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How Seeds Spread

6/29/10

A Penn State biologist and collaborators have developed a new method for tracking seed movement and germination that will be useful for studying how plants adjust to global climate change. The technique may also help curtail the spread of invasive plants, according to Tomás Carlo, assistant professor of biology.

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Discovery could aid restoration of coral reefs

6/23/10

Recent discoveries about tropical coral reefs are expected to be invaluable in efforts to restore the corals, which are succumbing to bleaching and other diseases at an unprecedented rate as ocean temperatures rise worldwide. The research gives new insights into how the scientists can help to preserve or restore the coral reefs that protect coastlines, foster tourism and nurture many species of fish. Published on June 23 in the journal PLoS One, the research was accomplished by an international team whose leaders include Iliana Baums, assistant professor of biology at Penn State.

Ancient leaves help researchers understand future climate

5/6/10

Potential climate change caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide might be better understood by examining fossil plant remains from millions of years ago, according to biogeochemists. The types of carbon within the leaves can serve as a window into past temperatures and environmental conditions.

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Alley, Meszaros named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

4/19/10

Two Penn State faculty members are among the 229 leaders in the sciences, the humanities and the arts, business, public affairs and the nonprofit sector who have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Richard B. Alley, Evan Pugh professor of geosciences, and Peter Meszaros, director of the Center for Particle Astrophysics and Eberly chair of astronomy and astrophysics, and professor of physics, are included in the 2010 class.

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Musk Ox population decline due to climate, not to humans, study finds

3/9/10

Scientists have discovered that the drastic decline in Arctic musk ox populations that began roughly 12,000 years ago was due to a warming climate rather than to human hunting. The research is the first study to use ancient musk ox DNA collected from across the animal's former geographic range to test for human impacts on musk ox populations. The research will be published in the early on-line edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences sometime during the week ending Friday, March 12.

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DNA from rare polar bear fossil sheds light on species' history

3/3/10

A rare, ancient polar bear fossil discovered in Norway in 2004 is yielding a treasure trove of essential information about the age and evolutionary origins of the species. A paper published in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by researchers at Penn State, the University at Buffalo, the University of Oslo and other institutions is filling in key pieces of the evolutionary history of polar bears and brown bears, including their response to past climate changes.

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Discovery gives hope for resilience of corals to future global warming

2/16/10

Penn State researchers and their international collaborators have discovered a diversity of corals harboring unusual species of symbiotic algae in the warm waters of the Andaman Sea in the northeastern Indian Ocean. "The existence of so many novel coral symbioses thriving in a place that is too warm for most corals gives us hope that coral reefs and the ecosystems they support may persist -- at least in some places -- in the face of global warming," said the team's leader, Penn State assistant professor of biology Todd LaJeunesse.

Stimulus grant to support research on climate and infectious disease

1/14/10

The potential effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever, are the focus of a nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation intended to further the studies of a Penn State-led group of researchers. The grant is part of federal stimulus funding authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Grant to support Penn State research on climate and infectious disease

1/7/10

A nearly $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation is enabling a Penn State-led group of researchers to continue studies on the potential effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue. The grant is part of federal stimulus funding authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Past regional cold and warm periods linked to natural climate drivers

11/27/09

Intervals of regional warmth and cold in the past are linked to the El Nino phenomenon and the so-called "North Atlantic Oscillation" in the Northern hemisphere's jet stream, according to a team of climate scientists. These linkages may be important in assessing the regional effects of future climate change.

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Global warming cycles threaten endangered primate species

10/28/09

One of the first-ever analyses of the effects of global warming on endangered primates has examined how El Nino warming has affected the abundance of four highly threatened New World monkeys. All four monkey species showed drops in abundance relating to large-scale climate fluctuations. The study suggests that the consequences of intensified climate fluctuations could be devastating for several primate species.

Professor of psychology awarded Presidential Citation by APA

8/12/09

Janet Swim, professor of psychology at Penn State, has been awarded a Presidential Citation by the American Psychological Association (APA) for her work as the chair of a task force on the interface between psychology and climate change. A member of the APA Council of Representatives, Swim worked to form the task force, which for the last year has studied the effects of human psychology on the response to climate change. The task force presented its findings at APA's 117th annual Convention in Toronto, held from Aug. 6 to 9.

WPSU's 'Conversation' turns to climate change

8/9/09

Experts say regulating Earth's climate is arguably one of the most important issues of modern day. However, the key to understanding the future of our environment is to examine the past. Researchers are learning important lessons about earth's climate history from an unlikely source: ice cores. Penn State professor Richard Alley is one of the world's leading climate researchers and he'll explain his theories about changing temperatures on the next "Conversations from Penn State."

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Climate change study foresees a warmer, wetter Pennsylvania

7/15/09

A Penn State study of climate change projects a warmer, wetter Pennsylvania, with a longer growing season and significantly less snow by the middle of the current century. Conducted by the Environment and Natural Resources Institute in the College of Agricultural Sciences for the state Department of Environmental Protection, the study was mandated by the Pennsylvania Climate Change Act 70 of 2008.

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Flow of research on ice sheets helps answer climate questions

2/16/13

Just as ice sheets slide slowly and steadily into the ocean, researchers are returning from each trip to the Arctic and Antarctic with more data about climate change, including information that will help improve current models on how climate change will affect life on the earth, according to a Penn State geologist.

ozone depletion at Antarctic

Ozone depletion trumps greenhouse gas increase in jet-stream shift

1/31/13

Depletion of Antarctic ozone is a more important factor than increasing greenhouse gases in shifting the Southern Hemisphere jet stream in a southward direction, according to researchers at Penn State.

"Previous research suggests that this southward shift in the jet stream has contributed to changes in ocean circulation patterns and precipitation patterns in the Southern Hemisphere, both of which can have important impacts on people's livelihoods," said Sukyoung Lee, professor of meteorology.

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Climate change had political, human impact on ancient Maya

11/8/12

The role of climate change in the development and demise of classic Maya civilization, ranging from AD 300 to 1000, has been controversial for decades because of a lack of well-dated climate and archaeological evidence. But an international team of archaeologists and earth science researchers has compiled a precisely dated, high-resolution climate record of 2,000 years that shows how Maya political systems developed and disintegrated in response to climate change.

Probing Question: How does melting Arctic ice affect weather and climate?

11/1/12

By June 2012, Arctic sea ice had already melted to its lowest extent for the month since satellite record keeping began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. How does this affect our weather in the short term and climate in the long term? In several ways, says Andrew Carleton, a Penn State professor of physical geography who specializes in studying sea ice and climate change.

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Students get unique environmental research experience in Spain

10/25/12

Several students from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently studied the potential effects of global climate change in Spain. For the last two years, eight students journeyed from central Pennsylvania to Madrid to conduct research in the field of global climate change ecology. Enrolled in the Ecological Research in Spain course, at the end of the spring semester they traveled to Europe and stayed for almost two months, working with groups of Spanish researchers.

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DNA analysis aids in classifying single-celled algae

9/19/12

For nearly 260 years -- since Carl Linnaeus developed his system of naming plants and animals -- researchers classified species based on visual attributes like color, shape and size. In the past few decades, researchers found that sequencing DNA can more accurately identify species. A group of single-celled algae -- Symbiodinum -- that live inside corals and are critical to their survival -- are only now being separated into species using DNA analysis, according to biologists.

Bear Crossing

9/5/12

An analysis of newly sequenced polar bear genomes is providing important clues about the species' evolution, suggesting that climate change and genetic exchange with brown bears helped create the polar bear as we know it today. The international study, led by researchers at Penn State and the University at Buffalo, found evidence that the size of the polar bear population fluctuated with key climatic events over the past million years, growing during periods of cooling and shrinking in warmer times.

Research focused on underground solution to greenhouse gas challenges

5/17/12

While many are focusing on atmospheric solutions to reduce greenhouse gases, some researchers are setting their sights on the ground -- deep underground. Li Li, an assistant professor of energy and mineral engineering at Penn State, is investigating geologic carbon sequestration (storing carbon dioxide deep beneath the surface of the Earth) as a way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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Free documentary on climate change to be screened during Earth Week

4/12/12

As part of Earth Day/Earth Week activities at Penn State, which run from April 16 to 25, there will be a free screening of "The Island President," an award-winning documentary that follows former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed as he tries to shine a spotlight on the issue of climate change. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, at the State Theatre in downtown State College.