Image:听Kaskawulsh River, by Jim Best/University of Illinois
This week's top research stories include a look at 'river piracy' by a Canadian glacier, a study suggesting current wildfire policy isn't adequately protecting people, homes and ecosystems, and business research pointing to positive employment growth in Colorado.
The retreat of a massive Yukon glacier a mile up its valley has redirected meltwater from one river basin to another in the first modern case of 鈥渞iver piracy,鈥� according to a听new analysis听by a team of researchers including Mike Willis, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. The massive Kaskawulsh Glacier in northern Canada has retreated about a mile in the past century, and in the spring of 2016, that retreat triggered a breakneck event, according to the new analysis. A toe of ice that was sending meltwater toward the Slims River and then north to the Bering Sea retreated so far that the water changed course, joining the Kaskawulsh River and flowing south toward the Gulf of Alaska.
New era of western wildfire demands new ways of protecting people, ecosystems
Just four weeks ago, fire crews battled the Sunshine fire in the foothills west of Boulder. Low humidity, record-high temperatures and 40 mile-per-hour gusts of wind helped fan flames that forced over 1,000 people to evacuate their homes. Firefighters quickly contained the wildfire, with no injuries or damage reported. But the reality of a blaze this serious in March raises concerns about how we deal with wildfire in the western United States. According to a new paper led by CU Boulder, current wildfire policy can鈥檛 adequately protect people, homes and ecosystems from the longer, hotter fire seasons climate change is causing.
In roundworms, fats tip the scales of fertility
Fat levels in a tiny soil-dwelling roundworm can tip the balance between making eggs or sperm, a discovery that could have implications for future studies into human fertility and reproductive development.
Growth in new businesses bodes well for future employment levels
There were 32,450 new business formations in Colorado during the first quarter of 2017, a 9.3 percent increase over the same period in 2016. However, the activity was concentrated in metropolitan rather than rural areas of the state.
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