atmosphere

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...

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...

To Forecast Winter Rainfall in the Southwest, Look to New Zealand in the Summer

Written on June 13, 2018.

UCI scientists find new teleconnection for early and accurate precipitation prediction Jun. 13, 2018 – El Niño was long considered a reliable tool for predicting future precipitation in the southwestern United States, but its forecasting power has diminished in recent cycles, possibly due to global climate change. In a study published today in Nature Communications, scientists and engineers at the University of California, Irvine demonstrate a new method for projecting...

Less predictable precipitation

Written on January 16, 2018.

Waning influence of once-telling weather patterns altered by global warming skews projections Brian Bell / UCI For Californians from Crescent City to Chula Vista, the second week of 2018 brought rain showers. Was it merely a fluke in the middle of an ongoing dry spell, or does it mean we’re on the verge of another wet winter, similar to last year’s? The answer, according to a UCI climatologist, is up in the air – literally and figuratively. The two factors that have, historically, affected...

In ocean carbon recycling, size matters

Written on November 15, 2016.

The journal Nature Geoscience published a study today from UCI Earth system scientists on the size-reactivity continuum in the ocean carbon cycle. Detrital (not living) organic matter is a very large reservoir of carbon stored in the world’s oceans; it’s roughly equal in size to the amount of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere. Marine organic matter spans a spectrum of sizes from whales measuring in tens of meters to small, dissolved molecules measuring 1 nanometer to hundreds of angstroms....

UCI fields airborne team for NASA atmospheric study

Written on July 22, 2016.

UCI atmospheric chemist Don Blake is about to rack up some serious air miles. As co-principal investigator, along with UCI Earth system scientist Michael Prather, on the upcoming NASA Atmospheric Tomography Mission, Blake will fly from the North Pole to New Zealand, east to the tip of South America, and then north to Greenland. He will lead a team analyzing gases and particles in the atmosphere in an airborne laboratory aboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft. Data from the mission, which runs from July...

Time travelers

Written on April 1, 2014.

Scientists use radiocarbon dating to analyze everything from the world’s oldest shoe to sediment samples that shed light on global climate change Kathryn Bold | UCI Magazine Benjamin Fuller, an assistant project scientist in UC Irvine’s Earth system science department, has a stash of rare wines that many connoisseurs would envy, such as the $2,300 1961 Chateau Latour that Wine Advocate describes as “liquid perfection.” Alas, the fine vintage is not for tasting but for testing. Like the...

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...

Central Valley Irrigation Intensifies Rainfall, Storms Across the Southwest

Written on January 28, 2013.

UCI study finds that doubling of moisture in air has positive, negative effects Janet Wilson, UCIrvine News Agricultural irrigation in California’s Central Valley doubles the amount of water vapor pumped into the atmosphere, ratcheting up rainfall and powerful monsoons across the interior Southwest, according to a new study by UC Irvine scientists. Moisture on the vast farm fields evaporates, is blown over the Sierra Nevada and dumps 15 percent more than average summer rain in numerous...

Watering Fields in California Boosts Rainfall in Southwest

Written on January 22, 2013.

Irrigation has downstream effects on climate and runoff to Colorado River Erin Wayman, Science News Farmers in California help make it rain in the American Southwest, a new computer simulation suggests. Water that evaporates from irrigated fields in California’s Central Valley travels to the Four Corners region, where it boosts summer rain and increases runoff to the Colorado River, researchers report online January 12 in Geophysical Research Letters. This climate link may be crucial...

Tag: atmosphere