Research news

With the help of strong ocean currents, mountains on the floor of the Southern Ocean play a key role in bringing dissolved carbon to the surface, where it can be released to the atmosphere, a new study led by University of Colorado Boulder scientists finds. The study led by Riley X. Brady and Nicole Lovenduski is the first to detail how carbon travels within and escapes from the Southern Ocean—and has implications for global climate change.

But the window for discovery is slender and shrinking. Craig Lee's ice patch archaeology is mentioned.

Recent scientific flights above the Front Range will help scientists and policymakers cut unnecessary emissions, reduce greenhouse gases and help local residents breathe better. Participants include members of INSTAAR's Advanced Laser Technology for Atmospheric Research (ALTAiR) Laboratory

Armed with state-of-the-art equipment, researchers from the University of Colorado and University of Maryland spent a week flying above fracking sites in Weld County, Colorado to gather data surrounding possible methane leaks around fracking sites. This article includes a 2.5 minute video.

Abandoned hardrock mines and climate change cause metals and other elements to leach into streams. They also put rare earth elements into the water, as found by Garrett Rue and Diane McKnight in their new study.

A new study by Garrett Rue and Diane McKnight suggests lower stream flows, caused by climate change, as a primary culprit.

Acid rock and mine drainage into Western streams is a problem. Climate change is making it worse.

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.

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.

Restoration of degraded drylands is urgently needed to mitigate climate change, reverse desertification and secure livelihoods for the two billion people who live in these areas, say an international group of ecologists who examined the success of seeding drylands with key native plant species. Their study is published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Lead author Nancy Shackelford started the project as a postdoc in Katie Suding's group.