Media Alerts are press releases from different institutions, that either address climate research, or are NASA-funded.
Shuttle Radar Mission to Aid in Volcanic Hazard Studies
January 28 NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, scheduled for launch
Jan. 31, will gather information key to the University of Hawaii's research
on the aftermath of volcanic eruptions. The mission will employ an
advanced measurement technique called "radar interferometry" to obtain
topographic maps of most of the Earth's surface. "It's providing a first
look at the Earth's topography at this scale," said volcanologist Peter
Mouginis-Mark of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology. More
Droughts Worse Than the 1930's Likely in 21st Century
January 28 Mounting evidence now suggests that large changes in climatic
conditions have occurred across the globe over the last millennium and
could reoccur independent of human-induced global warming. New research
in the journal Nature shows that extreme fluctuations in the Earth's water
resources during the last millennium occurred naturally in Eastern Africa.
"We should be prepared for naturally occurring, extreme climate changes
that will provoke water shortages in the future," says Brian Cumming of
Queen's University. (Queen's University release) More
Carbon Dioxide Stored in Subtropical Oceans
January 27 The cold Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica soaks up carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere like a sponge, but scientists have discovered
that the greenhouse gas does not stay there. Researchers have found that
the carbon dioxide ends up deep in the subtropical ocean. The new findings
are reported in the journal Science. More
The Atmosphere Has Gotten Warmer And Wetter
January 27 New research in the journal Nature has confirmed that the
atmosphere has gotten warmer and wetter over the last decade. Frank Wentz
of Remote Sensing Systems, Santa Rosa, Calif., compared data from three
different satellites to see if changes in sea surface temperature, air
temperature, or humidity matched. "The combination of these three
instruments can produce a much better definition of climate trends than any
of the instruments could alone," said Wentz. More
Tons of Oil Seeps into Gulf of Mexico Each Year
January 26 Twice an Exxon Valdez spill worth of oil seeps into the Gulf
of Mexico every year, according to a study presented Jan. 27 at the Ocean
Sciences Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The ooze, a natural phenomena that
has been going on for many thousands of years, was measured with satellite
images by Roger Mitchell of the Earth Satellite Corp., Rockville Md. More
Tropical Rain Forests May Not Be a Major Carbon Dioxide Source
January 20 The Amazon rainforest is striking a precarious balance in
terms of the greenhouse gasses that are released as its rainforests are
consumed, according to a new study using Landsat satellite images. The
study in the journal Nature indicates that the carbon released into the
atmosphere by deforestation offsets that absorbed by new forests growing.
"It appears that tropical forests that have been thought of as large
sources of greenhouse gasses may be neutral," said David Skole of Michigan
State University, one of the study's authors. (Michigan State University
release) More
New Orleans Endangered by "Coastal Collapse"
January 19 With predicted sea level rise, wetland loss, subsidence, and
the absence of restoration programs, the future of New Orleans appears
bleak. "We have the greatest coastal land loss problem in North America,"
says University of New Orleans coastal geologist Shea Penland. The
director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Chip Groat, agrees: "With the
projected rate of subsidence [the natural sinking of land], wetland loss,
and sea level rise, New Orleans will likely be on the verge of extinction
by this time next century." (University of New Orleans release) More
Spaceborne Lasers to Revolutionize Global Change Research
January 10 In the first years of the new millennium, scientists will be
able to, for the first time, peer inside forests across the world,
accurately measure changes in the amount of ice in the polar caps, and get
a global look at how clouds and airborne dust particles affect global
warming. Many of these advances will be made when a new generation of
laser-based sensors called "lidar" makes their debut in space, says M. Pat
McCormick, co-director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at Hampton
University. (Hampton University release) More
Climate Change Impact Assessments Overlook Key Factors
January 10 Colorado State University researcher Roger Pielke, Sr.,
believes that regional climate change assessments of the United States and
one prepared by a United Nations panel overlook factors that are critically
important to the realism of models of global climate change. Research has
shown that the effect of landscape and human-caused land-use changes can
have a profound effect on climate variability and change. This calls into
question the realism of the climate predictions because these factors have
not been included in the model. (Colorado State University release) More
La Niña May Bring Wet Spring for U.S. Pacific Northwest, Appalachia
January 6 This year's La Niña spring could bring increased streamflows to the Pacific Northwest and Appalachia, but lower streamflows in the
Southwest United States, in parts of the Northeast and center of the
nation, according to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey and its
partners. The new report shows areas of the country where it is more
likely that streamflows will be high, including flooding, and areas where
streamflows will be low, which could spell drought. The new maps are a
statistical survey that identifies areas where, during past La Niña years, very high flows and very low flows have occurred. (U.S. Geological Survey release) More
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