Penguin on ice floe

The South Pole feels Pacific heat

June 29, 2020

In a "news and views" piece in Nature Climate Change, INSTAAR Sharon Stammerjohn and CIRES researcher Ted Scambos spell out the evidence and consequences of rapid warming at the South Pole and call for action to “flatten the curve” of global carbon emissions.

Close view of permafrost soil, covered in mosses and puddles.

Why a ‘feverish’ Arctic will affect everyone on the globe (PBS News Hour)

June 26, 2020

A historic heat wave is occurring in the Arctic, already the fastest-warming place on Earth due to the increasing accumulation of greenhouse gases. Dr. Merritt Turetsky has studied the Arctic for decades. She joins William Brangham on PBS NewsHour to discuss causes and consequences of the Arctic's rising temperatures.

The corner of a Russian apartment building is collapsed from uneven permafrost thaw in Chersky. Photo by Vladimir Romanovsky, University of Alaska Fairbanks

The ticking time bomb of Arctic permafrost (Eos)

June 24, 2020

Arctic infrastructure is under threat from thawing permafrost, explains this story in Eos featuring Merritt Turetsky.

INSTAAR Chad Wolak prepares air samples for carbon-14 measurement. Photo by Scott Lehman.

Radioactive bookkeeping of carbon emissions (Eos)

June 24, 2020

A new sampling method uses carbon-14 to single out which carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere derive from fossil fuels. The method could help track emissions goals for climate mitigation.

Mural of George Floyd's face surrounded by flowers

INSTAAR statement on systemic racism

June 19, 2020

We recognize that Black Lives Matter and stand with the protesters demonstrating against injustice. We are also reckoning with the overdue realization that we are part of the same systems that led to that violence. We commit to doing our part to dismantle implicit, systemic racism in our own spaces and list specific actions we will take within INSTAAR.

Chad Wolak prepares NOAA air samples for carbon-14 measurement.

Tracking fossil fuel emissions with carbon-14

June 1, 2020

Researchers from NOAA and the University of Colorado have devised a breakthrough method for estimating national emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels using ambient air samples and a well-known isotope of carbon scientists have relied on for decades to date archaeological sites. In a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they report the first-ever national scale estimate of fossil-fuel derived carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions obtained by observing CO2 and its naturally occurring radioisotope, carbon-14, from air samples collected by NOAA’s Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network.

Cassandra Brooks smiles as audience members participate in a question she asked during her speech on March 9, 2020. Photo by Kara Wagenknecht, CU Independent.

Homeward Bound alumni speaks on gender issues in Antarctica (CU Independent)

March 10, 2020

Cassandra Brooks spoke to students and community members Monday night in the CU History Museum on her experience leading Homeward Bound, a global women’s leadership initiative in the Antarctic.

Cassandra Brooks in the snowy landscape of Antarctica.

CU researchers were part of the largest ever all-women expedition to Antarctica (9News)

Dec. 16, 2019

University of Colorado's Cassandra Brooks was one of 111 total women, 2 from CU, who went to the "global commons" of Antarctica in an all-women expedition. She wants more women to do the same. (Video.)

Cassandra Brooks

An interview with Dr. Cassandra Brooks (Nature Climate Change)

June 20, 2019

Cassandra Brooks talks about her research interests, passion for Antarctica, and commitment to science communication and policy with Nature Climate Change.

Colorful satellite image of the Lena River delta flowing into the Arctic ocean

Accounting for the missing silica in the marine sediment cycle (AGU Eos)

Jan. 17, 2018

Shaily Rahman led a study using cosmogenic silicon to estimate the amount of biogenic silica stored in clays along continental margins. The team's findings may explain a longstanding, large discrepancy in the global marine silica budget. Understanding silicon is especially important because of its influence on primary production and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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