Tractor in field

Agriculture replaces fossil fuels as largest human source of sulfur in the environment

Aug. 10, 2020

New research identifies fertilizer and pesticide applications to croplands as the largest source of sulfur in the environment—up to 10 times higher than the peak sulfur load seen in the second half of the 20th century, during the days of acid rain.

A drought-parched landscape

Waning attention to climate change amid pandemic could have lasting effects

Aug. 4, 2020

Attention to climate change has rapidly declined in recent months. That's concerning, say study authors who found that simply directing one's attention to an environmental risk—even briefly and involuntarily—makes people more concerned and willing to take action.

Researchers drilling into Alaskan permafrost

Alaska is getting wetter; that’s bad news for permafrost and the climate

July 31, 2020

Alaska is getting wetter. A new study spells out what that means for the permafrost that underlies about 85 percent of the state, and the consequences for Earth’s global climate.

National Snow and Ice Data Center director Mark Serreze conducted research on the St. Patrick Bay ice caps as a graduate student with the University of Massachusetts in 1982. (Photo credit: Ray Bradley)

Canadian ice caps disappear, confirming 2017 scientific prediction

July 29, 2020

The St. Patrick Bay ice caps on the Hazen Plateau of northeastern Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada, have completely disappeared, according to NASA satellite imagery.

Nares Strait

Increasing Arctic freshwater is driven by climate change

July 29, 2020

New, first-of-its-kind research shows that climate change is driving increasing amounts of freshwater in the Arctic Ocean, which could disrupt ocean currents and affect temperatures in northern Europe.

Bumblebee

Native bees also facing novel pandemic

July 9, 2020

There is growing evidence that another “pandemic" has been infecting bees around the world for the past two decades and is spreading–a fungal pathogen known as Nosema.

Barn swallow

Resident parasites influence appearance, evolution of barn swallows

June 24, 2020

Researchers at ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder think local parasites are influencing why barn swallows in Europe, the Middle East and Colorado are choosing their mates differently.

Joanna Lambert standing on tree limb and looking through binoculars.

As rare animals disappear, scientist faces ‘ecological grief’

June 11, 2020

As the wilds around Joanna Lamberts research sites in Africa and North America have vanished, the conservation biologist has struggled to keep hopeful amid the losses.

An image of bleached coral as seen in the Great Barrier Reef

How climate factors combined to devastate the Great Barrier Reef

May 18, 2020

A marine heatwave, a terrestrial heatwave and climate warming joined forces to devastate the Great Barrier Reef in 2016.

A researcher seen on the MOSAIC expedition in the Arctic

Arctic research soars to new heights with drones

May 5, 2020

Students, postdocs and faculty are all contributing to an innovative atmospheric-research-by-drone project near the North Pole on Arctic sea ice.

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