A new study led by UBC researchers suggests that the summer solstice—the longest day of the year—may serve as a key cue for plant growth and reproduction. But in a changing climate, relying on this fixed signal may no longer help plants to survive or thrive.

Model designed to comply with current legislation uses biodiversity, landscape, and ecosystem services data and could support public policies.

Climate models often overestimate ice clouds and underestimate supercooled liquid water (SLW) clouds in polar regions, skewing predictions of surface warming. To address this issue, researchers from Japan conducted a four-month observational study on the Southern Ocean. Through shipboard measurements, they found SLW clouds dominated as mid-level cloud layers, even at very low temperatures. These findings offer crucial data to improve the accuracy of climate models, which are critical in the face of climate change.

Jacobs Medical Center and Hillcrest Medical Center at UC San Diego Health have been named Top 25 hospitals in the nation for exceptional sustainability efforts.

Researchers studied an ancient forest of bald cypress trees preserved in subfossil form at the mouth of Georgia’s Altamaha River. Using radiocarbon dating and tree-ring analysis, they revealed a dramatic shift in growth patterns: around 500 A.D., these trees began growing faster – but living far shorter lives. Their average lifespan plunged from more than 470 years to just 186, coinciding with the Vandal Minimum,  a sixth century climate crisis marked by global cooling and upheaval, likely caused by volcanic eruptions and possibly even a comet impact.

This year marks the opening of the United Nations Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences, an international initiative focused on the rapid changes occurring in glaciers, snow cover, ice sheets, sea ice, and permafrost and their impacts on the planet. MBARI’s advanced technology will play a critical role in this effort, providing important data about the Arctic seafloor and the Southern Ocean. MBARI research is answering fundamental questions about polar environments and other components of the cryosphere. This information can help resource managers and policymakers make decisions about the future of this important ecosystem.

Coral reefs are creeping away from the tropics in response to warming oceans, but the pace is too slow to beat the heat and escape impacts of climate change, according to a breakthrough study published June 6 in Science Advances. The study, authored by researchers at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) Marine Ecological Theory Lab, also offers a hopeful alternative: immediate actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can significantly improve the future outlook for coral reefs globally.