Climate & Environment
<p>鈥淯pside-down rivers鈥 of warm ocean water threaten the stability of floating ice shelves in Antarctica, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 National Snow and Ice Data Center. The study highlights how parts of Antarctica鈥檚 ice sheet may be weakening due to contact with warm ocean water.</p>
<p>Like an albatross scanning for pods of squid in a vast ocean, molecules on solid surfaces move in an intermittent search pattern that provides maximum efficiency, according to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder.</p>
<p>For the half billion people living on the world鈥檚 river deltas and the hundreds of millions of others who rely on them for water, food, shelter, transportation and energy, the news is not good.聽More than two-thirds of the the world鈥檚 33 major river deltas are sinking and the vast majority have experienced flooding in recent years, primarily a result of human activity.</p>
<p>The newly-exposed edges of deforested areas are highly susceptible to drastic temperature changes, leading to hotter, drier and more variable conditions for the forest that remains, according to new research from the University of Colorado Boulder.</p>
<p>Boulder鈥檚 Gijs de Boer, 36 is one of 106 recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.聽The CIRES/NOAA scientist works on remote sensing of environmental changes.</p>- <p class="p1">Five community-led projects from across Colorado will explore air and water quality and sustainable energy development with support from the latest round of grants from the AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network based at the University of Colorado Boulder.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The grants aim to improve understanding of the risks and benefits of oil and gas development as identified by community organizations.</span></p>
<p>The United States could slash greenhouse gas emissions from power production by up to 78 percent below 1990 levels within 15 years while meeting increased demand, according to a new study by NOAA and University of Colorado Boulder researchers.</p>
<p>New research led by the University of Colorado Boulder indicates an ongoing loss of ice on Niwot Ridge and the adjacent Green Lakes Valley in the high mountains west of Boulder is likely to progress as the climate continues to warm.</p>
<p>Water managers in Colorado and the West scrambling to meet the growing demand for increasingly scarce water supplies caused by large populations far from water resources, climate change and drought need to focus more effort on conserving water, including addressing reservoir evaporation, say University of Colorado Boulder researchers.</p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">A research effort led by the University of Colorado Boulder to develop an inexpensive, 鈥渄o-it-yourself鈥 coating to retrofit energy-inefficient windows in residential and commercial buildings has been given a $4 million boost over three years by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).</span></p>