war will break out. The UC Irvine Earth system science professor is, of course, not in the business of forecasting armed conflict. But he does measure the rate of water depletion around the globe. And he’s noticed an unsettling...

UCI Professor James Randerson Awarded $1.9 Million by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Written on April 4, 2013.

Tatiana Arizaga, School of Physical Sciences Communications UCI Earth system science professor James Randerson has been awarded $1.9 million by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to expand his research on fire season and drought forecasting system development. “Given expected changes in climate and land use over the next several decades, many forest ecosystems are likely to become increasingly vulnerable to fire,” said Professor Randerson. The 5-year project will gain...