News From and About Earth System Science

In addition to frequent updates on facebook and twitter, ESS faculty, staff, grad students and alumni are often the subject of more in-depth stories.

  • Recent Changes in the Ventilation of the Southern Oceans

    Abstract: Surface westerly winds in the Southern Hemisphere have intensified over the past few decades, primarily in response to the formation of the Antarctic ozone hole, and there is intense debate on the impact of this on the ocean's circulation and uptake and redistribution of atmospheric gases. We used measurements of chlorofluorocarbon-12 (CFC-12) made in the southern oceans in the early 1990s and mid- to late 2000s to examine changes in ocean ventilation.

    Feb 1, 2013
  • Nature Article Rob Letcher

    Biogeochemistry: The depths of nitrogen cycling - NATURE

    Breakdown of dissolved organic nitrogen in the ocean had been thought to be the preserve of microbes at the surface. The discovery that these microbes are not up to the task calls for a reassessment of the biogeochemistry of this nitrogen pool.

    Jan 30, 2013
  • la times jay f picture

    Does Central Valley irrigation boost the Southwest's rainfall?

    Irrigation in California’s Central Valley pours so much water vapor into the atmosphere that it significantly drives up summer rainfall and runoff in the Southwest, according to a new study.

    Jan 30, 2013

  • Climate Study Highlights Wedge Issue - Science

    Eight years ago, Steven Davis was a 26-year-old graduate student when he heard an energy scientist give an inspiring talk about tackling the global climate challenge. The speaker, Robert Socolow of Princeton University, had just co-authored a plan for “Stabilization Wedges: Solving the Climate Problem for the Next 50 Years with Current Technologies,” as the title put it (Science, 13 August 2004, p. 968).

    Jan 10, 2013

  • 2012 hottest year on record in contiguous U.S., NOAA says

    Temperatures in the contiguous United States last year were the hottest in more than a century of record-keeping, shattering the mark set in 1998 by a wide margin, the federal government announced Tuesday.

    Jan 9, 2013

  • Major cuts to surging CO2 emissions are needed now, not down the road, study finds

    Transforming energy sources is critical, say UC Irvine, other researchers

    Irvine, Calif., Jan. 7, 2013 – Halting climate change will require “a fundamental and disruptive overhaul of the global energy system” to eradicate harmful carbon dioxide emissions, not just stabilize them, according to new findings by UC Irvine and other scientists.

    Jan 7, 2013
  • News - Title Company

    Title company
    Newest Chancellor’s and Distinguished professors join select group

     

    Dec 18, 2012
  • Litvak News Article 12_10_12

    UCI’s cloned redwoods rooted in research

     

    Grove fell short of great expectations but has proven valuable in Earth system science studies

    UC Irvine’s redwoods sit like forlorn Christmas trees near the campus power plant and the Crawford Hall parking lot. They’re miniatures of Northern California’s ancient giants, a dwarf grove with drooping branches. But they’re still standing.

    Dec 10, 2012
  • News pic 12.5.12

    Climate Models Project Increase in U.S. Wildfire Risk

    Scientists using NASA satellite data and climate models have projected drier conditions likely will cause increased fire activity across the United States in coming decades. Other findings about U.S. wildfires, including their amount of carbon emissions and how the length and strength of fire seasons are expected to change under future climate conditions, were also presented Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

    Dec 6, 2012
  • Jin-Yi El Nino picture

    El Niño more central since 1990

    The last decade of the 20th century saw a major change in the relationship between the tropical and extra-tropical climate, according to scientists in the US and Taiwan. The discovery suggests that the increasing influence of the extra-tropical atmosphere on the tropical Pacific Ocean has driven the emergence of El Niño events in the central Pacific.

    Oct 18, 2012