Students, panelists discuss diversity’s role By Craig Winston A vision of how Rutgers might reach sustainability began to take shape when administrators, students and members of the community came together for a Sustainability Town Hall last week. More than 200 people gathered at the College Avenue Student Center to hear six panelists in an open forum about sustainability and the ravages of …
Global Cooling After Nuclear War Would Harm Ocean Life
Seafood production also may be impacted by increased acidification A nuclear war that cooled Earth could worsen the impact of ocean acidification on corals, clams, oysters and other marine life with shells or skeletons, according to the first study of its kind. “We found that the ocean’s chemistry would change, with global cooling dissolving atmospheric carbon into the upper ocean and …
Scientists Find Far Higher than Expected Rate of Underwater Glacial Melting
Robotic kayaks were used to track meltwater Tidewater glaciers, the massive rivers of ice that end in the ocean, may be melting underwater much faster than previously thought, according to a Rutgers co-authored study that used robotic kayaks. The findings, which challenge current frameworks for analyzing ocean-glacier interactions, have implications for the rest of the world’s tidewater glaciers, whose rapid …
Climate Change is Reshaping Communities of Ocean Organisms
Warm-water species are rapidly increasing and cold-water species are decreasing Climate change is reshaping communities of fish and other sea life, according to a pioneering study on how ocean warming is affecting the mix of species. The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, covers species that are important for fisheries and that serve as food for fish, such as copepods …
Warming Waters in Western Tropical Pacific May Affect West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Rutgers study finds weather patterns that may influence global sea-level rise Warming waters in the western tropical Pacific Ocean have significantly increased thunderstorms and rainfall, which may affect the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and global sea-level rise, according to a Rutgers University–New Brunswick study. Since the mid-1990s, West Antarctica – a massive ice sheet that sits on land – …
How is Climate Change Affecting New Jersey?
EOAS Director Dr. Robert Kopp recently contributed to a special piece on NJTV about New Jersey’s climate change threats. The full article can be found here.
Iceland Volcano Eruption in 1783-84 Did Not Spawn Extreme Heat Wave
Massive Laki volcano eruption led to unusually cold winter in Europe, Rutgers-led study says An enormous volcanic eruption on Iceland in 1783-84 did not cause an extreme summer heat wave in Europe. But, as Benjamin Franklin speculated, the eruption triggered an unusually cold winter, according to a Rutgers-led study. The study, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, will help improve predictions …
Major Deep Carbon Sink Linked to Microbes Found Near Volcano Chains
Rutgers and other scientists show how microbes help store millions of tons of carbon dioxide Up to about 19 percent more carbon dioxide than previously believed is removed naturally and stored underground between coastal trenches and inland chains of volcanoes, keeping the greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere, according to a study in the journal Nature. Surprisingly, subsurface microbes play a role in storing …
Global Warming Hits Sea Creatures Hardest
Marine life more sensitive to warming, less able to escape from heat, Rutgers-led study finds Global warming has caused twice as many ocean-dwelling species as land-dwelling species to disappear from their habitats, a unique Rutgers-led study found. The greater vulnerability of sea creatures may significantly impact human communities that rely on fish and shellfish for food and economic activity, according to the …
Climate Change Is a Major Concern for Rutgers Senior
Honors student Lauren Rodgers loves chemical oceanography and wants to earn a doctorate. Rutgers senior Lauren Rodgers once dreamed of becoming a fiction writer. But then she enrolled in a high school science and math program in her native Columbia, South Carolina, where she read an article that discussed the ocean’s critical role in absorbing carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse …