Research
A new analysis from INSTAAR's Sylvia Michel, Jianghanyang (Ben) Li, and collaborators investigates the root cause of a recent atmospheric methane spike. While their finding suggests microbes have been emitting more methane than fossil fuels in recent years, reducing fossil fuel consumption remains key to addressing climate change.
New computer modeling suggests meltwater beneath Martian ice could support microbial life. A team led by Aditya Khuller (NASA JPL) and including Gary Clow (INSTAAR) found that the amount of sunlight that can shine through water ice would be enough for photosynthesis to occur in shallow pools of meltwater below the surface of that ice.
Mountain chickadees in Boulder have evolved a different tune to avoid getting mixed up with their black-capped cousins. The results provide real-time evidence for one of Charles Darwin’s famous theories and shed light on how pressure from human activity can impact wildlife’s evolution. The study was led by members of Scott Taylor's Lab.
Have the norms of extreme weather in America changed? DFO Flood Observatory director Albert Kettner explains that catastrophic floods have become more common in the 21st century. The reasons behind this shift are complex — invoking climate change, urban infrastructure and human impacts on ecosystems and landscapes.
This fall, sea ice extent was second smallest in Antarctica and fourth smallest in the Arctic. Moreover, sea ice volume was very low in the Arctic. Alexandra Jahn notes that human-caused emissions “are required to get an Arctic sea ice loss as large as observed”.
A melting glacier collapsed, sending the mountaintop it propped up careening into the Dickson Fjord in East Greenland. The impact created a 650-foot tall tsunami, which crashed back and forth between the steep channel walls. Tyler Jones puts the event into the context of arctic climate change.
Lauren Magliozzi (CEAE researcher) offers her perspective on what happens to tiny organisms in streams affected by wildfires has meaning for humans, as well. The story told by these streams and their tiny inhabitants is clear: Urban wildfires pose a serious threat to water quality and aquatic life.
Rapid thawing of the Himalayan ice-cap is compounded by little-studied melting of permafrost that destabilizes peaks, write Wilfried Haeberli and Alton Byers.
Antarctic krill fishing could threaten the recovery of whale species that were nearly wiped out by industrial whaling, according to a study led by CU Boulder and Stanford University, and published Sept. 10 in the journal Nature Communications. Zephyr Sylvester and Cassandra Brooks were part of the research team.
An atmospheric river brought warm, humid air to the coldest and driest corner of the planet in 2022, pushing temperatures 70 degrees above average. Mike Gooseff and Anna Wright were part of a study revealing what happened to Antarctica’s smallest animals.