Climate & Environment
By analyzing Antarctic ice cores, CU Boulder scientists and an international team of collaborators have revealed the most detailed look yet at the planet’s recent climatic history, including summer and winter temperatures dating back 11,000 years to the beginning of what is known as the Holocene.
When gas leaks into and contaminates a household water well near an oil and gas drilling site, there is always a question of where it came from. Is it from a failure in the drilling or did the gas migrate naturally? New research from CU Boulder could help definitively answer that question.
The Marshall Fire spurred researchers—many of them personally affected by the fire—to pivot and apply their expertise to the aftermath. One year later, dozens of ongoing research projects continue to explore the science behind what happened that day, the widespread impacts on people, pets and the environment and how we can mitigate future catastrophes amid a changing climate.
Since July 2022, a miniature satellite about the size of a shoebox has been orbiting Earth and monitoring how much solar energy reaches the atmosphere, one of the "most important" Earth science measurements. Now, scientists are finalizing their analysis of the first five months of the testing.
At the American Geophysical Union meeting in Chicago through Dec. 16, LASP researchers are presenting the results of recent studies on the massive 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption.
CIRES co-authored work shows tribal practices blunted wildfires’ impacts in the American Southwest. Bringing “good fire” back to the U.S. and other wildfire-prone areas, as Native Americans once did, could potentially blunt the role of climate in triggering today’s wildfires.
Of all the troubles in the world, why should single-use shopping bags and straws concern you? Ask Associate Professor Phaedra Pezzullo, who spells out the chilling ramifications of plastic use in her new podcast and book.
The College of Media, Communication and Information received a $25,000 donation from the climate-action organization Mission Zero to further climate-focused work. Faculty and students undertook seven grant projects, tackling climate issues through innovative storytelling.
Extreme weather and ocean events are on the rise around the world, due largely to human-caused climate change. But to fully understand these changes—and, ideally, to predict when and where they may occur in the future—researchers and policymakers must also take into account naturally occurring climate variability, suggests new research.
After three days of dynamic and thought-provoking panels and keynotes at the inaugural Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit co-hosted by United Nations Human Rights and CU Boulder, the work now begins on moving the talk about the human rights crisis that climate change is to action.