Thursday, May 16, 2024

envirobites

environmental science research for everyone

Climate Change

Climate Environmental Science 

Computer models suggest how COVID-19 may disrupt warming oceans

Christina M. Marvin 0 Comments , ,

COVID-19 has disrupted much of life as we know it – and the environment is no different. While we may not know the full impact until many years later, scientists suspect that the sudden, drastic decrease in fossil fuel use, especially air travel, will appear as some disruption to our seemingly unstoppable climb in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The primary way humans can slow global warming is to decrease our use of fossil fuels. What would such a world look like? Scientists hope to build models in order to learn and make better predictions from this unexpected experiment.

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Human Exposure and Public Health 

How Does Wildfire Smoke Impact Mortality in Washington State?

Kristina Blank 0 Comments , , , , , , , , ,

Wildfire smoke contains harmful compounds known to negatively impact human health. New research suggests wildfire smoke exposure could contribute to an increased number of deaths in Washington State, and raises interesting questions about public health as climate change threatens to increase the size, frequency, intensity, and duration of wildfires in the state.

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Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science 

As Oceans Change, HABs Invade

Jessica Espinosa 0 Comments , , , , , ,

Global ocean temperatures are currently rising and have been for decades. Scientists are working to discover how this changing climate affects species around the world, from the very large to the very small. This includes phytoplankton, the microscopic marine algae that live in most bodies of water around the globe and produce half the world’s oxygen. But some of these species are toxic, and can cause harm to human and wildlife alike if they are able to grow out of control. Though a number of studies have been undertaken to try and understand more about these harmful algal blooms, much is still unknown about their growth. A group of scientists were interested in how changing ocean temperatures affected the geographic ranges of harmful algal blooms over time in order to better predict blooms in the future.

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Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science 

Coral reefs are in hot water: Could upwelling save the day?

Elisabeth Lang 0 Comments , ,

Coral reefs do best in warm water, but when the water gets too hot, they bleach. Upwelling, which brings cooler water from the deeper parts of the ocean, occurs worldwide, including where coral reefs can be found. With climate change, ocean temperatures are increasing and coral bleaching events are happening more frequently. Could upwelling help protect coral reefs from hot water?

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Climate Ecosystems Environmental Science 

Where have all the flowers gone? Climate change is driving the loss of forbs and diversity in Californian grasslands

Sienna Wessel 0 Comments , , , ,

Science predicts that climate change will disrupt many natural processes and cycles and there is ever increasing media coverage regarding expectations for Earth’s future under these pressures. Yet there is little popular discussion about how plant communities will be impacted by these changes despite the fact that they represent the first level of the food web, support entire ecosystems of species, and contain one of the only organisms that can capture free energy to produce life. Understanding the ways that these communities are changing and will change in the future is crucially important to seeing the full picture of how climate change will re-shape life as we know it.

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