Cleaner air a ‘short-term’ silver lining of COVID-19
Environmental scientist Lee Murray tells City Newspaper that the area’s nitrogen dioxide concentrations in March were 30 percent lower than in March 2019. But the benefit won’t last, he says.
To combat climate change, human activities more important than natural feedbacks
Permafrost in the soil and methane hydrates deep in the ocean are large reservoirs of ancient carbon. But even if methane is released from these large natural stores, new Rochester data shows that the bigger concern is methane released from human activities.
Methane emitted via human fossil fuel use ‘vastly underestimated’
Reducing emissions from human activities like fossil fuel extraction and use will have a greater impact on curbing future global warming than scientists previously thought, a new Rochester study suggests.
New research unlocks clues about Earth’s magnetic field
Professor John Tarduno has analyzed zircon crystals collected from sites in Australia—the oldest known terrestrial materials—to construct a timeline of Earth’s magnetic field, finding that the field was stronger than previously believed.
Using machine learning to understand climate change
In a vast ocean where direct observational data is scarce, Rochester researchers are using data science to understand how shallow coastal waters and deep oceans contribute to the methane found in the atmosphere.
Researchers solve ‘hot spot’ debate
Volcanic hot spots such as the ones that created the Hawaiian Islands have long been considered stationary points, but new data analyses provide conclusive evidence that hot spots are not fixed but are moving.
3 questions: 50 years after the moon landing
The lunar rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts still inform research today, including the work of Rochester professor Miki Nakajima, who studies the formation and evolution of the Earth, the moon, and other planetary bodies.
Ice core data confirms increased tropospheric ozone levels since industrialization
The findings suggest good news about the reliability of the computer models used to estimate and predict the changes in ground-level ozone.
New view of how ocean ‘pumps’ impact climate change
A new Rochester study has found that factors such as wind, currents, and even small fish play a larger role in transferring carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere to the deep oceans than previously thought.
Unearthing climate clues buried in ice
The Meliora flag flies over the Law Dome research station in Antarctica, where Rochester scientists are battling some of the toughest field conditions ever in their effort to understand humans’ impact on climate.