People in a boat and wading in floodwaters

Study finds global surge of flood exposure is from population shifts far more than climate change (Sustain What)

Aug. 6, 2021

Too often, rising climate risk is conflated with rising CO2. That takes the heat off national and local leaders who can cut drivers of risk on the ground now. Andy Revkin collects in-depth perspective from scientists and others on the global risk of flooding, the inequities and policies that are driving up that risk, and what we can do to manage it. Revkin cites work that involved Albert Kettner and Bob Brakenridge of the DFO Flood Observatory.

Map of global flooding on a particular day

New global map shows populations are growing faster in flood-prone areas (MIT Technology Review)

Aug. 5, 2021

Satellite imagery reveals how floods are changing and who’s most at risk. A new global floods database involved Bob Brakenridge and Albert Kettner of the DFO Flood Observatory.

NASA image of the Crab nebula, a supernova remnant

How trees can track history of supernovas (9News)

Nov. 17, 2020

A 9News interview with Bob Brakenridge, author of a new paper suggesting that supernovas have impacted Earth's atmosphere and climate, leaving traces that can be seen in tree rings. Watch a 2-minute video.

Cross section of a log, showing the tree's growth rings.

Tree rings may hold clues to earthly impacts of distant supernovas (CU Boulder Today)

Nov. 12, 2020

Massive explosions of energy happening thousands of light-years from Earth may have left traces in our planet’s biology and geology, according to new research by CU Boulder geoscientist Robert Brakenridge. The study, published this month in the International Journal of Astrobiology, probes the impacts of supernovas, some of the most violent events in the known universe. To study those possible impacts, Brakenridge searched through the planet’s tree ring records for the fingerprints of these distant, cosmic explosions. While not conclusive, his findings suggest that relatively close supernovas could theoretically have triggered at least four disruptions to Earth’s climate over the last 40,000 years.