climate change – Page 6

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...

Good to the Last Drop: What Will We Do When the Wells Run Dry?

Written on March 22, 2012.

Jay Famiglietti, National Geographic Water Currents Since today is World Water Day, I thought that I would kick off my contributions to the Water Currents blog with a renewed wake-up call. It’s one that you’ve heard before, from me and from many, many others — that groundwater is being depleted at a rapid clip in many of the world’s major aquifers — but one that demands a fresh look and immediate action…and here’s why. Groundwater depletion is emerging as a global phenomenon, as well as...

Researchers Provide New Insight into Formation of Secondary Organic Aerosols in Atmosphere; Implications for Health and Climate Models

Written on February 23, 2012.

Green Car Congress A new study led by a team from the University of California, Irvine is providing important new insight into the mechanisms by which secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles form and grow. The work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has implications for model formulations of SOA, both outdoors and indoors, and the associated health and climate impacts predicted based on those model outputs. Airborne particles have significant impacts...

‘Sticky Smog’ Might Help Solve Smoggy Mystery

Written on February 21, 2012.

Pat Brennan, Orange County Register The hazardous gases that make up Southern California’s smoggy haze might stick together like tar, not dissolve inside droplets, a new study by UC Irvine scientists shows. And while that might sound like splitting hairs, it could have profound implications for how we understand smog and forecast its effects. The finding, by UCI chemistry professor Barbara Finlayson-Pitts and a team of researchers, might help solve the mystery of “missing”...

Gases Drawn into Smog Particles Stay There, UCI-Led Study Reveals

Written on February 21, 2012.

Finding could explain why air pollution models underestimate organic aerosols Janet Wilson, UC Irvine Today Airborne gases get sucked into stubborn smog particles from which they cannot escape, according to findings by UC Irvine and other researchers published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The results could explain a problem identified in recent years: Computer models long used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California air regulators...

No day at the beach

Written on November 21, 2011.

Global warming could cut into mental health benefits of beaches. Janet Wilson, University Communications It’s 67 degrees and sunny on a November afternoon at Crystal Cove State Park. Waves crash gently into transparent tide pools and fan out over empty golden sands. “This is ideal: cool temperatures, no crowds. I love the sound of the waves; that’s the most calming sound in the world to me,” says UC Irvine public health professor Oladele Ogunseitan. He glances down. “This beach seems...

Forecasting Fire Season Severity in South America Using Sea Surface Temperature Anomalies

Written on November 11, 2011.

Yang Chen, James T. Randerson, Douglas C. Morton, Ruth S. DeFries, G. James Collatz, Prasad S. Kasibhatla, Louis Giglio, Yufang Jin, Miriam E. Marlier, Science Deforestation and forest degradation in South America contribute to anthropogenic carbon emissions and regional and global climate change. Fire is the dominant method for converting forest to cropland or pasture, and fires account for approximately half of the carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in South America....

Ocean Temperatures Can Predict Amazon Fire Season Severity

Written on November 11, 2011.

Peter Lynch, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center By analyzing nearly a decade of satellite data, a team of scientists led by researchers from the University of California, Irvine and funded by NASA has created a model that can successfully predict the severity and geographic distribution of fires in the Amazon rain forest and the rest of South America months in advance. Though previous research has shown that human settlement patterns are the primary factor that drives the distribution...

Sea Change Can Forecast South American Wildfires, UCI-Led Study Finds

Written on November 10, 2011.

Janet H. Wilson, UC Irvine Communications Tiny temperature changes on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans provide an excellent way to forecast wildfires in South American rainforests, according to UC Irvine and other researchers funded by NASA. “It enables us three to five months in advance to predict the severity of the fire season,” said UCI assistant project scientist Yang Chen, lead author of a paper that will be published Friday, Nov. 11, in the journal Science. Wildfires, once rare...

Sign of warming: harder rain, higher rivers

Written on October 4, 2010.

Pat Brennan, science, environment editor, The Orange County Register Rainfall is intensifying, rivers are rising and water flow into the ocean is increasing rapidly, a new UC Irvine study shows — a possible “warning sign” of higher sea levels and global warming. Satellite and surface measurements over 13 years revealed an 18 percent increase in the flow of water from rivers and melting polar ice sheets into the world’s oceans, according to the study, likely one of the first of...

Tag: climate change