Following two months of record heat and precipitation in fall 2022, an estimated 7,500 lakes in West Greenland turned brown, began emitting carbon and decreased in water quality in less than a year. The spike in temperatures caused the precipitation to fall as rain instead of snow. The heat also caused permafrost to thaw, releasing an abundance of carbon, iron, magnesium and other elements that the rain washed into the lakes. Researchers found a decrease in phytoplankton that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis within the lakes, and an increase in plankton that break down and release carbon. Instead of sequestering carbon dioxide in the summer, the lakes have become a source of it, with a 350% increase in the flux of this greenhouse gas from them.  

With research specialties at the intersections of energy, climate and environmental politics, UC Santa Barbara professor Leah Stokes has no shortage of timely topics to talk about, and get others to think of. There’s climate change, water policy, renewable energy, voting behavior. And that’s just her research, published in top journals and distilled into her 2020 book, “Short Circuiting Policy” (Oxford University Press).

The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency have awarded $326 million to three Colorado State University research projects that aim to improve U.S. oil and gas operations and reduce methane emissions nationwide.

The EPA’s Methane Emissions Reduction Program is providing the funding to the CSU Energy Institute and faculty working across multiple departments in the Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering, with the goal of helping oil and gas operators improve operational efficiency and manage emissions. The efforts will also support activity to build an inventory of methane emissions, improve air quality and offer workforce development.

A synthesis of carbon flux and wildfire emissions data from across the Arctic-boreal zone between 2001-2020 found that 34 percent of the region is now a source of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

The research by University of Sydney marine scientists highlights the complex interplay between heat stress, disease onset and coral mortality. It found that 66 percent of the colonies were bleached by February 2024 and 80 per cent by April. By July, 44 percent of the bleached colonies had died, with some coral genera, such as Acropora, experiencing a staggering 95 percent mortality rate.

A new study involving the UGR shows that deep generative vision models can synthesise highly realistic satellite images that can be used to illustrate future climate-related events such as floods, sea-ice retreat, and reforestation.

Researchers uncover how the SiPRR37 gene regulates the flowering process of millet crops across regional climates, paving way for higher yields

University of Utah atmospheric scientists show proposed "geoengineering" effort to remove methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere could worse air quality while providing minimal climate benefits.