Scientists with skis travel on a snow covered lake with dramatic Teton mountain peaks behind them.

New research illuminates how glaciers have responded to past climate changes (Occidental College)

Nov. 19, 2020

Current and former INSTAARs Darren Larsen, Sarah Crump, and Aria Blumm analyzed sediment from a glacial lake to learn about glacier fluctuations and climate shifts over the last 10,000 years.

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.

Closeup of fish heads at a fish market

After a nuclear war, the world’s emergency food supply could be seafood—if overfishing stops now (The Conversation)

Nov. 12, 2020

Scientists working with Nikki Lovenduski write: "As scientists who study the global marine fishery, we are particularly interested in the future supply of seafood. So when some colleagues approached us with the idea of studying the response of the global fishery to nuclear war, we thought it would be a fascinating, though grim topic. As expected, our research showed that nuclear war would have a negative impact on marine fish, although not as bad as we had initially thought. Surprisingly, we also found that marine fish could serve as a crucial global emergency food supply in times of crisis if marine ecosystems were in a healthy state to start with."

Photo of Mette Bendixen

Mette Bendixen receives the AGU Science for Solutions Award

Nov. 11, 2020

The American Geophysical Union has announced that INSTAAR postdoctoral scholar Mette Bendixen is the recipient of their 2020 Science for Solutions Award. The award follows Bendixen’s out-of-the-box work on an overlooked global challenge: the scarcity of sand resources.

The Castle Bravo nuclear weapons test off Bikini Atoll in 1954. (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy)

Scientists explore how to protect fisheries, food supply in event of nuclear war (CU Boulder Today)

Nov. 9, 2020

A new study reveals the damage that a nuclear war might take on wild-caught seafood around the world, from salmon to tuna and even shellfish. The aftermath of such a conflict could put a major strain on global food security, an international team of scientists reports. The group estimates that a nuclear war might cut the amount of seafood that fishing boats are capable of bringing in worldwide by as much as 30%. In short span of time, in other words, those impacts could rival the toll that climate change is taking on fisheries across the globe, said study coauthor Nicole Lovenduski.

Steep mountains climb out of a glacial lake in the Kangchenjunga region in eastern Nepal

A new Cold War in the Himalaya: Asia’s water tower as a climate and geopolitical hotspot (Nepali Times)

Nov. 6, 2020

Updates from last week's virtual conference, "The Himalayas: Geopolitics and Ecology of Melting Mountains," that brought together academics and researchers from around the world, including INSTAAR Alton Byers.

A satellite view of the Yukon River watershed in Alaska

Arctic communities planning for abrupt permafrost thaw

Oct. 21, 2020

A new INSTAAR-led project will engage Indigenous and Western knowledge systems to better understand abrupt permafrost change in Alaska. The National Science Foundation selected the project as part of its Navigating the New Arctic funding area, one of ten “Big Ideas” that NSF is investing in as an area of profound national challenge and opportunity. The research project brings Alaskan communities together with social and natural scientists to examine changes in permafrost thaw lake environments, including associated effects on villages in the Yukon River watershed.

Open coal mining pit and equipment

Unprecedented energy use since 1950 has transformed our planetary environment & humanity’s footprint (CU Boulder Today)

Oct. 16, 2020

A new study coordinated by CU Boulder makes clear the extraordinary speed and scale of increases in energy use, economic productivity and global population that have pushed the Earth towards a new geological epoch, known as the Anthropocene. Distinct physical, chemical and biological changes to Earth’s rock layers began around the year 1950, the research found. Led by Jaia Syvitski, CU Boulder professor emerita and former director of the Institute of Alpine Arctic Research (INSTAAR), the paper, published today in Nature Communications Earth and Environment, documents the natural drivers of environmental change throughout the past 11,700 years—known as the Holocene Epoch—and the dramatic human-caused shifts since 1950. Such planetary-wide changes have altered oceans, rivers, lakes, coastlines, vegetation, soils, chemistry and climate.

Scottish bog with highland mountains, clouds, and rain

For the love of peat (99 Percent Invisible)

Oct. 13, 2020

Trees versus peat as carbon sequesters: an example from Scotland. Listen to the 40 minute podcast episode.

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