The effect of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions on climate in the 21^st century depends in part on the response of terrestrial carbon cycle. Rising atmospheric CO₂ levels are buffered by increased uptake of carbon into terrestrial ecosystems, but concomitant global warming will increase the rate of release of this carbon back to the atmosphere through respiration.

Decreasing outdoor water use is a necessary measure in southern California, where water shortages are exacerbated by climate change, population growth and consequent ecological issues. In the urbanized, semi-arid Los Angeles Metropolitan area, large yet uncertain amount of irrigation water is lost to evaporation and plant transpiration. Therefore, it is important to understand the water use of urban plants, and find the most water-wise species and management practices.

The ocean is an essential and crucial element of the climate system in
terms of its role in heat transport and its importance as a reservoir of
heat and water. Particularly, the upper ocean, acting as a thermostat,
modulates the thermal and dynamical structures of the overlying
atmosphere, and hence plays a vital part in climate. Thus a precise
assessment of the upper-ocean heat content and its variations can
improve the climate predictions on a variety of time scales.

There is evidence that prolonged periods of extreme temperature anomalies may
have significant impact on mortality, especially associated with cardiovascular desease
and for elderly. The high mortality associated with the European heatwave of August 2003
has led to an increased focus on this subject. The estimate of temperature threshold for
excessive mortality from the expected seasonal variation is usually done by analyzing the
time series data. Such anomalous temperature threshold and its mortality level are known

The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) will be hosting a free symposium on Hydraulic Fracturing (“Fracking”) on Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at their offices in Diamond Bar.

This event will take a closer look at the process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking”, which is an oil and gas production process that pumps water into the earth to release oil and natural gas locked in the rock underground.

Microorganisms constitute a key component of many environmental processes (e.g. cellulose deconstruction). However, fluctuation of environmental microbial populations (diversity and abundance) together with their ability to sustain the biogeochemical cycles are poorly understood. The talk will present how we use molecular biology to gain information on the functioning of natural and perturbed ecosystems.

The flow of carbon through the soil drives life processes all over the planet. The term “soil carbon dilemma” was coined in 2006 by HH Janzen* and describes the fact that “Sequestering C in soils is often seen as a ‘win–win’ proposition; it not only removes excess CO₂ from the air, but also improves soils by augmenting organic matter, an energy and nutrient source for biota. But organic matter is most useful, biologically, when it decays.