Research News

Concerns continue to grow about the effects of climate change on fire. Wildfires are expected to increase 50 percent across the United States under a changing climate, over 100 percent in areas of the West by 2050 as projected by some studies. Of equal concern to scientists and policymakers alike are the atmospheric effects of wildfire emissions on climate.

In two critical reports released at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Kiruna, Sweden on May 15th, scientists helped inform an international body of senior government officials about changing conditions in the Arctic, and potential responses to those changes.

(University of California - Santa Barbara) About 12,800 years ago when the Earth was warming and emerging from the last ice age, a dramatic and anomalous event occurred that abruptly reversed climatic conditions back to near-glacial state.

(DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Ninety-seven teams from 28 Colorado schools participated in today's car competitions hosted by the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.The student teams raced solar and lithium ion powered vehicles they designed and built themselves.

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Using a "patient monitoring" device attached to a whale entangled in fishing gear, scientists showed for the first time how fishing lines changed a whale's diving and swimming behavior.

(Eta Florence Renewable Energies) The European Biomass Conference and Exhibition represents one of the key events in Europe and worldwide for companies and professionals operating at the top end of the biomass and bioenergy sector.

(Cardiff University) Rapid climate change during the Middle Stone Age, between 80,000 and 40,000 years ago, sparked surges in cultural innovation in early modern human populations, according to new research.

Researchers have found evidence of a major cosmic event near the end of the Ice Age. The ensuing climate change forced many species to adapt or die.

Woody plant matter is almost completely digested by bacteria living in the Amazon River. This tough stuff plays a major part in fueling the river's breath. The finding has implications for global carbon models, and for the ecology of the Amazon and the world's other rivers. Until recently, people believed much of the rainforest's carbon floated down the Amazon River and ended up deep in the ocean.

(DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) A comprehensive study into the potential for compressed air energy storage in the Pacific Northwest has identified two locations in Washington state that could store enough wind energy to power about 85,000 homes each month.