Atmospheric Rivers Help Create Massive Holes in Antarctic Sea Ice

A band of clouds in an atmospheric river extending from South America to the Antarctic sea ice zone on Sept. 16, 2017. Image: NASA

Warm, moist rivers of air may have continent-wide effects and influence climate change Warm, moist rivers of air in Antarctica play a key role in creating massive holes in sea ice in the Weddell Sea and may influence ocean conditions around the vast continent as well as climate change, according to Rutgers co-authored research. Scientists studied the role of long, …

How Did Red Algae Survive in Extreme Environments?

Rutgers-led team will study algae from hot springs worldwide, including in Yellowstone National Park

Rutgers-led team will study algae from hot springs worldwide, including in Yellowstone National Park Red algae have persisted in hot springs and surrounding rocks for about 1 billion years. Now, a Rutgers-led team will investigate why these single-celled extremists have thrived in harsh environments – research that could benefit environmental cleanups and the production of biofuels and other products. Debashish Bhattacharya, …

#EOAS in the News: “To Stabilize Climate We Must Fix Democracy First”

In an op-ed in the Star Ledger titled “To Stablize Climate We Must Fix Democracy First,” EOAS Director Robert Kopp wrote,

In an op-ed in the Star Ledger titled “To Stablize Climate We Must Fix Democracy First,” EOAS Director Robert Kopp wrote,  “Barring extraordinary new technologies to hasten the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, most of the warming we are causing will last for millennia. So we need not only to act decisively to decarbonize the global economy but …

Bacteria Can Defuse Dangerous Chemical In Passaic River

Bacteria that can help defuse highly toxic dioxin in sediments in the Passaic River – a Superfund hazardous waste site – could eventually aid cleanup efforts at other dioxin-contaminated sites around the world, according to Rutgers scientists.

Rutgers study suggests pollutant’s toxicity could be decreased. Bacteria that can help defuse highly toxic dioxin in sediments in the Passaic River – a Superfund hazardous waste site – could eventually aid cleanup efforts at other dioxin-contaminated sites around the world, according to Rutgers scientists. Their research, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, needs further work to realize the full …

Harmful Microbes Found on Sewer Pipe Walls

Rutgers study could lead to better disinfection methods and understanding of coronavirus and other risks Can antibiotic-resistant bacteria escape from sewers into waterways and cause a disease outbreak? A new Rutgers study, published in the journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, examined the microbe-laden “biofilms” that cling to sewer walls, and even built a simulated sewer to study the germs …

New Data Discloses Flood Risk of Every Home in the Contiguous US

A flooded neighborhood in Bound Brook, NJ after a Noreaster dumped several inches of rain over the area in March of 2010. Photo by Matt Drews

The data, based on decades of peer-reviewed research, provides the cumulative risk of flooding for more than 142 million homes and properties over a 30-year mortgage. The nonprofit research and technology group First Street Foundation has publicly released flood risk data for more than 142 million homes and properties across the country. The data, based on decades of peer-reviewed research, …

How Are the Raritan River and Bay Adapting to Sea Level Rise?

Julie Blum, in the New Jersey jungle, Phragmites marsh, Raritan River, NJ. Photo courtesy of Laura Reynolds

Laura Reynolds, an EOAS postdoctoral fellow, and team, are conducting pioneering research on carbon and sediment levels of the tidal marshes in the Raritan River and Bay, to better understand and predict how sea level rise will impact these waterways. By Carol Peters The tidal Raritan River, once dubbed the “Queen of Rivers” in a poem published in the London Review in 1806, …

Mother Earth: Another COVID-19 Victim?

Two EOAS faculty members describe the ways COVID-19 might impact New Jersey’s waterways and water quality By Carol Peters Looking for hand sanitizer, spray disinfectants, cleaning wipes, paper towels, and toilet paper? You are probably now out of luck. These products and others have already disappeared from stores all over New Jersey. As global nations work to block transmission of …

Scientists Find Far Higher than Expected Rate of Underwater Glacial Melting

An autonomous kayak surveys the ocean in front of the 20-mile-long LeConte Glacier in Alaska. The kayak measures ocean currents and water properties to study the underwater melting of the glacier and track meltwater as it spreads in the ocean. Photo: David Sutherland/University of Oregon

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 …

Medicine and Personal Care Products May Lead to New Pollutants in Waterways

Rutgers study shows how bacteria in wastewater plants transform widely used chemicals When you flush the toilet, you probably don’t think about the traces of the medicine and personal care products in your body that are winding up in sewage treatment plants, streams, rivers, lakes, bays and the ocean. But Rutgers scientists have found that bacteria in sewage treatment plants …