A soil sample is seen

These tiny organisms could help solve big, real-world problems

May 4, 2020

Thousands of microbes, invisible to the naked eye, make life function as we know it. With climate change threatening to tip these processes out of balance, better understanding microbial activity could help humans adapt to looming crises.

California current

Ocean acidification prediction now possible years in advance

May 1, 2020

Researchers have developed a method that could enable scientists to accurately forecast ocean acidity up to five years in advance, which could have implications for improving economic and food security.

Scientists investigate a glacier detachment site in Alaska

Global warming may increase risk of sudden glacier detachments

April 29, 2020

A ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder-led study has identified triggers of a destructive glacial process that buried kilometers of Alaskan forest.

A wolf howling

Why are we acting like wolves at night?

April 23, 2020

Around the world, people are collectively making noise while social distancing. In Colorado, we're howling like wolves. Is this "group howl" part of a greater phenomenon?

weddell seal

More protections needed to safeguard biodiversity in the Southern Ocean

April 22, 2020

Current marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean need to be at least doubled to adequately safeguard the biodiversity of the Antarctic, according to a new ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder study.

Kelp forests seen in the Pacific Ocean

Weak winds in the Pacific drove record-breaking heat wave

April 21, 2020

Weakened wind patterns likely spurred the wave of extreme ocean heat that swept the North Pacific last summer, according to new research led by ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

students taking a test

Could climate change affect how well we think? New research says ‘yes’

April 21, 2020

New ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder research finds that an anticipated rise in carbon dioxide concentrations in our indoor living and working spaces by the year 2100 could lead to impaired human cognition.

snowy mountains

With shrinking snowpack, drought predictability melting away

April 20, 2020

New research from ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder and CIRES suggests that during the 21st century, our ability to predict drought using snow will literally melt away.

This NASA visualization depicts ozone concentrations from Sept. 8, 2019 in Dobson Units, the standard measure for stratospheric ozone

International ozone treaty stops changes in Southern Hemisphere winds

March 30, 2020

Changes in Southern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation, triggered by chemicals that deplete Earth’s protective ozone layer, have paused and might even be reversing, according to new research in Nature.

sea ice

Increasingly mobile sea ice risks polluting Arctic neighbors

March 18, 2020

The movement of sea ice between Arctic countries is expected to significantly increase this century, raising the risk of more widely transporting pollutants like microplastics and oil, according to new research from ¶¶Òõ¶ÌÊÓƵ Boulder.

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