global warming – Page 3

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...

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...

Chile, Greenland Glacier Study: $2 million

Written on November 18, 2011.

Pat Brennan, Orange County Register A UC Irvine scientist will receive a $2.2 million grant to study glaciers in Chile and Greenland, potentially shedding further light on the links among vanishing glaciers, rising sea levels and a warming planet. Eric Rignot, a researcher at UC Irvine and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena who specializes in polar ice, will measure subtle changes in gravity during helicopter flights over the glaciers and ice fields of Patagonia. He’ll also...

Tracking the Movement of Ice Across Antarctica

Written on September 22, 2011.

Sindya N. Bhanoo, The New York Times A new map of Antarctica illustrates for the first time how ice moves across the continent. The map’s creators believe it may be a crucial tool in helping researchers understand how a warming climate is changing the continent. The creation of the digital map was supported by NASA and combines data gathered from 2007 to 2009 by satellites belonging to the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. “It’s...

Mapping Antarctic Ice In Motion

Written on August 18, 2011.

Felicity Barringer, The New York Times Put the arguments over how fast Antarctic ice is melting to one side for the moment. The latest study of the southern continent, by a group of scientists led by Eric Rignot of the University of California, Irvine, shows how fast the ice rivers are moving and where they are going. The map of ice in motion, which traces parts of the eastern Antarctic region that have previously been hard to see, offers a new and powerful tool for...

Weird weather: a sign of global warming?

Written on November 5, 2010.

Pat Brennan, The Orange County Register More lightning and thunder in a single day than we typically see in a year. Drenching rain in what was supposed to be a dry fall. An oddly cool summer, then record heat in November. Is Orange County’s wild weather somehow linked to planetary warming? Or is asking such a question falling prey to a very human tendency: magnifying local conditions to global proportions? Climate experts say it’s mostly a case of the latter. No single...

First-of-its-kind study finds alarming increase in flow of water into oceans

Written on October 4, 2010.

UCI-led team cites global warming, accelerated cycle of evaporation, precipitation Janet Wilson, University Communications Freshwater is flowing into Earth’s oceans in greater amounts every year, a team of researchers has found, thanks to more frequent and extreme storms linked to global warming. All told, 18 percent more water fed into the world’s oceans from rivers and melting polar ice sheets in 2006 than in 1994, with an average annual rise of 1.5 percent. “That might not sound like...

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: global warming