News

INSTAAR postdoctoral scholar Peyton Thomas loves being in nature, but as a scientist she is well-aware of the threat climate change poses to our environment. She also hopes to inspire the next generation of Black women scientists.

A new study that included Will Wieder and Keith Musselman finds that snow-free seasons are expected to last longer, putting Northern Hemisphere water supplies at risk.

Water resources will fluctuate increasingly and become more difficult to predict in snow-dominated regions across the Northern Hemisphere by later this century, according to a comprehensive new climate change study. Even regions that keep receiving the same amount of precipitation will experience more variable and unpredictable streamflow as snowpack recedes.

This week, the Mountain Research Station (MRS), the University of Colorado Boulder’s field research facility, is celebrating its 100th anniversary since it was constructed in 1920. The celebration was delayed by two years due to the COVID-19 virus, but is kicking off its celebration in-person, bringing in several scientists and artists to perform seminars and talks for the public.

Historic drought has depleted groundwater, melted the snowpack, and dried up lakes--and it will get worse. Washington Post visual story (paywall) illustrated by maps from the Mountain Hydrology Lab.

Twenty-six miles west of Boulder, scientists and students at the Mountain Research Station have gathered since 1920 to conduct some of the world’s most unique studies on high-altitude ecology and, more recently, how climate change is altering it. As it celebrates its 100th anniversary this month, its director is already planning for the next 100.

Climate scientist Alton Byers takes a close look at three recent and poorly understood glacial lake outburst floods in the Himalaya. The stored lake water that is suddenly released can cause enormous death and devastation downstream.

The giant bird Genyornis newtoni disappeared from Australia 45,000 years ago, and researchers have long puzzled over whether human hunters or climate change was the culprit. Now, a new analysis of ancient eggshells—the leftovers of a prehistoric feast—suggests humans were responsible. Study led by Giff Miller. Illustration by Nobu Tamura.

A new study led by Giff Miller suggests that the 500-pound Genyornis newtoni laid the eggs marked by cooking fires in Australia, and not a smaller bird. The study could shed light on an even bigger scientific mystery, of why megafauna went extinct shortly after the advent of humans on the continent.

New research from the University of Colorado Boulder is the first to show that agricultural sulfur has a unique fingerprint that can be traced from application to endpoint. Led by Eve-Lyn Hinckley, who is transitioning her research team from INSTAAR to CIRES, the study paves the way to protect waterways downstream from unintended impacts of anthropogenic sulfur application.