News Release Archives
2013
December 9, 2013
Landsat 8 helps unveil the coldest place on Earth
Scientists recently recorded the lowest temperatures on Earth at a desolate and remote ice plateau in East Antarctica, trumping a record set in 1983 and uncovering a new puzzle about the ice-covered continent. Read More ...
December 9, 2013
Highlights of CIRES science at AGU 2013. Download the PDF
November 25, 2013
U.S. methane emissions exceed government estimates
Collaborative atmospheric study indicates fossil fuel extraction and animal husbandry are major contributors. Read More ...
November 14, 2013
New study: Dust, warming portend dry future for the Colorado River
Land management efforts could help protect snowpacks, water from a warmer future. Read More ...
November 1, 2013
New study: Rising temperatures challenge Salt Lake City’s water supply
Sensitivity study helps the city, others in the Intermountain West, plan for the future. Read More ...
October 31, 2013
CU-Boulder-led team takes first look at diverse life below rare tallgrass prairies
America’s once-abundant tallgrass prairies—which have all but disappeared—were home to dozens of species of grasses that could grow to the height of a man, hundreds of species of flowers, and herds of roaming bison. Read More ...
October 21, 2013
Encouraging information from this year’s observations of the ozone hole
For nearly 50 years, scientists with NOAA have launched high-altitude balloons from the South Pole, to understand why a hole was forming in the protective ozone layer high in the atmosphere. Read More ...
October 3, 2013
Water vapor in the upper atmosphere amplifies global warming, says new study
A new study shows that water vapor high in the sky and the temperature at the Earth‘s surface are linked in a “feedback loop” that further warms our climate. Read More ...
September 18, 2013
Today’s worst watershed stresses may become the new normal, study finds
Nearly one in 10 U.S. watersheds is “stressed,” with demand for water exceeding natural supply, according to a new analysis of surface water in the United States. Read More ...
September 11, 2013
Life and lasers in Antarctica: Faces behind the balaclavas
Four months of darkness, minus-30-degree temperatures, 40-mile-per-hour winds—just another day at the lab for the Chu Research Group. Read More ...
September 3, 2013
Soot Suspect in mid-1800s Alps glacier retreat
Scientists have uncovered strong evidence that soot, or black carbon, sent into the air by a rapidly industrializing Europe, likely caused the abrupt retreat of mountain glaciers in the European Alps. Read More ...
August 8, 2013
Earth is breathing deeper
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise and fall annually as plants take up the gas in spring and summer and release it in fall and winter through photosynthesis and respiration. Read More ...
August 6, 2013
CIRES scientists contribute to international 2012 climate summary
The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published the 2012 State of the Climate report, which provides a detailed update on global climate indicators and notable weather events. Read More ...
August 5, 2013
CIRES, NOAA observe significant methane leaks in a Utah natural gas field
On a perfect winter day in Utah’s Uintah County in 2012, CIRES scientists and NOAA colleagues tested out a new way to measure methane emissions from a natural gas production field. Read More ...
August 1, 2013
NOAA: Greenhouse gases continue climbing
TNOAA’s updated Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI), which measures the direct climate influence of many heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide and methane, shows 2012 continued the steady upward trend that began with the Industrial Revolution of the 1880s. Read More ...
July 24, 2013
Asteroid impact that killed dinosaurs spared freshwater species
The natural biological resilience of freshwater species likely spared them from the otherwise devastating effects of the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which had caused massive extinction in terrestrial and marine environments. Read More ...
July 16, 2013
Like butter: Study explains surprising acceleration of Greenland’s inland ice
Surface meltwater draining through cracks in an ice sheet can warm the sheet from the inside, softening the ice and letting it flow faster, according to a new study by scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Read More ...
June 27, 2013
New CIRES Director: Waleed Abdalati
The Council of Fellows and University of Colorado Boulder have selected Waleed Abdalati, Ph.D., as the new director of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Abdalati currently is a CIRES Fellow, professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Colorado Boulder and director of the CIRES Earth Science and Observation Center (ESOC). He will take office July 1, 2013. Read More ...
June 25, 2013
Clearing up confusion about the future of Colorado River flows
The Colorado River provides water for more than 30 million people in the U.S. West, so water managers have been eager to understand how climate change will affect the river’s flow. But scientific studies have produced an unsettling range of estimates, from a modest decrease of 6 percent by 2050 to a steep drop of 45 percent by then. Read More ...
June 19, 2013
CIRES, NOAA team leads investigation of Southeast air quality, climate questions
Many photographs of the Southeast’s Smoky Mountains show layers of tall hills, shading to purples and grays in the distance. Tiny particles in the atmosphere help create the effect, which makes for stunning pictures. Read More ...
June 4, 2013
Los Angeles air pollution declining, losing its sting
The cleanup of California’s tailpipe emissions over the last few decades has not only reduced ozone pollution in the Los Angeles area. It has also altered the pollution chemistry in the atmosphere, making the eye-stinging “organic nitrate” component of air pollution plummet, according to a new study led by a scientist from NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Read More ...
May 24, 2013
Sea Ice and Weather: Loss of sea ice affects Arctic weather patterns
In 2007 when the extent of floating sea ice in the Arctic was at a record low, how did the resulting large expanses of open water affect regional weather patterns? That's what CIRES researcher Elizabeth Cassano and her colleagues sought to understand in a modeling and observations study published this week. Read More ...
May 20, 2013
End of an Era: Northern Hemisphere Losing Its Last Dry-Snow Region
Last July, something unprecedented in the 34-year satellite record happened: 98 percent of the Greenland Ice Sheet’s surface melted, compared to roughly 50 percent during an average summer. Snow that usually stays frozen and dry turned wet with meltwater. Read More ...
May 14, 2013
Mystery Solved: Previously Unexplained Higher Levels of Greenhouse Gas in L.A. from Fossil-Fuel Sources
The missing link—exactly where the extra methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is coming from in Los Angeles—has finally been identified, according to a study led by a scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
May 9, 2013
The origins of cirrus: Earth’s highest clouds have dusty core
The thin, wispy clouds known as “cirrus” cover nearly a third of the globe and are found high in the atmosphere—5 to 10 miles above the surface. But a new study shows that they typically have a very down-to-earth core, consisting of dust and metallic particles. Read More ...
May 2, 2013
New Book Release: CIRES Researchers Contribute to Analysis of Southwest’s Climate Future
In an era of increasing climate instability, the southwestern United States faces strained water resources, greater prevalence of tree-killing pests, and potentially significant alterations of agricultural infrastructure. These threats and challenges as well as others are detailed in the new book, “Assessment of Climate Change in the Southwest United States.” Read More ...
April 22, 2013
Pace of Change Quickens as Climate Warms
As the planet warms, not only do Earth’s climate zones keep shifting—they actually shift at an accelerating pace, according to a new study led by a scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). This acceleration of change means that the species inhabiting each zone have less time to adapt to the climatic changes. Read More ...
April 8, 2013
First independent confirmation of global land warming
A unique and innovative new observational study that did not use temperature recordings from land stations has confirmed global land warming, according to a scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
April 3, 2013
Thin, low Arctic clouds played an important role in the massive 2012 Greenland ice melt
Clouds over the central Greenland Ice Sheet last July were “just right” for driving surface temperatures there above the melting point, according to a new study by a team of scientists including a scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
March 18, 2013
‘Chasing Ice’ filmmaker to discuss his gripping glacial photography and debut unseen footage at Macky Auditorium April 1
Filmmaker and adventurer James Balog will share his stirring and beautiful glacial photography revealing changes in climate at a free event at 7 p.m., Monday, April 1 in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Macky Auditorium. Read More ...
March 15, 2013
Origin of Life: Essential Step in Chemistry Unraveled
While scientists believe that water is necessary for the emergence of life on a planet, new findings suggest the water surface may play a more integral role, according to researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
March 11, 2013
High and Dry—Probing Greenland’s Atmosphere and Clouds
Scattering the skies above the Greenland Ice Sheet, seemingly innocent puffy, white clouds may be playing a key role in the region’s climate and ultimately the ice sheet’s destiny, according to a new study led by a scientist at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
March 4, 2013
Sizing up black carbon in snow
Black carbon particles—often referred to as “soot particles”— in snow are larger than expected, according to a new study led by scientists at NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
March 1, 2013
Volcanic aerosols, not pollutants, tamped down recent Earth warming
In the search for clues as to why Earth did not warm as much as scientists expected between 2000 and 2010, researchers have discovered the answer is hiding in plain sight. The study, led by a scientist from NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), showed that dozens of volcanoes spewing sulfur dioxide have tempered the warming. Read More ...
January 24, 2013
High Levels of Air-Cleansing Compound Discovered Over Ocean
Researchers have detected the presence of a pollutant-destroying compound—iodine monoxide (IO)—in surprisingly high levels high above the tropical ocean, according to a new study led by the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
January 17, 2013
Western Water Assessment Receives RISA Award
Jan. 16, NOAA announced seven multi-year awards totaling $600,000 to Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) research teams—including CIRES Western Water Assessment—to encourage collaboration with federal and non-federal partners on climate adaptation. Read More ...
January 15, 2013
Black carbon is much larger cause of climate change than previously assessed
Black carbon is the second largest man-made contributor to global warming and its influence on climate has been greatly underestimated, according to the first quantitative and comprehensive analysis of this pollutant’s climate impact. Read More ...
January 14, 2013
TweetChat: Ask CIRES experts about air-quality impacts of oil and gas operations
Emissions from oil and natural gas operations north of Denver could add to ozone pollution in that region, according to a new study by researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). The study was published online Jan. 14 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
To learn more about this study and talk to the research scientists involved, please join us for a CIRES TweetChat. The scientists answering your questions will be CIRES scientists Jessica Gilman, Joost de Gouw, and Brian Lerner. Read More ...
January 14, 2013
Oil and Gas Wells Contribute Fuel for Ozone Pollution
Emissions from oil and natural gas operations north of Denver could add to ozone pollution in that region, according to a new study by researchers at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES). Read More ...
January 4, 2013
Media Advisory: Highlights of CIRES science at AMS
Scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) will present new research at next week’s 93rd American Meteorological Society (AMS) Meeting in Austin, Texas. Read More ...
