News – Page 20

It’s Not Just Summer, World Keeps Warming

Written on June 19, 2012.

Eric Niiler, Discovery News The world’s political and environmental leaders gather in Rio de Janeiro tomorrow to assess the state of the planet’s health 20 years after the first such gathering in 1992. But if science is any guide, Earth still needs some help. Several new climate studies reveal various aspects of the same foreboding problem: the atmosphere continues to warm, glaciers continue melting and seas keep rising. But there is a tiny bit of good news — the United...

Weighing the Earth’s Fate

Written on June 18, 2012.

Kathryn Bold, ZotZine UC Irvine Online Magazine Isabella Velicogna’s office in UC Irvine’s Croul Hall looks like it belongs to an artist instead of a university scientist. Her paintings and drawings — including charming sketches of mice — adorn the walls, and colorful, handcrafted mobiles dangle from the ceiling. “In my next life, I will be a children’s book illustrator,” says Velicogna, who loves to paint, draw and sew. For now, though, she’s too...

Jessica Yu’s ‘Last Call at the Oasis’ Made Her a Water Activist

Written on June 13, 2012.

Jessica Yu’s ‘Last Call at the Oasis’ is a feature-length documentary on water waste, water quality and water manipulation around the world. Making the film turned her into a water activist. Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times If you want to say that Jessica Yu burst onto the film scene in 1993 with her short “Sour Death Balls,” you’d be almost literally right. The film is almost 10 minutes of people trying to handle the disgusting confection. Yu’s...

Warming Will Unlock Carbon in Forests, Study Warns

Written on June 11, 2012.

Felicity Barringer, The New York Times Climate scientists have long been concerned about the possibility that warming temperatures will speed changes on the earth’s surface that will in turn accelerate global warming. The best illustration of such a feedback loop involves the melting of sea ice in the Arctic. The ice reflects solar radiation back into space rather than absorbing it. When it melts, it leaves open water that absorbs the heat rather than reflecting it. The more warm water there...

Global Warming Threat Seen in Fertile Soil of Northeastern US Forests

Written on June 11, 2012.

In ‘vicious cycle,’ heat may boost carbon release into atmosphere, UCI-led study finds. Janet Wilson, UC Irvine TODAY Vast stores of carbon in U.S. forest soils could be released by rising global temperatures, according to a study by UC Irvine and other researchers in today’s online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. The scientists found that heating soil in Wisconsin and North Carolina woodlands by 10 and 20 degrees increased the release of carbon dioxide...

Weighing the Earth’s fate

Written on June 1, 2012.

Kathryn Bold, University Communications Isabella Velicogna‘s office in UC Irvine’s Croul Hall looks like it belongs to an artist instead of a university scientist. Her paintings and drawings — including charming sketches of mice — adorn the walls, and colorful, handcrafted mobiles dangle from the ceiling. “In my next life, I will be a children’s book illustrator,” says Velicogna, who loves to paint, draw and sew. For now, though, she’s too busy conducting pioneering research on global warming...

Movie Review: ‘Last Call at the Oasis’ Smartly Sounds Alarm on Water

Written on May 4, 2012.

Jessica Yu provides a thorough examination of our dwindling water supply. The time to panic is now. Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times “Last Call at the Oasis” is a playful title for a film that couldn’t be more deadly serious. A thorough examination of the epic crises threatening the world’s water supply, crises that few people are paying attention to, this documentary tells you to be afraid, very afraid. Because the water situation is so dire, it has been examined...

When There Really Is Not a Drop to Drink

Written on May 3, 2012.

‘Last Call at the Oasis,’ a Documentary About Water Supplies A. O. Scott, The New York Times Jay Famiglietti, one of a handful of expert witnesses in Jessica Yu’s “Last Call at the Oasis,” is a thoughtful scientist with an engaging manner who specializes in water. In particular, he studies — and tries to raise public awareness about — the rapid depletion of water supplies caused by agricultural overuse, rampant development and global climate change. His analyses are thorough and clear,...

Troubled waters

Written on April 30, 2012.

UCI hydrologist Jay Famiglietti stars in new documentary about water scarcity, pollution. Janet Wilson, University Communications UC Irvine professor Jay Famiglietti sits with his arms politely crossed, watching an irate Central Valley farmer wrest a microphone out of a conservationist’s hand. The two are dueling over the urgency of irrigation for 25 percent of America’s food supply versus cancelling crop production to save water. A few minutes later, Famiglietti patiently tries to explain...

Science Study Author? Fresh From High School

Written on April 17, 2012.

Pat Brennan, The OC Register An Orange County man is co-author of a new UC Irvine study that offers precision analysis of smoke plumes from tropical burning — a feat in itself, because he began the work as a 17-year-old high school student. Alex Krolewski, now a 19-year-old freshman at Harvard University, says he simply thought it would be “cool” to do some scientific research while in his junior year at University High School in Irvine. So, after combing through departmental...