Antarctic ice sheet is more likely to remain stable if Paris climate agreement is met The Antarctic ice sheet is much less likely to become unstable and cause dramatic sea-level rise in upcoming centuries if the world follows policies that keep global warming below a key 2015 Paris climate agreement target, according to a Rutgers coauthored study. But if global warming exceeds …
#EOAS In the News: “Weather Nerds of New Jersey”
The New Yorker Interviews alumnus Joe Martucci and EOAS faculty member David Robinson The Cape May Bubble. The 1899 Blizzard. The altocumulus clouds over the Trump Plaza implosion in Atlantic City in January 2021. Read more about New Jersey weather events and records in a New Yorker article featuring Rutgers alumnus Joe Martucci, meteorologist for the Press of Atlantic City, and EOAS faculty member …
Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics Launches First Public Database of Scientists in State Politics
National inventory of scientists, engineers and health care professionals in U.S. state legislatures The Science and Politics Initiative at Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics has launched the first publicly accessible national database of elected state legislators with scientific, engineering and health care training. “As our nation continues to face the pandemic, climate change, renewable energy infrastructure and other science-based issues, it becomes …
Corals Carefully Organize Proteins to Form Rock-Hard Skeletons
Scientists’ findings suggest corals will withstand climate change Charles Darwin, the British naturalist who championed the theory of evolution, noted that corals form far-reaching structures, largely made of limestone, that surround tropical islands. He didn’t know how they performed this feat. Now, Rutgers scientists have shown that coral structures consist of a biomineral containing a highly organized organic mix of …
“Ghost Forests” Expanding Along Northeast U.S. Coast
Higher groundwater levels from sea-level rise and increased flooding are likely the most important factors Why are “ghost forests” filled with dead trees expanding along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coast? Higher groundwater levels linked to sea-level rise and increased flooding from storm surges and very high tides are likely the most important factors, according to a Rutgers study on the …
Microplastic Sizes in Hudson-Raritan Estuary and Coastal Ocean Revealed
Rutgers research shows stormwater could be important source of plastic pollution Rutgers scientists for the first time have pinpointed the sizes of microplastics from a highly urbanized estuarine and coastal system with numerous sources of fresh water, including the Hudson River and Raritan River. Their study of tiny pieces of plastic in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary in New Jersey and New York indicates that stormwater could be …
A Conversation with Polar Oceanographer Rebecca Jackson
This article by John Dos Passos Coggin continues Climate.gov’s series of interviews with current and former fellows in the NOAA Climate and Global Change Postdoctoral Program about the nature of their research funded by NOAA and what career and education highlights preceded and followed it. Over the past 30 years, the Postdoctoral Program, funded by NOAA Climate Program Office, has hosted over 200 …
On the Banks of a Pristine Raritan River
Rutgers Cooperative Extension faculty member Michele Bakacs is leading an effort to study pathogens in the Raritan River, aiming to ensure the river eventually meets fishable and swimmable standards in New Jersey and becomes a resource that is cherished and celebrated. By Carol Heher Peters On a sweltering day in May, Rutgers students gather on the banks of the sparkling Raritan River and …
Bacteria and Algae Get Rides in Clouds
Microbes could pose health, ecosystem risks when rain brings them to Earth Human health and ecosystems could be affected by microbes including cyanobacteria and algae that hitch rides in clouds and enter soil, lakes, oceans and other environments when it rains, according to a Rutgers co-authored study. “Some of the organisms we detected in clouds and rain are known to …
Nuclear War Could Trigger Big El Niño and Decrease Seafood
Unprecedented warming in equatorial Pacific Ocean could last up to seven years A nuclear war could trigger an unprecedented El Niño-like warming episode in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, slashing algal populations by 40 percent and likely lowering the fish catch, according to a Rutgers-led study. The research, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, shows that turning to the oceans …