Research news

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.

On May 3, members of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and Colorado congressional delegation joined leaders and scientists from CU Boulder, including INSTAAR Director Merritt Turetsky, to showcase university research and federal partnerships.

Keith Musselman was interviewed for this CBS Denver news story on the effects of climate change on deep snowpack.

As climate change fuels the spread of wildfires across the West, researchers want to know how the dual effect might disrupt water supplies. Noah Molotch is among those interviewed.

Researchers from Imperial College London have performed new measurements using data from INSTAAR's Stable Isotope Lab (Sylvia Englund Michel). They found London produces 30-35% more methane than previously thought. Previous estimates suggested 25% of London's methane is from natural gas leaks, but the new study says it's up to 85%.

A warmer, drier alpine is impeding water quality for streams and rivers used for snowmaking, like the Snake River that runs through Keystone. Diane McKnight is interviewed in this Colorado Sun story.

Because of climate change, the snowpack in the Western U.S. is already 20% less than it was in the 1950s, a volume of water that could fill Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the country. By the end of the century, most years in the region could be nearly snowless. Keith Musselman is interviewed.

In coming decades, the shifting terrain that accompanies the warming of the permafrost caused by climate change will put most human-made structures in the Arctic at risk. Nearly 70 percent of the infrastructure in the Northern Hemisphere's permafrost regions—including at least 120,000 buildings and nearly 25,000 miles of roads—are located in areas with high potential for thaw of near-surface permafrost by 2050, according to new research. Quotes Merritt Turetsky: "I am writing a eulogy for the ecosystem that I love. The permafrost has been there for thousands of years in some places, and it will never come back."